Students from The Highlands School Attain National Recognition

Spanish language students from The Highlands School attained national recognition for performance on the 2009 National Spanish Examination (NSE). This exam measures competency in Spanish listening comprehension, grammar, writing, vocabulary, and reading comprehension. The two-part four hundred point exam includes six levels with multiple categories within each level (Regular-no prior exposure to Spanish, Outside Experience-students with additional exposure to the language, and Bi-lingual/Native). Students who received first place will be invited to compete for one of two scholarships, a travel and study-abroad scholarship to Salamanca, Spain, or a $1000 college scholarship. This interview will take place in the October and is given by the local chapter of AATSP.

The students earned two Gold, three Silver, and one Bronze medal, along with fifteen Honorable Mention awards. “Attaining a medal or Honorable Mention for any student on the NSE is very prestigious,” said Kevin Cessna-Buscemi, NSE National Director, “because the exams are the largest of their kind in the United States with well over 115,000 students participating in 2009.”

Awards were distributed to the students as follows:

Level 01/1
2nd Place/Silver Medal - Lucy Bray

Level 2
3rd Place/Bronze Medal - Andy McCleneghen

Level 3/Bi-lingual -Native Speaker
1st Place/Gold Medal/Scholarship Nominee - Aranza Mayagoitia
2nd Place /Silver Medal - Francisco Arreola, Emilio Mayagoitia

Level 4/Bi-lingual -Native Speaker

1st Place/Gold Medal/Scholarship Nominee - Juan Carlos Mayagoitia

Students from The Highlands School have a long history of high achievement on these highly competitive exams, including five study abroad scholarship recipients to Mexico and Spain.