Students Excel on National Language Exams

Middle and Upper School students were recognized this week for earning medals and awards for stellar performances in World Language Contests in Spanish and French. The optional contests require demonstrations of achievement and proficiency, and multiple students scored at the highest levels to earn Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals. Below is the list of the awards and recipients.

National Spanish Exam

The National Spanish Examination is administered yearly in grades six through 12 and is sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese. It is the largest of its kind in the United States, with over 150,000 students participating in 2023.

National awards are determined by the Total Percentile as follows:

  • ORO/Gold – Students scoring at or above the 95th percentile are awarded a Premio de Oro.
  • PLATA/Silver – Students scoring from the 85th through the 94th percentile receive a Premio de Plata.
  • BRONCE/Bronze – Students scoring from the 75th through the 84th percentiles receive a Premio de Bronce.

Level 2

Carrie Clennan ’26, Gold/Oro
Sean Hogan ’26, Gold/Oro
Shil Penilla ’26, Gold/Oro
Nihaal Satwani ’26, Gold/Oro
Taylor Nuzum ’26, Silver/Plata
Avery Henriksen ’26, Bronze/Bronce

Level 3

Hale Foster ’25, Gold/Oro
Saivi Gadi ’25, Gold/Oro
Joe Intagliata ’25, Gold/Oro
Arjun Puri ’25, Gold/Oro
Oliver Ashman ’25, Silver/Plata
Ryan Jan ’25, Silver/Plata
Diya Makkapati ’25, Bronze/Bronce

Level 4

Shivani Devrapally ’24, Silver/Plata
Binta Fall ’23, Silver/Plata
Intisar Iqbal ’24, Silver/Plata
Ananya Kamineni ’24, Silver/Plata
Mikaela Mikulec ’24, Silver/Plata
Emma Rupinski ’24, Silver/Plata
Sameer Shafqat ’24, Silver/Plata
Thomas Woodrow ’24, Silver/Plata
Chloe Davis ’24, Bronze/Bronce

Level 5

Penny Chen ’23, Silver/Plata
Jackson Chou ’23, Silver/Plata

National French Contest

The Grand Concours (National French Contest) is administered each year in grades six through 12 and is sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of French. Students were evaluated for their written, oral, and listening comprehension skills in French. This year over 43,000 students participated.

National awards are determined as follows:

  • PLATINE/Platinum – The highest score in level/division (National Rank 1) OR (Gold) – students in the 95th percentile and above
  • ARGENT/Silver – students in the 85th through 94th percentile
  • BRONZE/Bronze – students in the 75th through 84th percentile

Upper School

Level 2

Aiyla Ahmad ’26, médaille d’or (gold)
Lilia Oulamine ’26, médaille d’argent (silver)

Level 3

Abhinav Katyal ’25, médaille de bronze (bronze)
Amisha Poojari ’25, médaille d’argent (silver)
Revathi Warrier ’25, médaille d’or (gold)

Level 4

Devon Catsavis ’24, médaille de bronze (bronze)
Sophia Huddleston ’25, médaille de bronze (bronze)
Madison Sineff ’24, médaille d’argent (silver)

Level 5

Quinn Autry ’23, médaille d’argent (silver)

Middle School

Five Middle School students achieved proficiency in French, and the awardees are listed below.

Level 1, Division A

Simera Balci ’28, Bronze
Andrew Li ’28, Silver
Johanna Orwick ’28, Bronze

Level 1, Division B

Samantha O’Neil ’28, Certificat de Mérite
Audrey Taves ’28, Certificat de Mérite

Upper School World Language Teacher Steven Crumb said, “We’re delighted to have had a number of students participating across all levels and earning awards for exceptional performances. This optional competition is just one more way students can test their mettle in a new language and demonstrate a level of proficiency that can be a real benefit for them in their future studies and careers.”

Congratulations, Rams!