SHS Honors Multilingual Students
Celebrating 2022 Seal of Biliteracy Recipients
SHS students honored at Seal of Biliteracy ceremony
The high school had the most students in the state earn the seal this school year, said Erin Kemp, French and world language teacher. The school has had 463 students earn the seal to date.
Springdale High also has the most students certified in Marshallese and the only student certified in both Marshallese and Spanish in the state, said Kristen Novotny, Spanish and bilingual service learning teacher.
Springdale Public Schools leads the state in Arkansas Seal of Biliteracy students, with 1,070 of the 3,309 students recognized for the achievement stemming from Springdale Schools since the seal was officially endorsed by the Arkansas Department of Education in 2018.
Students were presented with a certificate and medal at the ceremony to recognize their achievement.
Siblings Ronny and Fatima Estrada both earned the Arkansas Seal of Biliteracy this year. Ronny Estrada is a 10th-grader, and Fatima Estrada is in the 12th grade.
"It's a great honor," Ronny Estrada said.
Fatima Estrada said she anticipates the certification will help her better serve the community in the workplace.
"I want to go into the medical field," she said, adding being bilingual will help her communicate with patients who don't speak English.
Students had to score proficient or better in English when taking the ACT, ACT Aspire or ELPA to earn the recognition. For the secondary language, students had to pass the reading, writing, listening and speaking portions of the language test.
"The Seal of Biliteracy encourages students to pursue biliteracy, honors the skills our students attain and can be evidence of skills that are attractive to future employers and college admissions offices,” according to the official website.
The Arkansas Seal of Biliteracy is approved by the Arkansas Department of Education, the Arkansas Foreign Language Teachers Association and Arkansas Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages. Adopted first by California in 2011, the Seal of Biliteracy is recognized in 48 states and Washington D.C.
Don Tyson School of Innovation's ceremony will be at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, May 18 in the DTSOI Performing Arts Center.
Be Sure to Congratulate the Following Students on Their Achievement
Watch the Arkansas Seal of Biliteracy Ceremony
Springdale High School
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