59 York Grads Earn Biliteracy Recognition

Submitted by Elmhurst Community Unit School District 205.

Elmhurst, IL - Elmhurst District 205 has awarded the Illinois State Seal of Biliteracy for the second year in a row.

A total of 41 graduating seniors earned the Seal of Biliteracy in the following languages: Arabic, Chinese, French, Polish, Russian and Spanish, with Oksana Batryn and Caroline Stasica earning Seals in two different languages.

A total of 20 Class of 2016 graduates earned the Commendation Toward Biliteracy in the following languages: Chinese, French, Greek, Italian, Polish, Russian and Spanish.

Of these students, four are current English Language Learners (ELLs), seven are former English Language Learners and many have home languages other than English or are monolingual English speakers.

Two students - Jaqueline Gonzalez and Adela Skowronski - earned both a Seal and a Commendation in two different languages. To view the list of 59 who were honored, see below.

The Illinois State Seal of Biliteracy is an award bestowed by the Illinois State Board of Education and given by the District in recognition and celebration of students who have attained a high level of proficiency in two or more languages by high school graduation.

District 205 was one of the first public school districts to award the Seal of Biliteracy and Commendation Toward Biliteracy last year, when the State officially adopted it. Home to over 55 native languages, District 205 recognizes the importance of language and how it prepares students for global citizenship.

The following York High School seniors earned the Seal of Biliteracy:

Grace Achepohl

Lilian Alexandrova

Yasmeen Ali

Kayla Arroyo

Oksana Batryn

Rosa Blanco

Jake Bohringer

Alexandria Cahill

Francesca Carfagnini

Yin-Ting Chen

Alexandra Ciullo

Julia Conversa

Daphne David

Kathryn Dierksheide

George Elias

Alma Funes

Damaris Funes Cano

Jaqueline Gonzalez

Michael Griffin

Elizabeth Hagstrom

Amanda Healy

Kendall Hutchinson

Kaitlyn Kunde

Adolfo Lopez

Miranda Marnik-Said

Claire Niewiara

Kelly Polte

Allegra Sciaccotta

Adela Skowronski

Matthew Southworth

Caroline Stasica

Bailey Stearns

Amanda Strezo

Laura Swain

Jie Tey

Halle Truett

Kristen Viola

Michelle Wiese

Alyssa Woodward

Natasha Yarlagadda

Jessica Zellinger

The following York High School seniors earned the Commendation Toward Biliteracy:

Amanda Caban

Madison Casey

John Drake

Emily Fjeldstad

Jaqueline Gonzalez

Sarina Kao

Sophia Kilgast

Cesar Kon

Paige Kurczek

Ilia Kurkin

Timothy Manning

Brennan McGovern

Tyler McKenna

Sandra Nguessan

Rosie O’Connor

Sarah O’Donnell

Katherine Odell

Vasiliki Pappa

Adela Skowronski

Vishruth Sunilkumar