Twenty students in the North Little Rock School District have earned the Arkansas Seal of Biliteracy, which distinguishes these scholars as having studied and attained proficiency in English and one or more other languages by their high school graduation. The Seal is meant to encourage students to pursue biliteracy and to make them more attractive to future employers and college admissions offices.
To earn the Seal of Biliteracy, students must complete an application and demonstrate proficiency in both English and another language by taking a computer-based language assessment.
The following students have earned the Seal of Biliteracy this spring.
Name | School | Language |
|---|---|---|
Sherlyn Aguilar | NLRHS | Spanish |
Chris Barcenas | COE | Spanish |
Dalia Beltran | NLRHS | Spanish |
Ana Maria Ciubotaru | NLRHS | Romanian |
Kalil Faret de Faria | NLRHS | Portuguese |
Lucas Fernandes Breda | NLRHS | Portuguese |
Emiliano Gomez | NLRHS | Spanish |
Alejandra Herrera | NLRHS | Spanish |
Jose Herrera | COE | Spanish |
Munisa Iminova | COE | Uzbek* |
Caitlin Jones | NLRHS | Spanish |
Arailym Kystaubay | NLRHS | Russian, Kazakh* |
Miguel Lara | NLRHS | Spanish |
Nicolas Melo Rodriguez | NLRHS | Spanish |
Alexa Morales Ramirez | NLRHS | Spanish |
Samantha Moya | NLRHS | Spanish |
Monserrat Olvera-Ramirez | COE | Spanish |
Melani Reyes | NLRHS | Spanish |
Joseph Sifuentes | NLRHS | Spanish |
Figo | NLRHS | Indonesian* |
*These three students were the first in the state to earn the Seal of Biliteracy for these languages.
“This recognition highlights students’ linguistic and cultural diversity,” said Krissena Marshell, the NLRSD Coordinator of ESOL and World Languages. “It also speaks to their status as multilingual members of our society who can use their voices to advocate for the diverse members of their community. Communicating in more than one language is truly a superpower.”
The Arkansas Seal of Biliteracy Committee is celebrating 1,229 students from 81 schools across the state who earned the Seal in 34 different languages this semester. To mark this distinction, these students will wear a special cord at their graduation.