On Tuesday, May 7th, 2024, West Chicago Community High School recognized Senior students for earning the Illinois State Commendation towards Biliteracy or the Seal of Biliteracy at a Seal of Biliteracy Celebration Ceremony. This year, awards were earned in six languages: French, German, Polish, Spanish, Tagalog & Ukrainian. Students who earned either level of biliteracy will receive recognition on their diploma as well as noted on their official transcript. Recipients will also be recognized at Senior Awards Night next week.
The Commendation toward Biliteracy was awarded to the following 10 seniors in 4 different languages: French-Sasha Baumgartner, Hugo Garcia, & Isaac Hernandez; German-Natalie Fernandez, Arely Jacobo, Zaida Morales Guerrero & Micah Weber; Spanish-Esayn Caballero & Simran Dave; & Tagalog-Jayem Nato.
The Seal of Biliteracy was awarded to the following 51 students in 4 different languages:
French-Alessandra Angeles, Cristian Hernandez; Polish-Emily Ziajor; Spanish-Alessandra Angeles, Alexis Avila Hernandez, Leonardo Barrientos, Judith Benitez, Amy Cadena, Gerardo Coss, Kevin Dorl, Kylie Doyle, Alessandra Duran Corona, Julissa Duran, Melanie Duran, Matthew Eaton, Lila Espino, Joshua Fernandez, Natalie Fernandez, Zitlaly Garcia-Medina, Hugo Garcia, Samantha Garcia Ariza, Briana Guerrero, Christina Guo, Cristian Hernandez, Isaac Hernandez, Rafael De Jesus Herrera Mota, Graham Johnson, Maizy Jury, Jasmin Levya, Luz Lopez, Marisol Luis, Rosa Marquez, Annie Mendoza, Vanessa Miguel-Garcia, Francis Moffatt, Yael Montes, Zaida Morales Guerrero, Leonardo Munoz, Janelle Perez, Jocelyn Ramirez, Natalie Ramos, Joel Romero Reyes, Vanessa Romero Reyes, Rory Rudden, Lauren Sikma, Sophia Spinelli, Mildred Vargas Morales, Reyli Vivaldo Soledad, Luke Zapata, & Scotty Zentner; & Ukrainian- Nazarii Krailiuk.
This year, four students were awarded Commendations in more than one language; Natalie Fernandez (German & Spanish), Hugo Garcia (French & Spanish), Isaac Hernandez (French & Spanish), and Zaida Morales Guerrero (German & Spanish).
Alessandra Angeles & Cristian Hernandez received the Seal status in both French & Spanish.
Since 2018, the Seal of Biliteracy has been awarded 179 times at West Chicago Community High School. This year was the first year that students received recognition in Tagalog & Ukrainian.
West Chicago Community High School believes this is an opportunity to recognize students who demonstrate high levels of proficiency in a language other than English. Recipients are more competitive to future employers and college admissions offices. In addition, in the state of Illinois, they are eligible for free college credit at all public colleges and universities.
Qualifications:
The Illinois State Seal of Biliteracy recognizes high school graduates who have attained a high level of proficiency in one or more languages in addition to English. To qualify, recipients must demonstrate proficiency in English and a second language that is equivalent to Intermediate-High or above, as determined by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages.
To qualify for the Commendation toward Biliteracy, recipients demonstrate English and/or second language proficiency with a rating of Intermediate-Low or Intermediate-Mid. To qualify, seniors must earn a minimum score on the SAT, ACT, ACCESS for ELLs 2.0, AAPPL, AP, or STAMP in each language. For students who may speak a language not tested on one of these assessments, a language portfolio may be developed which is then evaluated by the same standards.
Since its initiation in 2018, West Chicago Community High School has issued biliteracy awards in Arabic, French, German, Polish, Spanish, Tagalog & Ukrainian. More information about the Seal of Biliteracy program specifically at West Chicago Community High School is available at https://www.d94.org/academics-m-z/world-languages/seal-of-biliteracy or by contacting Jenna Windt at jwindt@d94.org.
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