Students shine at foreign language contest

More than 30 students from Starr’s Mill and Whitewater High earned top medals from the Foreign Language Association (FLAG) of Georgia Spoken Language Contest in French and Spanish.

Starr’s Mill High students captured 22 medals: 11 Superior, 10 Excellent, and 1 Notable.

Eleven earned Superior medals: Vasilisa Kozyreva (French 1), Makenna Morrow (Spanish 1), Yeva Alpert (Spanish 2), Rebecca Palmer (Spanish 2), McKenzie Patterson (Spanish 2), Maggie Tang (Spanish 2), Rachel French (Spanish 3), Jon Schiffman (Spanish 3), Aiden Smith (Spanish 3), Leia Weber (Spanish 4), and Christian Melo-Hernandez (Spanish Heritage).

Ten earned Excellent medals: Hameedah Bello (French 1), Ellie Lopez-Carron (French 1), Katie Kavney (French 3), Lauren Cuthbert (French 4), Sydney Grossinger (Spanish 1), Vivienne Ha (Spanish 2), Brett Holladay (Spanish 2), Emme Wyler (Spanish 2), Nyana Grillasca (Spanish Heritage), and Valentin Guzman-Rodriguez (Spanish Heritage).

Regan Beaubouf earned Notable for Spanish 1.

Whitewater High students secured a total of 10 medals: 9 Superior, 4 Excellent, and 1 Notable.

Charlie Arena earned Superior for both AP Spanish and French 3.

Seven other Wildcats earned Superior medals: Gandor Bah (French 2), Aiden Mathis (French 2), Emma Paulus (Spanish 2), Jaydan Dixon (Spanish 3), Aisling Caskey (Spanish 2), Zakiya Listenbee (Spanish 3), and Skylar Martinez (Spanish 2).

Four earned Excellent medals: Janaye Powell (French 1), Zoey Cosson (Spanish 2), Alley Martin (Spanish 3), and Adunola Adeniyi (Spanish 3).

Allisson Fonseca earned Notable for French 2.

The FLAG Spoken Language Contest is an annual event in which middle and high school students from across the state demonstrate their ability to use a target language in communication. Students are interviewed for eight to 12 minutes completely in their target language. Judges base their evaluation on the student’s ability to use the target language fluently in the level entered. Attention is given to comprehension, pronunciation, vocabulary, competency in grammar/syntax, fluency, and student initiative in conversing in the target language.