From: Laura Sweeney [mailto:laura.sweeney.1@gmail.com] Sent: Thursday, December 08, 2016 11:07 AMTo: nicola.desantis@esteri.it; Domenico Savio TekerSubject: Thank you!

Dear Nicola and Domenico,

We would like to offer our sincerest gratitude to you Nicola, the Consul General and to you Domenico, the Director of the Education Office.  We would also like to thank our knowledgeable instructors Gianluca and Roberta and the Italian Consulate for offering Newton North High School the opportunity to participate in the Arduino Project. We are immensely grateful for your time and attention. 

 I asked students to provide us with some feedback on the experience and I thought you might be interested in what the students had to say.  I think this student says it best:  “I thought it was really cool! And different because we were learning about science and technology really hands on in an Italian class which is super rare. I think the school has a lot of different options for students to explore in elective courses but once students decide what path they want to take they rarely get a chance to explore the other electives. There aren't that many people taking engineering or robotics so I think the Arduino Project helped broaden students' learning experience.” When asked what the most satisfying moments of the projects were for them, they had this to say:        Creating fun gadgets, learning circuitry       Finishing an activity, using the kit without help, completing the coding portion       The moment when I understood what was going on, learning new words in Italian and applying them and meeting people from the consulate of Italy       Completing the task, asking questions, writing the code       Learning more about Arduino, helping others with the project, doing something different during class time       When I was able to put all the things together, having the Arduino work when we plugged it in the computer and learning something new       It was a very interesting way to learn about something new, I thought it was really cool to go through the different projects and finish them, and I liked learning more about circuits and electronics.        Learning about the uses of the Arduino        Being able to play around with how the Arduino worked; having the visual guides When asked what they might do with the Arduino starter kit that they had been generously given by the Italian Consulate, they had this to say:       I'll play with the music part of it again       I'd like to try some of the activities that I had trouble with again        I’d like to show my sibling how to use it.

       My uncle is interested in it so I might give it to him.        I really like Arduino and I definitely want to explore more        I might try the other activities in the book or I might look up something else to try with it.        I might use it to try and modify some of the projects we already did in class       I will show people cool things it can do.       I think I might use it with my dad because the knows a lot about Arduino When asked if they had any other comments or suggestions, students mentioned:       It would be helpful to learn the technology vocabulary from the instruction booklet prior to doing the project so that it is easier to follow along and communicate about problems       For the instructors to speak a little less quickly

Thanks again! We wish you, your colleagues and your families a very joyous holiday season, a Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year. Sincerely,  Laura DiMascio-------------------Italian TeacherNewton North High School