Don Tyson School of Innovation celebrated 39 students at an Arkansas Seal of Biliteracy ceremony May 18 in the school's Performing Arts Center.
“This is the largest group we have had in one school year, and we hope to continue to see growth,” said Melissa H. Meyers, Spanish instructor. “We also reached out to our VIA students this year and had a few come on campus to test and apply. The goal is to try and have more of our VIA students come on campus to take advantage of this opportunity next year."
Senior Luzelena Morales said she feels proud and excited to earn the Arkansas Seal of Biliteracy in Spanish.
"It was a lot of hard work," she said.
Students had to score proficient or better in English when taking the ACT, ACT Aspire or ELPA to earn the recognition. For the secondary language, students had to pass the reading, writing, listening and speaking portions of the language test.
"Proficiency in multiple languages has great value in today's economy, and we are so proud of these students for taking the time to test and apply for the Seal of Biliteracy in order to validate their skills," Meyers said.
"It looks good on a resume and when applying for scholarships," Morales said.
Springdale Public Schools leads the state in Arkansas Seal of Biliteracy students, with 1,070 of the 3,309 students recognized for the achievement stemming from Springdale Schools since the seal was officially endorsed by the Arkansas Department of Education in 2018.
The Arkansas Seal of Biliteracy is approved by the Arkansas Department of Education, the Arkansas Foreign Language Teachers Association and Arkansas Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages. Adopted first by California in 2011, the Seal of Biliteracy is recognized in 48 states and Washington D.C.
Students were presented with a certificate and medal at the ceremony to recognize their achievement.
The school also had three students earn the Global Seal of Biliteracy, Meyers said.
Adrian Alcantara, Spanish working fluency, Joseph Malfavon, Spanish functional fluency, and Ezra Santos, Filipino working fluency, all received the global seal this year.
The Global Seal of Biliteracy is a credential that celebrates language skills and expands future opportunities for its recipients. A uniform standard is used to empower awardees to be a valuable asset in multilingual environments, according to the organization’s website. The Global Seal of Biliteracy enables recipients to showcase their language skills to any school or employer across state lines and national borders with a unique serial-numbered document.
"It has a three-steep pathway that recognizes the differing levels of language proficiency: functioning, working or professional fluency," Meyers said. "Our students test for the Arkansas Seal of Biliteracy first, as it is only offered through high school, then we review their qualifications to determine if they are eligible for the Global Seal of Biliteracy."
