SHS Students Earn NYS Seal of Biliteracy
SKANEATELES, NY (May 4, 2018) – The Skaneateles High School World Language Department is pleased to announce the first three students to have completed the district’s New York State Seal of Biliteracy program.
Seniors Amelia Huba and Addison Gremli as well as Junior Yorvin Solis-Samayoa are the first students to have completed the all-new program. Each will wear NYS Seal of Biliteracy medallions at graduation with their transcripts and diplomas marked with this fantastic honor.
The NYS Seal of Biliteracy provides a culmination of achievements for students who strived to be proficient in two languages.
“The Seal of Biliteracy program celebrates cultural pieces, biculturalism, and it celebrates students who can read, write, speak and listen in two languages,” said K-12 Humanities Coordinator, Patrick Brown. “What we are trying to do is create a vertical pathway for students so that we are giving kids more access to understanding world languages.”
A member of the first NYS Seal of Biliteracy class, Amelia Huba says the rigors of the program are worthwhile.
“It is worth it to feel the satisfaction and have that achievement, knowing you have done this,” said Huba. “You can feel confident knowing that you can survive and work with two languages.”
In order to achieve the NYS Seal of Biliteracy students must fulfill several requirements in both the English Language and World Language departments.
The English Language component requires students to score a 75 or higher on the NYS Comprehensive English Regents Exam or score 80 or higher on the NYS Regents Exam in English Language Arts.
Students must also complete all 11th and 12th grade English courses with an average of 85 or higher.
The World Language component requires that students earn a minimum final grade of 85% in Checkpoint C (AP) World Language classes, including final exams.
Finally, students must also present a culminating project for both English Language and World Language that meets the criteria for speaking, listening, reading and writing established by the district’s Seal of Biliteracy Committee to a panel of reviewers with proficiency in English and World languages.
“In the modern world right now, it is definitely important to speak more than one language,” said Huba. “I’ve been lucky enough to visit Europe and in those schools they start with two languages from the first day you step into school. I think that’s a really important value to be able to understand the world that we are in now.”
In order to better prepare students for World Language, classes have recently been expanded into Skaneateles Middle School, creating the vertical pathway indicated by Brown.
“If we can help kids make connections early on, when it is time to learn the World Language they have chosen, hopefully they have a better foundation to do that,” said Brown. “So we are really looking at other ways of expansion too as we move forward with World Language and the Seal of Biliteracy.”
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