This year’s Italian camp marked the 25th anniversary, so students and staff were determined to make it one to remember (to make it an occasion worthy of an expensive cake.) The camp provides a brilliant opportunity for students from years nine to twelve from schools around the region to come together and share and improve their knowledge of the Italian language and culture. It is the closest you can get to an authentic Italian experience without suffering through Qantas plane food.

This year’s camp was full of the usual fun activities for the lower year levels, with the advent of a new mask- making activity providing a chance to learn about the traditional Italian street theatre ‘La Commedia dell’Arte.’ Interest in this was sparked by the brilliant performance on Wednesday night of two Venetian-trained actors, a special event as part of the anniversary.
One of the performers was nice enough to serve as a judge for ‘Facce Rosse’    (red faces) in a bid to quell protests of bias stemming from the fact that Galen has been the recipient of the trophy since the event’s inception. Unfortunately for us, this year the title was lost, as even an Italian version of the Jersey Shore character ‘The Situation’, a cameo by one of the exchange students as the Pope and some convincing imper- sonations of various staff members were not enough to top the impressive modern rendition of Romeo and Juliet by Victory Lutheran College.
For the Year 12’s, the camp provided an important chance to prepare for the upcoming examination. In this they were helped immensely by a number of language assistants, Italian native speakers from schools around the region and also Melbourne. The students were able to undertake a mock oral examination, an authentic rehearsal of what they will face at the end of the year.

Other highlights included fierce rivalry on the soccer field, some impressive moves on the dance floor when the camp meeting area was transformed into ‘la discoteca’ for the night and the year 12’s Master Chef worthy pizza making skills, enjoyed by all in Friday’s lunch.
Staff and students should be congratulated for making the anniversary a special one. The camp has come a long way from its humble beginnings, where it was a gathering of all boys over the weekend, with local Italians helping out as extra tutors. Here’s to another wonderful 25 years.