When Joanna Stenson was a young girl, her grandmother wanted her to learn Italian.

“My grandmother always wanted to teach us, but I think she thought we were stubborn and didn’t want to learn,” said Stenson, who now teaches the Romance language to students at St. Joseph High School. She also teaches at the middle school level.

She has been instrumental, along with Bradford High School Italian teacher Ralph Annina, in promoting the incorporation of an Italian language curriculum.

For her efforts, the 28-year-old native Kenoshan will be the recognized with the WisItalia Teacher of the Year Award at the organization’s annual banquet Saturday at the Italian American Society, 2217 52nd St. Also receiving awards will be Vince F. Ruffolo, a retired medical administrator and Nash car enthusiast, and Rita Prigioni, a Madison-area resident.

WisItalia is a nonprofit organization founded by a number of Italian-American organizations in the state and public universities in southeastern Wisconsin. The organization promotes the teaching of the Italian language and culture in local schools as well as in the community. In Kenosha, there are a dozen schools and programs supported through WisItalia’s initiatives.

Stenson said it wasn’t until she was in college that she chose to learn Italian and later graduated with two degrees — one in Italian studies and the other in international business from Dominican University in River Forest, Ill.

Two years ago, the opportunity arose for her to teach Italian, first at Bradford and later at St. Joseph she said. Her newfound love of the language and her cultural and ethnic heritage placed her on a path to share it with new generation of children, most of them Italian, through teaching. She is in the process of completing her teacher certification, she said.

“I like sharing the language and the culture with them. One of the really nice things is most of my students are taking Italian because they are Italian. I like being able to help them to connect with their family and heritage.”

Next year at St. Joseph, a new language program will expose students from kindergarten through fifth grade to Italian, French, Spanish and Chinese. Students who then continue onto the high school will be able to then chose their preferred language, she said.

“When they learn a langu-age, I think it just opens them up so much more to the world,” she said. “It gives them the chance to really explore another culture and take away what they can from it. It’s a good exposure to the rest of the world.”

Stenson said she is honored WisItalia chose her as its teacher of the year, but she was also surprised.

“I haven’t been teaching that long. I’ve always thought that a teacher of the year award means that you’ve been doing it for quite some time,” she said “At the same time, I’m very honored they decided to give this award to me. For me, it is motivating because it does recognize that all the hard work I’ve done at Bradford and St. Joseph and helps me to keep doing the best that I can do.”

Ruffolo, a longtime Kenosha resident and Nash car enthusiast, will receive WisItalia’s President’s Award. A retired medical administrator, Ruffolo has been active in re-establishing Italian instruction in Kenosha schools, according to the organization. His efforts have led to the language’s instruction at Bradford and Tremper High School, as well as St. Joseph and several elementary schools throughout the city.

Prigioni, a Madison resident, employed by the state’s Department of Health Services, will receive the the organization’s Outstanding Service Award for her work with WisItalia’s website.