Photo shows globe on sidewalk. Photo courtesy of Alexas_Fotos on Pixabay
Seniors Sofia Cunha, Peter Drew, Lindsay Gaines, Furqan Hasan, Clara Hasegawa, Rebeca Mendez Siquier, Evangeline Rodriguez, Francesca Smith, Arwa Algerrgawi, Laura Cunha, Sofia Cunha, Sabah Ghanim, Wenyan Ma, Paloma Arena, and Diane Amoako all earned the seal of biliteracy in either Spanish or French this spring.
The seal of biliteracy is an award granted to high school graduates in America who have demonstrated proficiency in two or more languages, including English. It serves as a recognition of students’ achievement in language learning and is intended to encourage further language studies and highlight the importance of being multilingual. At Jamesville-Dewitt High School, we allow for students who’ve taken Spanish or French all four years of high school or are fluent in any other language to have the chance to earn the seal of biliteracy by presenting in front of multiple language teachers.
“I’d recommended the seal of biliteracy to students because it’s a very essential skill for many career choices,” said Spanish teacher Caitlin Johnston. Johnston decided to organize this seal because she thought it would be a good opportunity for students to show off their language skills and to get a seal on their high school diploma to show their fluency in the language for colleges to see.
The seal allows students who know at least two languages to earn it. In order to earn this seal students must have above an 85 in their English 12 class and Spanish or French classes. If there is no class offered in that language, students have to pass a test. Then students prepare a culminating project from October to April and are able to present any topic as long as it’s in the language they’re earning their seal for. Students also have to turn in an essay before they present their project.
“Having the opportunity to show my multilingual skills and continue to learn the language is very important to me,” said Paloma Arena. Arena decided to learn Spanish because she grew up around Spanish speaking people and because she was named after the Spanish dancer Paloma Herrera. “Learning the language was a beautiful experience for me because I felt so connected with the culture and the language,” said Arena. Arena also believes that learning Spanish has helped her a lot socially since she can talk to her friends that are fluent in Spanish and because many careers look for multilingual people. During Arena’s presentation, she presented about feminism in Mexico and Columbia because of how important the topic has become in recent years.
“I realised that there are many people in America who speak Spanish as their first language so learning the language could help me when I’m applying for jobs,” said Diane Amoako. Amoako’s experience learning Spanish was a little bit difficult since she originally took French in middle school but through helpful teachers and staying on top of her studies she was eventually able to get on to the same level of Spanish as her peers.”I’m very grateful that J-DHS offers such a class because I get to interact with people outside of school who fluently speak Spanish,” said Amoako. During Amoako’s presentation she presented about the civil war happening in the Democratic Republic of Congo because there isn’t much media coverage on the topic.