Del Percio and her students in Verona.

For high school Italian teacher Natalie Del Percio, the language of her ancestors is a bridge that has connected her to her heritage as well as her family throughout the generations and around the world.

A dual citizen of Italy and the United States, Del Percio has roots that extend across several regions. Her mother’s family comes from Mazzano Romano, near Rome, and San Giovanni in Fiore, Calabria, while her father’s family is from Volturara Irpina in Campania.

Both sides of her family settled in Melrose Park. There, Del Percio’s grandfather opened a plumbing business that her father later took over and operated until his retirement.

“Like so many Italian American families, mine built its life through hard work, perseverance and a strong sense of family,” she says.

Del Percio grew up in Elmhurst hearing stories about her relatives’ voyage to the United States, along with the sacrifices they made and their determination to create better opportunities for themselves and future generations. Her nonna had an especially profound influence on her.

When Del Percio was in third grade, her grandmother took her on a trip to Ellis Island. The visit helped Del Percio begin to understand what immigration entailed.

“It was there that I truly began to understand what an incredible journey my family had taken,” she recalls. “It was such a proud moment for all of us.”

Her nonna also passed down family traditions, recipes, and an appreciation for Italian music, including the work of Luciano Pavarotti, Mario Lanza and other Italian greats.

Although she was immersed in Italian culture as a child, Del Percio didn’t formally studied the language until she attended York Community High School in Elmhurst. She immediately fell in love with it.

“Learning Italian became my way of rediscovering my culture and, in many ways, honoring my grandparents and great-grandparents,” she explains. “As I learned Italian, the stories my family had shared suddenly came alive.”

At age 15, her nonna took her on another trip, this time as a chaperone on a class excursion to Italy. During the trip, Del Percio met relatives living in Rome for the first time.

“Sharing that experience with my nonna remains one of my most treasured memories,” she reflects. “I will always be grateful that we were able to experience it together.”

Del Percio continued her study of the language at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she double majored in Italian and psychology. During her junior year, she studied abroad in Rome, where she attended classes and interned at ECO Radio, a local radio station. On weekends, her cousins picked her up so she could spend time with relatives in Formello and Mazzano Romano.

“Those weekends allowed me to strengthen relationships with relatives I had only recently come to know,” she says. “They are memories I will cherish forever.”

Her path into the classroom began unexpectedly while she was working as an administrative assistant at Italidea, an arm of the Italian Cultural Institute of Chicago that offers classes and promotes Italian language learning. She was asked to fill in for a children’s Italian class, and she was hooked. The experience inspired her to pursue a career in teaching.

“The moment I stepped into the classroom, I realized I had found what I wanted to do,” Del Percio recalls.

Del Percio went on to earn a master’s degree in education from DePaul University. Just before the COVID-19 pandemic, she enrolled at the Università degli Studi di Milano, where she earned a second master’s degree in teaching Italian to foreigners.

“Learning the language opened doors to my own family’s history, strengthened my relationships with relatives in Italy and completely changed the direction of my life,” she adds. “I hope my students discover something equally meaningful.”

With 13 years of experience as an Italian instructor under her belt, Del Percio is beginning her seventh year at Prospect High School in Mount Prospect. Through local excursions and the school’s Italian exchange program, she has given students countless opportunities to experience the language in ways that extend beyond the classroom.

“Language isn’t just vocabulary and grammar,” Del Percio says. “It’s a bridge to people, traditions and stories.”

Before her current position at Prospect, Del Percio taught at Trinity High School in River Forest and at her alma mater, York Community High School. She believes learning should be meaningful, practical and enjoyable.

“Language is meant to be used, not simply memorized,” she emphasizes.

A highlight of Del Percio work at Prospect is the school’s partnership with the Liceo Copernico-Pasoli in Verona. She coordinates the student exchange program between the two schools with her colleague Claudia Miceli.

Each year, the high school hosts students from Italy in October and the liceo repays the favor in the spring. While in Verona, Prospect students live with host families and attend school alongside their Italian peers. The experience allows them to use the language in authentic situations while learning what daily life is like for Italian teenagers.

“Seeing students step off the plane in Italy reminds me of my own first trip with my nonna,” Del Percio reflects. “I know firsthand how transformative those experiences can be because they changed my own life.

“Italian is no longer just something they studied in a classroom,” she explains. “It has become something that they have lived.”