It was a red-letter day for a number of students in Ms. Marie Nuzzi's Spanish classes at Garden City High School when Ms. Nuzzi received notification that nine of her students were winners in the 2009 LILT (Long Island Language Teachers) Student Foreign Language Competition. Pictured here are this year's winners with their awards (front row, left to right): Victoria Chimento, Elizabeth DeBold, with teacher Ms. Nuzzi, Nicole Saltiel, Sean Bingham; (back row, left to right): Michelle Velez, Emily Monaghan, Juliana Ortego, Alison Heuser and Alyssa Zinga.

The students competed in categories that included original essays, original poetry, language production videos, and multi-media computer programs. "I always encourage all my students to participate in anything that presents itself because I know they have the potential to be winners, and when I received the results from this competition, it only confirmed my belief!" commented Ms. Nuzzi when she learned the news. "When students have the motivation and take the initiative to go beyond the classroom, they are all winners."