Pizza Party!

Last Thursday we held the first Verrazano pizza party of the academic year in our lounge, and it was a great success! Nearly 50 students were there, including many of the first-time freshmen as well as sophomores and juniors who were just accepted to Verrazano this summer.  Thanks to the students who attended, and we look forward to seeing everyone for pizza in October.

Students in Verrazano Learning Communities 1 and 5

Where in the world is Verrazano?

Having lived on Staten Island for the past three years I have become accustomed to hearing the name Verrazano on a daily basis. After all, we have a bridge and an honors program named after the famed explorer and Giovanni and I are even friends on Facebook! However, after spending time working in Delaware over the summer, it turns out the people of Delaware also have an interest in this explorer of long ago. As many of you already know, Giovanni da Verrazano was an Italian explorer who sailed under the French crown during the sixteenth century. He is best known for exploring the middle Atlantic Coast and spotting what would later be known as the Hudson River. You might not be so familiar with his work concerning Lewes and Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Yes that’s right, Delaware. You see, 500 years ago when Verrazano was exploring the Atlantic coast he happened to chart some of the water surrounding an area called Cape Henlopen. You know what Cape Henolpen is right? No, not ringing a bell? Well basically Cape Henlopen is the hook at the very bottom of Delaware where Lewes and Rehoboth are located; Verrazano charted the water around that little hook that no one besides people from Delaware has heard of. In fact the people of Delaware didn’t even know this had all happened until it was discovered during an archival study done by some professor in Italy.

So how have I become so knowledgeable regarding this aspect of Verrazano’s career you ask? Well over the summer I was interning at the Lewes Historical Society and one day noticed a case containing a large stone. This stone, it turns out, is from Verrazano’s castle in Italy which was given to the historical society by the current owner when he came to Delaware for the monument unveiling. Yes that’s right dear reader, the monument unveiling! Having discovered this small piece of information about Giovanni, which has practically no historical importance, what were the citizens of Lewes and Rehoboth to do? Well build a rather sizeable monument of course! So if you ever find yourself on the Rehoboth Beach boardwalk, I beseech you to visit the Giovanni Verrazano monument which commemorates his exploration of America and is located at the end of Olive Ave.

- Deryn Cro, Student Correspondent

Introducing Our Student Correspondent!

Hello Verrazano Voyager Blog readers! My name is Deryn and I am a junior in The Verrazano School majoring in History and English. In the coming semesters I will be blogging about all things Verrazano and encourage you to submit entries as well! If you know someone in the Verrazano School doing research, a service project or anything noteworthy let us know. You can e-mail us at theverrazanovoyager@gmail.com.

Now a little bit about myself, again I am currently a junior at CSI and like all things History and English. I am planning on going to graduate school for library sciences and spend most of my free time going to museums or buried in a new book. I look forward to hearing your comments and suggestions for the blog and hope you enjoy reading!

- Deryn Cro, Student Correspondent