Emily Monaghan and Thomas Elustondo with teacher, Ms. Marie Nuzzi. Emily and Tom received Gold Medals at a ceremony at Jericho High School for top honors in the 2008 National Spanish Examination. On Thursday, May 29, more than 100 students of Spanish across Long Island convened at Jericho High School to be honored for their high achievement in the 2008 National Spanish Examination sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese. The exam, administered nationwide each March, is a rigorous annual competition that challenges students from all levels in all aspects of the language. There are close to 100,000 participants throughout the country, and counted among those present to receive awards at Jericho High School were Ms. Marie Nuzzi and several of her students. This year, Ms. Nuzzi had 5 gold medal winners who were among the top in the country. Two of those winners, Emily Monaghan and Thomas Elustondo, attended the ceremony with their parents and proudly accepted their gold medals for their outstanding performance on the exam. Ms. Nuzzi's other gold medal winners were Donald Casler, Victoria Chimento, and Gabrielle Garcia. These students are all in Ms. Nuzzi's Spanish 3 Honors classes. In addition to receiving a gold medal for placement in the National Spanish Exam, Victoria Chimento won second place in the 2008 Victor Baptiste Spanish Essay Contest. Victoria received an engraved plaque for her fine accomplishment.

An impressive number of students in Ms. Nuzzi's other classes excelled in the competition as well. Six students in Levels 3H, 4H and 5AP received silver status, five received bronze awards, and fifteen received Honorable Mention. Congratulations to the students and to Ms. Nuzzi for their highly commendable achievements!