This week the World Languages Department presented awards to students in grades 7-12 who achieved outstanding scores on national exams in French, Latin and Spanish. Congratulations to everyone.
Le Grand Concours – National French Contest
Le Grand Concours is a national competition sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of French. Students were evaluated for their written, oral and listening comprehension skills in French. More than 85,000 students in all 50 states competed in the 2017 event. Dr. Steven Crumb, Ms. Zuowei Chang, and Ms. Tricia Dimit report that 7th grader Coumba Diallo, 8th grader Sydney Pollock, and 11th grader Astrid Barzaghi all took first place in the St. Louis region for their levels! Following is the full list of participants.
Level 5A – (Advanced/12th Grade): Astrid Barzaghi, Hopie Melton
Level 4A (11th Grade): Caroline Peluso, Ana Vallespir, Binxuan Zhang
Level 3A (10th Grade): Kate Trowbridge, Elsa Sjogren
Level 2A (9th Grade): Ryan Ahn, Reagan Calcari, Ceci Cohen, Alex Migala
Level 1A (8th Grade): Ava Bussman, Estephanie Estrada, Janie Guirl, Jack Morris, Sydney Pollock, Fiona Richards, Zoe Zucker
Level 01B (7th Grade): Coumba Diallo, Jack Lay
National Latin Exam
The National Latin Exam, sponsored by the American Classical League, is a 40-question, multiple-choice test offered to students on seven levels. On the Introduction to Latin, Latin I, Latin II, Latin III, Latin III/IV Prose, and Latin III/IV Poetry exams, there are questions on grammar, comprehension, mythology, derivatives, literature, Roman life, history, geography, oral Latin, and Latin in use in the modern world. The Latin V-VI exam contains two Latin passages as the basis for questions on grammar, comprehension, historical background, classical literature, and literary devices. The exam was taken by over 149,000 students from all 50 states and 16 foreign countries.
Freshmen
Evan Hofer — Cum Laude
Riley Oliver — Cum Laude
Meade Summers — Magna Cum Laude
Tommy Sheehan — Magna Cum Laude
Meaghan Cannon — Silver, Maxima Cum Laude
Christian Lenoir — Silver, Maxima Cum Laude
Barbara Rentz-Ribeiro — Gold, Summa Cum Laude
Sophomores
Sam Kastor — Magna Cum Laude
Zuri Reid — Magna Cum Laude
Kat Kosup — Silver, Maxima Cum Laude
Juniors
Cara Johnson Cum Laude
Addi Thomas Magna Cum Laude
Nick Jones Gold, Summa Cum Laude
Lou Chalfant Gold, Summa Cum Laude
Jacqueline Zoeller Gold, Summa Cum Laude
Seniors
Payton Smith Cum Laude
Abinaya Lakshmanan Cum Laude
Leila Payer Magna Cum Laude
Nidhi Bhaskar Gold, Summa Cum Laude
Maureen O’Donnell Memorial Award
*for students who have earned four Gold Medals. They receive an Oxford Classical Dictionary.
Nick Jones
Lou Chalfant
2017 CAMWS Award for Outstanding Accomplishment in Classical Studies
As an Institutional Member of CAMWS (The Classical Association of the Middle, West, and South), MICDS can nominate one student to receive this award. Candidates for this award must have completed at least three years of Latin study, proven academic excellence, and, most importantly, displayed a long-lasting love of the Classics. The winner of this award receives a complimentary one-year membership in CAMWS for the following academic year, including an electronic subscription to Classical Journal and access to the Loeb Classical Library On-Line.
Kate Hammersmith ’17
National Spanish Exam
Congratulations to the following MICDS students for their excellent performance on the 2017 National Spanish Examinations.
“Attaining a medal for any student on the National Spanish Examinations is very prestigious,” said Kevin Cessna-Buscemi, National Director of the Exams, “because the exams are the largest of their kind in the United States with over 157,000 students participating in 2017.” Mrs. Rene Ashman teaches classes that correspond to Exam Level 2, 4, and 5, while Mr. Patrick Huewe teaches classes that correspond to Exam Level 3, respectively. Congratulations to teachers and students!
Awards are designated as the following:
Bronce = Bronze
Plata = Silver
Oro = Gold
The following students took the NSE and earned medals in their respective categories this year:
Level 2 – Bronce: Lauren Bedell, Lauren Ferguson, Maya Pinz
Level 2 – Plata: Griffin Baur, James Bilderback, Will Bohlmann, Hadley Cooper, Alysha Ford, Benjamin Johnson, Caroline Liekweg, Eli Paul, Hope Pohlman, Celia Sprong, Elena Thomas, Lucy Zhao, Mereya Riopedre
Level 2 – Oro: Jack Bay, Trisha Bhattacharya, Kelci Creath, John Curylo, Spencer Herron, Will Morris, Zoya Qayyum, Alexandra Ridgway, Jude Sorkin
Level 3 – Bronce: Arpan Anand, Kaylie Carpenter, Matt Cowley, Cassidy Kearins, Caroline Sant
Level 3 – Plata: Caroline Arnold, Richik Chakraborty, Alexandra Fox, Haniya Habib, Sam Hanser, Olivia Proctor, Christopher Shannon, Taylor Turnell
Level 3 – Oro: Caroline Abel, Hope Abel, Michael Gira, Mimi Klahr, Ana Larsen, Luke McCollough, Nicholas Mellanby, Jacob Peistrup, Steve Schepman, Sonya Shafqat, Kabir Singh, Anna Yuska, Ameera Zafar
Level 4 – Bronce: Haya Ahmed, Berkeley Bearden, Stephanie Gabel, Tomas Larsen, Katherine O’Hara, Sruthi Sripada
Level 4 – Plata: Atri Bhattacharyya, Amelia Love, Harrison Thomas, Kayla Work, Fernanda Medici Sousa,
Level 4 – Oro: Shannon Gould, Amanda Kalishman, J.D. Mikula, Elizabeth Reisinger
Level 5 – Bronce: Abdullah Almousalli, Sanchita Sen, Philip Speegle, Annabel Warren
Level 5 – Plata: Jacob Flom, Emma Klahr, Luke Layton, Ana Vallespir
Level 5 – Oro: Trisha Venkatesh
In addition, the following students received special recognition and a cash prize for their outstanding performance in these categories:
Trisha Venkatesh – Level 5, “Classroom Experience”
Ana Vallespir – Level 5, “Bilingual”
Fernanda Medici Sousa – Level 4, “Classroom Experience”
Jacob Peistrup – Level 3, “Classroom Experience