The American Educators of Italian Origin Union meets to present scholarships to opera and Italian language students at "Casa Italiana"
There is an association in Los Angeles that really knows how to celebrate being Italian American. AEIOU stands for American Educators of Italian Origin Union. Every year for more than twenty years, the association of school personnel has a dinner/ dance to present scholarships to students who are studying opera and Italian language.
Membership is made up of three criteria: either you or a parent was born in Italy, you married an Italian, or you had a memorable experience with one.
The most recent event was on March 26, 2011 at Casa Italiana, there were over 300 persons in attendance and the program started with “God Bless America” followed by the recognition of teachers from high schools who teach Italian language. They introduced their exceptional students who were awarded scholarships. The high schools represented included: Canoga Park, Granada Hills Charter, Kennedy, Palisades Charter, San Pedro, Venice, and Verdugo Hills.
In all there were fifteen students honored. Each student gave a prepared speech in Italian indicating how much they enjoyed learning the language and their love for the Italian culture. A Tarantella napoletana with
traditional music was presented by students from Granada Hills School and was well-received by the audience.
The program continued with performances by operatic singers. They were selected from a previous competition held by AEIOU.
The two second-place winners were sopranos Amy Joy Choate and Knarik Nerkarayan, and the first-place winner was baritone Zachary Gordin. All were accompanied by Dan Bridston.
Father Raniero Alessandrini, pastor of St. Peter’s Italian Church gave the invocation. A complete dinner with the usual bill of fare was provided by Eastside Market under the super vision of Johnny Angiuli. During and after dinner, Enzo Selvaggi entertained with popular Italian songs. Dinner was followed with dance music. People of all ages were seen on the dance floor. A prepaid raffle containing many donated prizes was also held.
