National Spanish Exam gold medal recipients were honored on Wednesday, June 3rd, at a special Awards Ceremony at Jericho High School for their outstanding achievement in several competitions both nationally and locally. Pictured here are several of the medal recipients with Ms. Marie Nuzzi (center). Garden City High School students in Mr. Peter Giacalone's, Mrs. Nora Artibee's, Ms. Marie Nuzzi's and Mrs. Dolores Beckner's Spanish classes recently participated in the 2009 National Spanish Exam. The National Spanish Examination is a very difficult online, standardized assessment tool given voluntarily by over 3,000 teachers throughout the United States to measure the proficiency and achievement of students who are studying Spanish as a second language. Students scoring at or above the 95th percentile are awarded a Premio de Oro; 85-94th percentile, a Premio de Plata; 75-84th percentile, a Premio de Bronce; at or above the 50 (national average) - 74th percentile, a Premio de Excelencia.

This year, Garden City High School students were awarded 10 Oro (gold), 19 Plata (silver), 14 Bronce (bronze), and 40 Premio. "I am extremely proud of the work our students have accomplished and how well they have achieved on this challenging exam," commented World Languages coordinator Mr. Peter Giacalone.

Congratulations to Garden City High School Spanish students and their teachers for achieving top honors in this year's National Spanish Exam. The top three National Spanish Awards awards went to - Premio de Oro: Sean Bingham, Donald Casler, Brian Emmert, Liliana Fiorenti, Jennifer Jaeger, Steven Jozkowski, Alina Ranjbaran, Nicole Saltiel, Victoria Seskin, and Allison Shen; Premio de Plata: Megan Bader, Ariana Browand, Victoria Chimento, Elizabeth DeBold, Franklin Dickinson, Vincent Dioguardi, Douglas Donnelly III, Erin Donnelly, Thomas Elustondo, Irene Frantzis, Alexander Gee, Jan Gong, Emily Monaghan, James Purcell, Virginia Schieck, Thomas Spain, Marisa Su, Catherine Sullivan, and Michelle Velez; Premio de Bronce: Thomas Butler, Bethany DeStefano, Deirdre Gaine, Kimberly Go, Kaitlin Harrison, Taylor Hennig, Keith Hoge, Christine Lopez, Griffin Lord, Elizabeth Mahoney, Peter Mennelly, Dylan Safyer, Kaitlin Wilson, and Paulina Zaferiou.

Additionally, in early May, the Long Island Chapter of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP) notified Garden City High School Principal, Ms. Nanine Cuttitta, that Ms. Nora Artibee, Ms. Dolores Beckner, Ms. Marie Nuzzi, and coordinator Mr. Peter Giacalone were being recognized by AATSP for their professionalism and dedication.

Congratulations to this year's honored Spanish students and teachers for their outstanding achievements!