JA Teacher Named Top-Ten Finalist in the Global Teacher Prize

October 1, 2020

JA Italy teacher Carlo Mazzone is a top-ten finalist for the Global Teacher Prize 2020. Announced today by the Varkey Foundation, Carlo is a finalist for the US $1 million cash prize. The award recognizes teachers around the world who have had a positive impact on both students and their communities. Carlo was selected from a pool of 12,000 nominations from 140 countries.

Carlo teaches information and communication technologies and computer science at the GBB Lucarelli Industrial Technical Institute in Benevento, Italy. The son of a school principal and a teacher, Carlo earned a degree in information technology (IT) and worked as an IT consultant prior to becoming a public-school teacher in 2004.

The IT and computer science fields are in high demand in Italy, which is one of the reasons Carlo teaches these skills. He has created teaching materials based on his extensive work in the field, including his “vivariumware” teaching methodology, which divides students into groups of two or three, with each student playing a specific role and managing a student company to achieve a project goal. The Italian Ministry of Education also named Carlo a Digital Animator, a designation that recognizes him as a guide to his institute regarding the use of technology in school under the government’s National Digital School Plan.

As a JA teacher, Carlo has guided his students through the JA Company Program with great success. In 2019, his students formed Farm Animal Trade, an innovative web-based service that simplifies and updates the process of selling farm animals, ensuring the traceability of the origin of the products and reducing costs with strong scalability. The team won the JA Italy national Company of the Year competition and went on to earn third place in the 2019 JA Europe Company of the Year competition.

This morning, JA Italy CEO Miriam Cresta said, “We are proud that one of our entrepreneurial teachers is among the ten finalists for this award, which recognizes the value of teachers around the world in achieving a more equal society, reducing poverty, prejudice, and conflict.” We couldn’t agree more and are so proud of Carlo’s successes.

Carlo joined the JA Worldwide Board of Governers in October to talk about education. Listen to the interview here.