The event brought

about 600 high school students from across the state to compete for ribbons

signifying their proficiency in a particular language.

Students vied

for ribbons of notable, excellent or superior based on their ability to

speak a target language. The ribbon count for participants representing

Starr's Mill, Sandy Creek, McIntosh and Fayette County High Schools were

39 superior, 27 excellent and five notable. These students were judged

on their mastery of French, Spanish and German languages. The levels on

which students were judged ranged from level one (beginning) up to level

five.

The competition

was open to students who speak Spanish, French, German, Chinese, Japanese

and Latin. Approximately 100 judges were on hand to rate each student's

ability to speak one of the languages.

Although referred

to as a competition, students did not compete against each other. Instead,

judges rated them as to how well they had mastered a foreign language.

All students in the competition received a certificate for their participation.