Huntington is Magnificent on
National Spanish Exam
Huntington High School students earned 19 medals in this year’s National Spanish Exam competition. The honorees included three gold, eight silver and eight bronze medalists, placing members of the group among the elite nationally.
The NSE is a series of exams for those on various levels of study. The tests, which are sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese, are voluntarily administered to students in grades 6-12 across the country.
Huntington’s honorees are enrolled in classes taught by foreign language teachers Lorena Díaz, Jessica Mammone, Elizabeth Casazza and Mercy Peña.
“The outstanding performance of Huntington students on the exam speaks volumes of the effort they put in routinely and the high quality language instruction they receive at both the elementary and secondary levels,” Huntington Superintendent James W. Polansky said.
The NSE was administered in a paper form from 1957-2005 before moving to an online format. More than 3,800 teachers across the country participate annually in the voluntary exam with classes that are studying Spanish as a second language. The test measures proficiency and achievement.
“Attaining a medal or honorable mention [recognition] for any student on the National Spanish Examinations is very prestigious, because the exams are the largest of their kind in the United States with well over 142,000 students participating in 2014,” said Kevin Cessna-Buscemi, national director of the exams.”
Three of Ms. Diaz’s bilingual students garnered medals in the competition including gold medalist Santos Garcia, silver medalist Sisney Chavez and bronze medalist Cindy Estrada.
Ms. Casazza’s silver medalists included Rachel Carpenter, Alexandra Koumas, Sofia Suarez and Samuel Latt. Her bronze medalists included Yardalie Daniel, Holly LoTurco, Danielle Melgar, Sabrina Palacios and Jahnai’ Sands. Honorable mention recognition went to Elyas Amin, Nina Cartwright, Chelsea Connell, Christopher Glowacky, Michael Karasik, Caroline McCartney, Spencer Pashkin, Katie Reilly, Lotoya Shand, Emily Williams and Diego Rodriquez.
Mrs. Mammone saw Charles Beers, one her prized students win honorable mention recognition.
Mrs. Pena’s students enjoyed a strong performance on this year’s NSE, with 17 capturing honors, including gold medalists Brian Gilbert and Lenni Joya. Silver medalists included Greta Farrell, Rogelio Jimenez and Irma Granados. The veteran educator’s bronze medalists were Jesse Feldman-Stein and Ashley Lopez. Honorable mention awards were earned by Collin Francis, Leah Butz, Lily Morris, David Alvarado, Leonardo Martinez, Jeannie Kopstein, Samantha Conte, Oscar Aguilar, Cindy Lopez and Carlos Gonzalez.