Students Receive National Foreign Language Recognition
Earlier this week, we held our first ever combined Le Grand Concours (National French Exam) and National Spanish Exam awards ceremony in the Middle School. A full house of parents watched as we handed out over a hundred medals to our students in Tenth Age through Eighth Grade. Last week, we held a similar ceremony in front of the entire Middle School for our National Latin Exam winners. Sixty-five of our Seventh and Eighth Graders earned recognition for their understanding of Latin and Roman culture.
Calvert Tenth Age through Eighth Grade students participated in Le Grand Concours, earning 43 awards with 15 receiving the highest honor. In addition, Seventh Grader Carina B. received the Platinum award, which is the top score in the nation. This is a national competition sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of French. Students were evaluated for their written, oral and listening comprehension skills in French. More than 85,000 students in all 50 states competed in the 2017 event. AATF President Catherine Danièlou stated, “Le Grand Concours participants and winners all embrace an appreciation for other cultures, strive to continually learn and improve, and value the study of French.”
Our Spanish students in Fifth Grade through Eighth Grade attained national recognition for excellent performance on the 2017 National Spanish Exam, receiving a total 53 awards with 9 earning the highest honor. This is the first year that Fifth Graders have taken the Spanish test. “Attaining a medal or honorable mention for any student on the National Spanish Examinations is very prestigious,” said Kevin Cessna-Buscemi, National Director of the Exams, “because the exams are the largest of their kind in the United States with over 157,000 students participating in 2017.”
Over 15,000 students in fifteen countries take the National Latin Exam, including 80 students at Calvert in both Seventh and Eighth Grade. Sixty-five Calvert students scored higher than the national average including seven perfect scores out of 299 worldwide. This is especially impressive for Seventh Grader Annelise O. who received a perfect score while only meeting three times a cycle. The National Latin exam is sponsored by the American Classical League and the National Junior Classical League and evaluates students on grammar, comprehension, mythology, derivatives, literature, Roman life, history, geography, oral Latin, and Latin in use in the modern world.
Calvert has a long history of high achievement on these exams. Congratulations to our students and to Spanish teachers, Sra. Menefee, Sra. Sachar, and Sr. Pittman; French teachers Mme. Cooke, M. Ali, and M. Pittman; and Latin teachers Mr. Holmgren, Mr. Norton, and Mr. Slade.
Calvert School is a coed independent lower and middle school.
