 - Three Lander Valley High School seniors were recognized this month for earning the Wyoming Seal of Biliteracy in English and Spanish: Alondra Osorio, Sophia Rogers, and Zoe Szymanski. ){kind=link}
(Lander, WY) – Three Lander Valley High School seniors were recognized this month for earning the Wyoming Seal of Biliteracy in English and Spanish: Alondra Osorio, Sophia Rogers, and Zoe Szymanski.
The honor is awarded to students who are proficient in multiple languages by the time they graduate high school, LVHS Spanish Teacher Jaime Basham said during a Lander School Board meeting last week.
“It encourages our students to pursue biliteracy – so being proficient in English speaking, writing, and reading and also speaking, writing, and reading in Spanish,” Basham explained. “It’s a prestigious award that recognizes the hard work that these three ladies have put into being proficient in both English and in Spanish.”
To qualify for the award for English and Spanish, Basham said the three LVHS students had to score an 18 or higher on the English Language Arts portion of the ACT test and score three points or higher on the Advanced Placement Spanish Language and Culture Exam – which she described as “a monster.”
“There’s 21 Spanish speaking countries, (and) there’s six themes and 36 sub-themes,” Basham said. “And so they have to be able to write an essay, write an email, have a simulated conversation, (and) have authentic cultural comparison – all before lunch. So it’s a pretty amazing task. … I’m incredibly proud of all of their achievements.”
After graduation, Basham said Osorio plans to attend Central Wyoming College and study speech pathology with an emphasis in Spanish, while Rogers plans to attend the University of Wyoming and study art education – specifically ceramics – and Szymanski plans to attend the University of Utah to become a certified registered nurse in anesthesiology.