TANGIBLE GIFTS TO ENHANCE CLASSROOM LEARNING
FORDHAM PREP 2023 ANNUAL GIVING REPORT
UNCIALS , WATERFOWL & ALL THAT :
TANGIBLE GIFTS TO ENHANCE CLASSROOM LEARNING
wo years ago , Fordham Prep received a special delivery .
The package contained 11 double-sided illuminated manuscripts from the late medieval period in Italy . This was the beginning of several batches of historical pieces that would arrive at the Prep over the next few years .
In 2022 , Frank Frecentese , Jr . ’ 87 added to the collection ; 18 additional folios from a medieval antiphonal arrived , as well as over 80 pieces of art by 19th-century naturalists and ornithologists J . W . and J . J . Audubon .
Notable pieces in the Prep ’ s holdings include folios from a 14th-century Latin Florentine gradual , a book of chants to be sung at Mass , as well as Audubon ’ s 1838 American Flamingo .
The generous donor , Frecentese , gifted this collection to share his love for art history with the Prep . He and his brother , Thomas ’ 89 , made the donation in honor of their late father , Frank Frecentese , Sr .
The Frecenteses ’ only request was that the artifacts serve as more than just decoration . They wanted the Prep faculty to find creative ways to teach art , language , and history using these unique items .
“ I ’ m happy to support the Prep in a practical and tangible way ,” said Frecentese . “ I was excited by the thought of giving something that the students can actually use and learn from ,” he added .
Frecentese caught up with Brian Carney , Interim President at the time , during an alumni engagement trip to Miami this past school year . Over dinner , they discussed pinpointing additional works of art that could help Prep teachers with lessons on colonial history and religion .
“ He mentioned to me that art collecting is something he ’ s been involved with for many years and he ’ s so glad that he found a way for this to benefit the Prep ,” Carney recalled .
School archivist and Classics teacher Louis DiGiorno ’ 88 P ’ 26 was tasked with writing a curriculum that would allow students to engage meaningfully with the art .
“ Yes , I am a Greek and Latin teacher ,” DiGiorno pointed out , “ but my actual training is in medieval studies . Designing a class centered around the manuscripts was a fantastic opportunity — both for me and for the discipuli .”
I WAS EXCITED BY THE THOUGHT OF GIVING SOMETHING THAT THE STUDENTS CAN ACTUALLY USE AND LEARN FROM .”
— Frank Frecentese , Jr . ’ 87
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