Finley French Students Post
Impressive Results
Seven J. Taylor Finley Middle School students placed in the top ten in Suffolk in this year's national French contest. Officially known as Le Grand Concours, the contest is sponsored by the American Assn. of Teachers of French.
Tens of thousands of students from all 50 states and many foreign countries participate in the written exam, which is a premier event for those in grades 1-2 who are studying French. In all, 26 Finley seventh and eighth graders took the prestigious national exam.
"Finley has a long tradition of participating in the Le Grand Concours, and we have ranked well both in our Suffolk chapter and in the nation," said Finley French teacher Dr. Gina Marie Trigian-Molvaut.
Among the 12 seventh graders to participate in the contest were Alexandre Smith, who was fourth in Suffolk, Marina Ruzic and Kathryn Dara, who were both ranked ninth in the county, Claire Hannon, William Garfinkel, Jason Kessler, Jacob Labarge, Ryan Marie McKean, Logan Rice, Jonathan Shechter, Caroline Tonks and Grace Youngquist.
The 14 eighth graders included Yardlie Daniel, who was ranked third in Suffolk and fourth in the nation, Ann Glackin who was ranked fifth in the county and sixth nationally, Emily Shutman, who was eighth in the chapter and ninth in the country, Olatunji Ikuomenisan, who was tenth in the chapter, John Arias, Elizabeth Brand, Jesus Bruno, Aaron Feltman Ekaterina Koulakova, John Malone, Caroline Petrozzo, Mitchel Rudish, Jason Stickell, Marlem Tellez.
The top seven Finley students were invited to attend the AATF awards celebration at Kings Park High School in the waning days of the school year this past June. Just taking the challenging exam is seen as an accomplishment because it attracts many of the best and brightest young minds in the country.
Ms. Daniel also received Finley's ESL Award and the Spanish Award. "She is our world language star student," Dr. Trigian-Molvaut.