Students from eight local school districts gave presentations on topics ranging from legal systems to music styles at World Languages Day on April 23 at Cayuga-Onondaga BOCES.
The event helps foreign language students earn their Seal of Biliteracy, a certificate indicating they are skilled in multiple languages, BOCES said in a news release.听
Pamela McHenry, coordinator of professional learning at Cayuga-Onondaga BOCES, said the celebration is meant to recognize student success studying foreign languages.
鈥淥ur teachers wanted this to be a big day of celebration,鈥 McHenry said. 鈥淪tudents put in months of hard work and pass their assessments to prepare for their presentations to earn their Seal of Biliteracy.鈥
Gennavive Kerr, a senior at Cato-Meridian Junior-Senior High School, was one of 60 students at the event.听
People are also reading…
She said she felt confident in her language skills after comparing Spanish and American 2000s pop music during her presentation.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 really helpful to practice a lot because then you don鈥檛 even really have to think about it,鈥 Kerr said of her Spanish skills. 鈥淚 feel like I can use these skills in the real world now.鈥
Some of the other presentations compared the legal systems of the United States and Mexico, the impact of French music and the effects of homelessness in the U.S. and Italy.听
Students have to present in front of panelists who fluently speak the language they are seeking a certificate in.听
Olena Abramova, a citizen of Ukraine who now resides in Auburn, served as a panelist this year for a student presenting in Ukrainian.听
Abramova said she loved the chance to work with the students, and called bilingualism beautiful.
鈥淲hen students speak in two, three, even five languages, it鈥檚 very good for them,鈥 she said.听
Other local students were also involved in World Languages Day in other ways. Criminal justice students at BOCES served as security for the event, computer systems students took photos using drones, culinary arts students made lunches inspired by the presentations, life science students made floral arrangements and graphic design students produced invitations and programs.
Isabel Burgman, a senior at Moravia who helped design the programs for the event, said it gave her an opportunity to practice the skills she studies.听
鈥淪omething I鈥檓 working on is actually going out there, people are seeing it and I鈥檓 proud of it,鈥 Burgman said.
Isaac Nielens, a senior at Dana L. West Junior-Senior High School who photographed and videotaped the event alongside Burgman, said the collaboration made him feel like part of a community.听
鈥淎t the end of the day, we all have things that unite us," he said, "especially when it comes to languages."
