SVVSD and NHS celebrate Seal of Biliteracy

In the fall of 2019, St. Vrain Valley School District formally announced its participation in awarding the Seal of Biliteracy. This award recognizes students who achieve multi-lingual proficiency by the time they graduate high school.

Niwot High School, which boasts the International Baccalaureate Program, has encouraged language acquisition for years now; and with the IB program, this also extends to an encouragement of having a strong world view. Thanks to this mission and the district's adoption of the program, NHS was able to award the Seal of Biliteracy to 49 seniors this year.

"It feels amazing because I know it's the first year they're doing the Seal of Biliteracy, and learning a language is one of the hardest things to do, it feels great to have that physical memento of it," said Niwot senior Prisha Patel.

Fellow senior Maedee Trank-Greene added, "It's cool to be recognized and go beyond the [school mandated] requirement and then being recognized for taking the time to learn the language."

All of the students interviewed were part of Niwot's Spanish department, which, according to the students, is a very strong program at the school--largely thanks to the teachers in the department. One teacher, Ms. Pieterse, was praised by a number of the students.

"I really want to thank Mrs. Pieterse for all of her support," said senior Olivia Towlen. "I could not have become fluent in Spanish without her help. She is hands down the best teacher I have ever had."

Nicholas Valin, another senior in Ms. Pieterse's class, said that he enjoyed the conversational structure of the class. Valin said that he had taken a number of Spanish classes throughout elementary and middle school, but those classes were largely vocabulary and grammar-based. "When I got to Niwot, there was really an emphasis on being able to speak and actually use the language so that if you had to [outside of class], you'd actually be able to feel somewhat natural," Valin said.

So, thanks in part to many of the students' acknowledgement that Spanish is a useful language to know in the U.S.--it is the second-most common language--the NHS Spanish department has inspired many students to look into pursuing it in college as well.

"I feel like I want to pursue maybe a minor or go abroad and apply the language I've been able to study," senior Michelle Nguyen said. "The Spanish language will help with future careers and just help [me] communicate with a bigger audience."

The possibility of Spanish being an asset to these students both in future careers and world travels was mentioned by all the students interviewed. However, more than that, the Seal of Biliteracy students all mentioned the importance of a second language as it relates to travel and interpersonal interaction.

"Because of globalization and the world becoming smaller, there's a greater appreciation for other languages," said senior Rayan Elahi. "It's important to learn [a foreign language] so that you can learn to appreciate how others grew up, their culture, and how they communicate."

This idea of worldliness was something touched upon by all the students interviewed. In fact, it's one of the primary reasons that these students believe taking a foreign language course is important, especially if a student is currently taking, or on the fence about taking the class. Many of the students spoke highly of taking a language class, despite the difficulties. They all agree that learning a language, especially at an older age, can be difficult, but that in the end, the effort is worth the trouble.

These are students who took the high school language requirement a step further--who put in that effort to go beyond expectations and toward language proficiency. The Seal of Biliteracy is simply the physical way of reinforcing that.