The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
12 Housatonic students recognized for exam scores
Contributed story
FALLS VILLAGE — A group of 12 world language students from Housatonic Valley Regional High School recently attained national recognition for excellent performance on the 2018 National Spanish Examinations.
The Silver Medal winners are senior Victor Flores for Level 5, junior Marijke Stiffler for Level 4 and freshman Ivan Pascasio for Level 1.
Silver medalists score at or above the 85th percentile nationally.
The Bronze Medal winner is sophomore Lindsey Clark for Level 3. Bronze medalists score at or above the 75th percentile nationally.
The following eight students attained Honorable Mention for scoring at or above the 50th percentile nationally.
Level 2, grade nine: Elias Abbott, Hannah An, Valentina Arango, Aidan McCarthy and Neve O’Connell
Level 3, grade 10: Marin Montoya
Level 4, grade 11: Donovan McCray
Level 5, grade 12: Juan Sanchez
They are students of Spanish teachers Rosemarie Nanni and Francisco Charles.
The purpose of the National Spanish Examination is to recognize achievement in the study of the Spanish language; to promote proficiency in interpretive communication in the Spanish language; to assess the national standards as they pertain to learning Spanish; and to stimulate further interest in the teaching and learning of Spanish
The mission of the NSE is to recognize student achievement and to promote language proficiency in the study of Spanish.
The National Spanish Examinations, sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese, have been administered since 1957 and are given voluntarily by over 4,000 teachers throughout the United States to students in grades six to 12. Students are evaluated in the areas of vocabulary, grammar, reading and listening comprehension.
“Attaining a medal or honorable mention for any student on the National Spanish Examinations is very prestigious, because the exams are the largest of their kind in the United States, with over 162,000 students participating nationwide in 2018,” said Kevin Cessna-Buscemi, national director of the exams, in a written statement.