This year, 16 students from Rondout Valley High School (RVHS) have successfully earned the New York State Seal of Biliteracy. This prestigious honor is only bestowed on students who demonstrate a deep understanding of a foreign language, which takes years of dedicated study.

The recipients include Sydney Allen (Spanish), Merryn Arms (Spanish), Shana Blandon (Spanish), Jill Creegan (Spanish), Adeline Delessio (French), Chloe Goodin (Spanish), Sebastian Guerrero (Spanish), Sierra Hikade (French), Luke Kotsides (Spanish), Nicholas Laskowski (Spanish), Adriana Marano (Spanish), Jackson Paley (French), Ellis Picuri (Spanish), Gabriel Schoonmaker (Spanish), Caleb Taszak (Spanish) and Olivia Waruch (Spanish). Congrats to these 16 high achievers!

To receive the Seal of Biliteracy, students are required to submit an application in the fall and are assigned a mentor who they meet with every other week to work on research, produce writing samples, and practice for their presentation and interview in mid-April. This year’s project topics ranged from music, sports, or fashion to informational projects about hot air balloons, the Galapagos Islands, and the history of Tapas. Students are evaluated by a panel of experts, and they must be ready to present and answer questions, all in their target language.

“It takes years of dedication to achieve this level of proficiency in a language,” explains World Language teacher and Seal of Biliteracy Coordinator Victoria Robertson. “The Seal of Biliteracy is an extraordinary and essential program which allows our biliterate students to receive the recognition that they deserve.”

The Seal of Biliteracy Committee at RVHS, which is made up of World Language teacher Patricia Abi-Hassan, English teacher Robyn McDonough, School Counselor Alison Klein, Director of Curriculum Natalie Harjes, School Librarian Tara Thibault-Edmonds, and community member Jim Sullivan, provides students with support and resources throughout the year to help them reach their full potential.

“It is impressive to see how much our students grow and learn as they work towards this achievement,” says Robertson. “The skills they are working on are not only in language proficiency, but also their ability to conduct research, their public speaking, their dedication to carrying out goals, and their constant self-reflection.”