Olgiate Olona, June 26, 1959 - Educational project (2015-2016)

The educational project at “Dante Alighieri” school of Olgiate Olona

In order to provide continuity and sightedness to the memory of June 26, 1959, an educational project has been started in 2010 thanks to the intuition of Alberto Colombo supported by Beato Contardo Ferrini Institute and by the Municipality of Olgiate Olona. The project is addressed to the students in the eighth-grade of Dante Alighieri school and consists of: a multimedia conversation in the classroom about the historical fact and the commemorative events, dialog with the students, screening of the video of song Olgiate Olona, 26 Giugno 1959 composed by Nicola Puddu; production of a work written in Italian language follows. The works in poetry and prose are received anonymous; then they are selected and judged by a jury outside the school; the most deserving works - those which best reflect the historical fact and the commemorative events - are rewarded during the commemoration of June the 26. Because of their exceptional nature, some works received a Special award offered personally by Alberto Colombo with the authorization of Olgiate Olona mayor.

school year:

2023/24 | 2022/23 | 2021/22 | 2020/21 | 2019/20 | 2018/19 | 2017/18 | 2016/17

2015/16 | 2014/15 | 2013/14 | 2012/13 | 2011/12 | 2010/11 | 2009/10

Commemoration of June 26, 2016 - Matilde Marchetta, first classified

Commemoration of June 26, 2016 - Martina Vidhi, second classified

Commemoration of June 26, 2016 - Gabriele Ponti, third classified

Works awarded school year 2015-2016

In 2016, the educational project in memory of the plane crash was addressed to three classes of students in the eighth grade of Dante Alighieri school. The following are the translations of the works rewarded during the commemoration of June 26, 2016.

First classified, the poem Ali bianche by MATILDA MARCHETTA:

Ali bianche

(white wings)

I couldn’t see anything,
just smoke.
I heard some screams,
then nothing,
I was transported back to heaven
almost floating.
I ran to my mother.
She was... just arrived, her too.
We hugged each other.
Then we looked down.
Still smoke, even screams.
I could see something of me...
tangled in the metal sheets.
I looked away.
Then I took her hand,
my mother.
And we flew away,
by flapping our white wings.

Ali bianche is the work that received the highest overall score by the jury, it is the most voted among the sixty-five deserving works rewarded from 2010 to 2016.

Second classified, the poem La memoria by MARTINA VIDHI:

La memoria

(the memory)

Seeing a life fading... away.
Seeing the death with your own eyes.
Seeing a future that you’ll never live.
Seeing plans disappearing.
Tears and despair: that’s just what I saw
and I was losing what was mine.
Terrible scene,
lit by a small ray of sunlight;
I was speechless,
mute for pain.
Seventy dead, seventy souls.
That rain seemed hail,
it hit the heart
of those who wished to give some love
to that unborn child
who never made his first cry.
We can only honor them with the memory,
we cannot give them back
what the death took away
just a trail of that memory has remained.

Third classified, the poem In un attimo... by GABRIELE PONTI:

In un attimo...

(in a moment...)

One day same as a thousand others
in a moment...
One day different from all the others
in a moment...
Broken dreams,
broken lives,
mouths without sounds,
hugs without bodies.
In a moment...
All is over, there is only ash.
I look up and here it is...
That leaden sky,
now it is lit by seventy new stars
in a moment...

Commemoration of June 26, 2016 - The students authors of the ten most deserving works pictured with the mayor, the deputy of the school director and the teachers of Literature

Commemoration of June 26, 2016 - Matilda Marchetta re-reading her work (first classified) after having received the Special award 2016

Special award 2016

Before the notification of the names of students authors of ten finalist works, the mayor of Olgiate Olona authorized - even in 2016 - Alberto Colombo to give the Special award in a personal capacity to the work Ali bianche with the following motivation: «A poem made of sixty words captures like in a snapshot the fleeting moment in which the spirits of two immortal lives on June 26, 1959, are freed from their mortal body, and continue their life in a new embrace and in a new dimension».
Determined thereafter that the work Ali bianche was the one of Matilda Marchetta, mayor Giovanni Montano handed over the Special award 2016 to this student on June 26, 2016: an elegant pen with the date of June 26, 2016 engraved on it accompanied by an auspicious message that encourages the student to develop the literary qualities shown in the poem, wishing to receive happiness and human and professional satisfaction from life.

Documents and articles related to the educational project 2015-2016

June 25, 2016 - Article published in La prealpina

Gli studenti ricordano il disastro aereo

June 16, 2016 - Article published in La settimana

Si ricorda il disastro aereo e si premiano i lavori degli studenti

March 30, 2016 - Article published in La prealpina

Si commemora il disastro

March 2016 - Article published in Il ficcanaso, newspaper of “Dante Alighieri” secondary school of Olgiate Olona

Disastro aereo Olgiate Olona... non dimentica

February 5, 2016 - Article published in La settimana

Disastro aereo, studenti rivivono quel giorno

January 29, 2016 - Article published in La settimana