Finley Students Impressive on French & Italian National Exams
Nearly five dozen J. Taylor Finley Middle School students challenged themselves by taking the national French and Italian exams this past spring. The overall results were impressive and their teacher couldn’t be happier.
Finley foreign language teacher Dr. Gina Marie Trigian-Molvaut saw 15 Finley seventh graders on the 01 Level and 11 eighth graders on Level 1 participating in this year’s Le Grand Concours, the official name given to the national French exam.
The exam is sponsored by the American Association 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.
Finley seventh grader Alice Bradford’s score ranked No. 3 in Suffolk while seventh grader Eunice Bonita Ramos notched a No. 6 ranking in the county.
“We encourage the students to participate in the prestigious exam for the extracurricular academic experience,” Dr. Trigian-Molvaut said. “Their participation has placed Finley among the ranking schools in the nation for French studies.”
National Italian Exam
Thirty Finley students participated in the Level 1 national Italian exam, including 21 seventh graders and nine eighth graders. The test is officially known as The High School Contest.
“This exam is especially challenging for our seventh graders since the exam covers content from the Italian 7-8 curriculum, which is completed at the end of eighth grade,” Dr. Trigian-Molvaut said. “We encourage our seventh grade students to participate as a preparatory experience for the national exam with the hope they participate again in eighth grade.”
Finley seventh grader Carmine DeIeseo earned honorable mention recognition along with eighth graders Candido Martinez, Steven Alberto and Francesca Greco.
“The importance of this exam is to encourage our students to participate in extracurricular academic experiences which can help with their college applications,” Dr. Trigian-Molvaut said. “More important, however, this experience integrates our students into the communities of people nationwide who use the language and culture that they are learning. Our students become aware of their belonging to those communities, not only when they meet to prepare and practice for the exam in our own school, but when they receive their awards with students form other Long Island schools.”