Geronimo Stilton launches educational project at Pompeii for schoolchildren

Geronimo Stilton, the mouse journalist created by Elisabetta Dami, has been chosen as the mascot for a new educational initiative at the Pompeii archaeological site. The project, announced on June 5, 2018, at the Palestra Grande, targets middle school students from 12 schools in the UNESCO area of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Torre Annunziata for the 2018/2019 academic year. Over sixteen months, participants will engage in workshops and guided tours to deepen their understanding of cultural heritage, its uniqueness, preservation, and historical transmission. The final output will be a guidebook with a map of the three sites, created by the students themselves. The initiative is a collaboration between the Pompeii Archaeological Park, directed by Massimo Osanna, Atlantyca Entertainment, and the Permanent Observatory of the Historic Center of Naples. Present at the launch were Massimo Osanna, Francesco Sirano (director of Herculaneum), General Mauro Cipolletta (director of the Great Pompeii Project), and Silvia Patrignani (secretary general of the Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities' UNESCO office). This follows a trend of institutions using child-friendly characters to engage young audiences, such as the Met hiring an actor to portray Michelangelo from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to promote its Michelangelo exhibition.