After celebrating our multicultural community at the International Expo, JK-12 World Languages Department Chair Patrick Huewe extended the festivities by recognizing the MICDS students who have earned the Missouri Seal of Biliteracy. The seal is awarded to students who have demonstrated achievement in English, a Language Other Than English (LOTE), and sociocultural competence. All Missouri students studying any of the world’s languages are potential Seal candidates.
The Missouri Seal promotes active participation in a global society and economy by incentivizing, recognizing, and celebrating the acquisition of biliteracy skills and sociocultural awareness. Students satisfy criteria for biliteracy attainment using internationally or nationally recognized language assessments, or in the cases of rare or unique languages, a comprehensive portfolio evaluated by a professional proficient in that language.
A world languages program prepares students for life in a global society and economy. These skills include the ability to communicate with clients, colleagues, and associates who speak a language other than English as well as understand the sociocultural intricacies that can further enhance the relationship. The Missouri Seal is intended to clarify, validate, and revitalize the public perceptions associated with acquiring languages, raise awareness of the need and benefits of acquiring a second language and promote cultural understanding.
The mission of the MICDS World Languages Department is to graduate students who possess language skills and proficiency, multicultural perspectives, and global competence with the purpose of embracing all people with compassion. Graduates will have built relationships with diverse communities in an interconnected world and be empathetic global citizens who endeavor to lead lives of service and purpose and act virtuously.
Huewe said, “Learning a language is much more than an academic endeavor at MICDS because teachers provide regular opportunities for students to connect their classroom experience with authentic applications of language. The students who earned the Seal of Biliteracy have gone above and beyond classroom expectations to demonstrate that they can communicate proficiently in all skill areas of a world language at high levels, as evidenced by their performance on the Standards-Based Measurement of Proficiency (STAMP). In addition to and complementing their language proficiency, these SOBL recipients are also skilled at intercultural communication, which emphasizes the importance of valuing the identity and understanding the perspectives of the people whose cultures we study in our language program by actively engaging with the people who represent them. Finally, this credential is lifelong and may appear on future resumés and college applications as a crucial 21st-century skill to showcase our graduates as global citizens in an ever-changing and interconnected world. Congratulations to all of the students and teachers on this amazing achievement.”
Mandarin Seal Recipients
Nominated by Lily Childs
- Nicole Dai ’23
- Emma Scally ’22
- Emma Shao ’23
- Nathan Yao ’23
- Yuhan Yang ’23
French Seal Recipients
Nominated by Steven Crumb
- Nikitha Ada ’23
- Amara Autry ’23
- Selina Balci ’22
- Mason Bedell ’23
- Ashley Benoist ’23
- Maya Dickinson ’23
- Nina Hamilton ’22
- Amani Hendricks ’22
- Peyton LaMartina ’22
- Evelyn Lui ’23
- Hannah Morey ’23
- Sonia Oulamine ’24
- Philip Ralph ’23
- Meihua Stansberry ’23
- Louis Wuestenberg ’25
Spanish Seal Recipients
Nominated by Robin Begley
- Varsha Devisetty ’23
- Erica Engelhardt ’23
- Cristian Ford-Urenda ’23
- Ava Janes ’23
- Kareena Kanumury ’23
- Rachel Keener ’23
- Emma Mills ’23
- Juliette Phillips ’23
- Julia Ray ’23
- Anagayle Senn ’23
- Isabelle Wood ’23
Spanish Seal Recipients
Nominated by Sarah Elliott
- June Brown ’22
- Charlie Giles ’22
- Josh Grossman ’22
- Jack Hayes ’22
- Anna Lochhead ’22
- Siraj Mufti ’22
- Gabe Probst ’22
- Kaylen Taylor ’22
Spanish Seal Recipients
Nominated by Patrick Huewe
- Aariz Ahmad ’22
- Elliot Concannon ’24
- Alexandra Johnson ’22
- Isabella Kimbrough ’22
- Maggie Maguire ’22
- Ryan Mauney ’22
- Ahmad Rafiq ’22
- Brooke Roth ’22
- Elizabeth Suffian ’22
Spanish Seal Recipients
Nominated by Patrick Huewe
- Nigina Aripova ’22
- Sebastian Ashman ’22
- Sonia Bhayani ’22
- Ima Ekpelu ’22
- Olivia Ferguson ’22
- Elizabeth Gira ’22
- Paige Hayes ’22
- Audrey Mahoney ’22
- Gretchen Mertz ’22
- Katie Mikulec ’22
- Yaw Nketia ’22
- Tony Nunn ’22
- Olivia Rickers ’22
- Sasha Shanker ’22
- Alden Small ’22
- Akshara Sriram ’22
- Dan Ye ’22
- Ittmum Zahir ’22
Spanish Seal Recipients
Nominated by Kelly Weidenmiller
- Maya Anderson ’23
- Siri Battula ’22
- Mason Boon ’23
- Henry Byrne ’23
- Ishan Chauhan ’23
- Emma Cohen ’23
- Caroline Cooper ’22
- Brianna Desai ’23
- Hannah Forsberg ’23
- Joshua Fundler ’22
- Jordan Gross ’23
- Hannah Haidery ’23
- Zaire Harrell ’22
- Sophie Henriksen ’22
- George Herron ’23
- Riley Hunter ’23
- Andrew Kuznetsov ’22
- Marina Lea-Bernstein ’23
- Owen Limbrick ’23
- Madolyn Mackin ’23
- Harrison Mandell ’23
- Mark Mintzlaff ’22
- Paige Naughton ’22
- Prajay Pandiri ’23
- Deren Pellegrini ’23
- Layan Salman ’22
- Kyle Sha ’23
- Holt Tipton ’23
Spanish Seal Recipients
Nominated by Kelly Weidenmiller
- Skye Brothers ’23
- Penny Chen ’23
- Jane Cohen ’23
- Ashley Cooper ’23
- Kendall Curry ’23
- Henley Danforth ’23
- Layla Daud ’23
- Ammar Haroon ’23
- Maggie Johnson ’23
- Michio Kamimura ’23
Heritage and Native Speaker Recipients
Nominated by Erin Hamill
- Nigina Aripova ’22 – Russian
- Selina Balci ’22 – Turkish
- Hailey Kim ’22 – Korean
- Deren Pellegrini ’23 – Turkish
