Submitted by Jane Murlin

North Syracuse School District

Fifteen Cicero-North Syracuse High School students recently received notification that they had met the rigorous requirements necessary to earn Seals of Biliteracy/Triliteracy on their high school diplomas.

The North Syracuse Central School District is pleased to announce the following students earned the incredible honor and distinction of the Seal of Biliteracy for the 2019-2020 school year:

• Gabby Anagnostopoulos (Spanish)

• Ianna Castro-Calderon (Spanish)

• Jacqueline Cupoli (Spanish)

• Sarah Herter (French)

• Alex Kohne (Spanish)

• Sophie Kuryla (French)

• Pooja Patel (French)

• Kaelin Peters (French)

• Allen Puskar (Spanish)

• Austin Raabe (Spanish)

• Christian Sampsell (French)

• Madeline Thorne (French)

• Andrew Truong (Spanish)

Two students earned the Seal of Triliteracy:

• James Corl III (French and Spanish)

• Jawadshah Kasimi (French and Turkish)

Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a law in 2012 making New York the second state to implement the Seal of Biliteracy. The New York State Board of Regents officially adopted the program in 2016. The Seal of Biliteracy has been adopted by more than 30 states and Washington, D.C.

Among the benefits of this distinction are:

• Identifying high school graduates with language and biliteracy skills for employers;

• Providing universities with additional information about applicants;

• Preparing students with 21st century skills;

• Recognizing the value of world and native language instruction in schools; and

• Affirming the value of diversity in a multilingual society.

Each student has to create a portfolio based around a theme and defend the project to a panel of teachers. In a typical year, that panel would be made up of teachers from across Central New York, convening at Onondaga Community College for the defense.

However, that process was interrupted because of the coronavirus pandemic. After schools closed March 16,  students had to finish their projects remotely with guidance provided via Zoom, email and Google collaborative features. The students received help from their mentors, English Language Learner teacher Lydia Roldan and Seal of Biliteracy coordinators Mary Murdoch and Jane Murlin.

On April 22, students presented their final projects via Zoom to a panel of three NSCSD teachers. The following teachers graciously volunteered their time to make this happen: Seyda Mannion, Elise Micale, Erica Stark, Maureen Scoville, Heather Puchta, Lydia Roldan, and Pam Russell.

Because we couldn’t celebrate this huge accomplishment and honor in person, Murdoch and Murlin drove to each student’s house to deliver a personalized cookie cake, balloon, and congratulatory card.

“Earning a New York Seal of Biliteracy is a tremendous feat that culminates six years of World Language study. We wanted to honor these students for their hard work and unwavering dedication and seeing their smiles and their families’ appreciation was extremely rewarding and heartwarming,” Murdoch said.