Forty Lexington Two High School Students Awarded South Carolina Seal of Biliteracy
West Columbia, SC – A total of forty high school students from Lexington Two qualified for the esteemed South Carolina Seal of Biliteracy, as announced by the South Carolina Department of Education. This prestigious award serves as an acknowledgement for students who have demonstrated proficiency in both English and at least one additional language prior to their graduation.
This renowned seal either appears on the student’s diploma or is awarded as a separate certificate. It can also come with a notation on the graduates’ transcripts. Skill levels measured via testing and ranked as such, with Gold being the most distinguished.
Lexington Two’s Multilingual Achievers
The students, all juniors or seniors, hail from Airport High School and Brookland-Cayce High School, and have proven proficiency in languages such as Spanish, Chinese, French, German, Italian, and Latin. Some of the students achieved mastery in more than one language.
Airport High School’s Linguistic Talent
In Spanish, mastery was exhibited by Balentin Cabrera-Diaz (Silver), Yarelin Esquivel licona (Silver), Kathleen Valadez (Silver), Juan Pelayo-Velasco (Bronze), Julyanis De La Cruz Sanchez (Bronze), Yareni Guadalupe Perez Velasquez (Bronze), Marleen Reyes-Cruz (Bronze), Alondra Roldan Garcia (Bronze), Jimena del Pozo Romero (Silver), Lhesly Zepeda-Hernandez (Bronze).
Brookland-Cayce High School’s Polyglots
At Brookland-Cayce High School, multilingual mastery was broad. Caroline Hoffman (Bronze) and Karl Lawson (Silver) conquered Chinese. Leonardo Pignataro (Bronze) showed proficiency in French, while his aptitude in German secured a Gold award. In Italian, Nicoletta Iorio de Marco (Gold) and Leonardo Pignataro (Bronze) emerged. Latin was mastered by Jantz Bryant (Bronze), Giana Del Priore (Bronze), Nicoletta Iorio de Marco (Gold), Norah Kay (Bronze), and Dulce Martinez (Silver). In Spanish, a significant number of students illustrated notable proficiency.
Valuing Bilingual Education and Skills
This recognition of the South Carolina Seal of Biliteracy underscores the enduring emphasis on bilingual education and skills within our diverse society. It celebrates language diversity and encourages students to maintain and improve their mother tongue or learnt new languages, embellishing their cultural competence and paving way for greater career opportunities and global awareness.
Lexington Two High School Students’ Achievement Recognized
The campaign for biliteracy and the recognition of these talented Lexington Two high school students reaffirms the belief that multilingual skills are invaluable in today’s global scenario. Their achievements represent not only personal success but also the capacity of our educational institutions to effectively cultivate and enrich the linguistic talents within our young generation.
