Kids & Teens

Cristina Rampulla

Cristina was born in Rome, raised in several beautiful Italian towns and lived in different European countries. She holds a MSc in Economics from Toulouse School of Economics, France.

For over a decade she was a manager and consultant involved in aid projects for donors and governments in emerging and developing countries. Her consulting assignments often implied delivering training to clients, a task that Cristina mostly enjoyed. She then decided to change career and became a teacher in high schools in France. She speaks English, French and Slovene.

She is a great lover of Tuscan focaccia, Sicilian arancini, Italian Renaissance art and a fierce Ferrari supporter.

Workshop & Summer Camp Coordinator

Fiorenza Castelli

I was born in Bergamo and I came to Washington DC in 2009. Since then I work for my two children and I love to organize all types of activities that reconnect them to Italy in order to keep their Italian roots strong and alive. Since 2012 I conduct the “Nati Per Leggere DC” project where I read aloud in Italian to kids in the public libraries of DC and Northern VA. I am an active member of the MAPACI team (MAmma e PApa’ per la Cultura Italiana) of Italians in DC, a non profit organization, of which I am also a board member. With “Le DIVE”, another non profit organization in DC, I organized various activities for kids always themed towards the Italian traditions. Since 2017 I collaborate with Ente Gestore – Casa Italiana Language School, teaching Italian language to the kids in the elementary grades. I like reading books,  going to classic and modern ballet, opera, musicals, visit museums and I love to prepare cakes with my kids. I have a solar and positive attitude. I strongly believe that a smile is worth way more than any word!

Mariana P. Tacheva

Mariana was born and raised in Bulgaria in a beautiful city, called Sliven. After receiving her Diploma for Administrative employees at the Economics High School she obtained the Diploma for the Primary School Education from the Pedagogical College. She worked as a Teacher in Primary School for more than 8 years. In 2000 she earned Master Degree in Public Administration from Technical University of Varna, Bulgaria. After one year she moved to Italy, following her husband and his work. She lived in Milano for five year and then she moved to Piacenza, Emilia Romagna. This is the city in which she gave birth to her second son, the city where she and her family acquired dual citizenship and the city where their home is located. In Italy Mariana continued to study and work with children.  In 2010 she received Certificate for Social Worker for Childcare from Istituto Cortivo di Padua. She also earned a Certification of Italian as a Foreign Language (CILS), Level Four – C2, from the University for Foreign Students in Siena.

In March 2017 Mariana moved with her family to the US.  She lives in Reston and continues to work with the children. She teaches Italian in the Private Language School “Language Stars” in Alexandria and Fairfax Centers. She is very proud to become an Italian Teacher to promote the Italian culture.

Mariana loves to swim, ride bicycle and traveling. She enjoys cooking and she loves Italian, Mediterranean and Balkan food. Mariana is interested in criminology, psychology, photography, poetry and languages.