Fra Noi Embrace Your Inner Italian
Antonino Bondì’s teaching career stemmed from an unlikely place: a goal of practicing pharmacy in Italy, where he’d always hoped to live.
Nowadays, Bondì teaches Italian 1 and 2, Italian honors 3 and 4, and AP Italian at Rolling Meadows High School and is a diving coach at Prospect High School, both in suburban Chicago.
For the past year, he’s also served as president of the Midwest Chapter of the American Association of Teachers of Italian (AATI), an organization open to past, current and future teachers from the private or public sector, as well as college students who are studying Italian.
Bondì has been a member of AATI Midwest for 16 years. The organization strives to provide support to teachers of Italian and their students, he says.
“AATI is not only dedicated to teachers of Italian, but to the needs of their students. It is a common place where colleagues can connect in common strengths while supporting each other’s weaknesses entirely to better the educational experience of Italian.”
Bondì says that he and the executive board are trying to revive the Midwest Chapter, which became inactive due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The organization offers in-person professional development, as well as virtual sessions where colleagues share lessons, activities and more. “The goal is to provide fresh ideas to our members and truly involve our members distant from the Chicagoland area,” he explains.
AATI membership prices vary by category. In order to become a local member, people must join the national organization and select their local chapter. For more information, visit aati-online.org.
Bondì’s parents emigrated from Altavilla Milicia, a small town west of Palermo, Sicily. He was born in Chicago, where he spent half his childhood, then moved to Prospect Heights, where he attended middle school and high school.
He started his freshman year at Loyola University Chicago as a pre-pharmacy major, then ended up double-majoring in Italian and secondary education.
“I quickly realized this path was not satisfying,” Bondì explains. “During that same time, I was tutoring in Italian. The thought of teaching others about my culture and helping develop a language truly felt right and humbling. That was when I decided to get into teaching.”
Bondì says his approach to teaching is based on looking at things through the lens of learners. Learning is enjoyable when there’s a direct link to students’ interests and personal life, and things like music, games, movies, activities and building amicable bonds in the classroom contribute to students’ success, he says.
“Italian has to be relevant to their lives, otherwise students get lost in the lessons,” he says. “I am often reminded that students will make mistakes and, hopefully, learn from those mistakes. I encourage my students to apply themselves as much as possible and ensure that mistakes are going to happen and that is okay. There are always opportunities for redemption.”
His approach to coaching is similar, he says. “Try, attempt, if failure occurs, then try again. Encouragement to build confidence helps develop my athletes.”
