The Valley Stream North community is proud to announce the class of 2020 New York State Seal of Biliteracy recipients. The pause to live learning did not deter the World Language chairperson, Ms. Laura West and co-coordinators Ms. Rose Scaglione and Mr. Fabian Jara to organize, guide and lead a determined group of 32 bilingual, and in some cases, trilingual students to fulfill the NYSED requirements to receive such a notable seal. This is only the second year that North has offered this opportunity to their students, and saw a growth from 18 to 32 seals awarded! The NYSSBL team is excited to recruit more student candidates to apply, and ultimately qualify to receive the seal in the years to come.
The process required students to prove that they are highly proficient in English and a world language. The candidates had to provide transcript evidence of mastery in English, through their ELA Regents exam scores, ELA AP course performance and exam scores. In some cases, students had to defend an argument via an essay and present to a panel of ELA teachers for discussion.
Once they completed the ELA portion of their application, the candidates were required to present an oral presentation in which they compared a cultural aspect of the target language with the United States culture. The presentations were conducted via Zoom with a panel of administrators, teachers, guidance counselors and in some cases, interpreters. The candidates presented their oral presentations in Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, French and French Creole. Topics included discussions on family values, economic opportunities, challenges in education, social injustices, environmental concerns, human rights concerns, traditional celebrations and gastronomy, to name a few.
North salutes the NYSSBL 2020 recipients. We are proud of you and know that your skills in languages will help you as you all move on to the next chapter of your lives.
We are proud to announce the name of each recipient:
• Aadam Ali (Spanish)
• Angelina Perrone (Italian)
• Anna Westfall (Spanish and Mandarin Chinese)
• Antonella Chiriboga (Spanish)
• Brenda Perez (Spanish)
• Brianna Ruffino (Italian)
• Chizuruoke Onuoha (Spanish)
• Devonte Gordon (Spanish)
• Djermany Dorval (French)
• Eisha Nasar (Spanish)
• Elyas Carvan (Spanish)
• Hannah Indiviglio (Italian)
• Imani Charles (Spanish)
• Isabellah Paul (Spanish)
• Jahziel Fajardo (Spanish)
• Jennifer Vela (Italian)
• Kimberly Vasquez (Spanish)
• Kristina Dormeus (French Creole)
• Kristy Philogene (French Creole)
• Leslie Ramos (Spanish and Italian)
• Lucca Goldberg (Portuguese)
• Marisa Tartamella (Italian)
• Matthew Marrone (Italian)
• Nicholas Koches (Italian)
• Nicole Wykes (Spanish)
• Presley Stelle (Italian)
• Ronald Monsanto (French Creole)
• Shannon Morgan (Italian)
• Uzair Khan (Spanish)
• Vito Anteri (Spanish)
• Vito Oliveri (Italian)
• Yeiris Duran (Spanish)
Congratulations to you all. We also want to congratulate your families who ultimately have supported your love of language learning. It takes an entire community to build a love for all cultures and languages. We are proud to say that our North community exemplifies our love and acceptance of our cultural differences.
Good luck to the entire class of 2020.