Students excel on national language exams

Forty-one MHS French, Latin, and Spanish students were recently recognized for their performances in this year’s national language exams.

Twelve students were honored for their achievements in the 2022 National French Contest, or Le Grand Concours, with 3 of those students also ranking at the national level.

The 60-minute test, now in its 86th year, is administered in March and sponsored by the members of the American Association of Teachers of French. The test aims to stimulate interest in the teaching and learning of French, and nearly 43,000 students enrolled in the contest, in which they are evaluated for their writing, reading, and listening-comprehension skills.

Twenty-two Miss Hall’s School students took this year’s exam. Three of those students achieved scores that qualified them for top-ten rankings at the national level, while twelve ranked in the top-ten in the contest’s Western Massachusetts/Vermont Division.

Level 2
Kenja Harley ’23, fifth place, silver medal

Level 4
Fernanda Morais Laroca ’23, fifth place, gold medal
Hanna Heaton Wellenstein ’23, seventh place, gold medal

MHS students receiving recognition for top-ten finishes in the contest’s Western Massachusetts/Vermont Division are:

Level 1
Willa Dowling-Paul ’25, eighth place, certificate of honor
Sunny Liang ’23, eighth place, certificate of honor
Yolanda Zhang ’23, ninth place, certificate of honor

Level 2
Isabelle Ely ’24, seventh place, bronze medal
Ivy Zhou ’22, ninth place, certificate of honor
Isabella Gan ’23, tenth place, certificate of honor

Level 3
Juliana Mills ’24, eighth place, certificate of honor
Ollie Walter ’23, tenth place, certificate of honor

Level 4
Katie Kamphues ’23, seventh place, silver medal

Five MHS students achieved recognition in the 2022 National Latin Exam. Offered annually, the 45-minute exam tests students’ ability to translate and to comprehend translations. It also tests their knowledge of Roman history, culture, mythology, writers, geography, vocabulary, and derivatives. It is co-sponsored by the American Classical League and the National Junior Classical League. This year’s MHS award winners are:

Latin III
Lucy Garrison ’23, Gold Medal, Summa Cum Laude (With the Greatest Distinction)

Latin II
Shirley Dong ’23, Magna Cum Laude (With Great Distinction)
Ruby Hauck ’24, Cum Laude (With Distinction)

Latin I
Miglė Petruškevičiūtė ’23, Magna Cum Laude (With Great Distinction)
Cora Ma ’24, Cum Laude (With Distinction)

Twenty-four MHS students earned honors in this year’s National Spanish Exam, an annual evaluation that aims to recognize student achievement in the study of Spanish and to promote interest in the teaching and learning of Spanish.

Miss Hall’s students recognized this year are:

Premio de Oro (Gold), recognizing students scoring at or above the 95th percentile —
Iva Knezevic ’24, Spanish II
Lily McDonald ’25, Spanish II
Sophie Gentleman ’24, Spanish III

Premio de Plata (Silver), recognizing students scoring from the 85th through the 94th percentiles —
Emily Keiper ’25, Spanish I
Idalis De Jesus ’25, Spanish I
Kyla Gore ’24, Spanish II
Ella Tawes ’24, Spanish II
Malena Carraro ’24, Spanish III
Samantha Taxter ’22, Spanish IV-Hallmark Spanish

Premio de Bronce (Bronze), recognizing students scoring from the 75th through the 84th percentiles —
Ginamarie Bocchino ’25, Spanish I
Naomi Hopkins ’24, Spanish II
Cailyn Tetteh ’22, Spanish IV-Hallmark Spanish

Mención Honorífica (Honorable Mention), recognizing students scoring from the 50th through the 74th percentiles —
Isabella Hennessey ’24, Spanish I
Tyler Norman ’25, Spanish I
Joana Zimmermann ’24, Spanish I
Emilie Coziol-Desy ’25, Spanish I
Aurora Rahman ’23, Spanish II
Diana Calle ’24, Spanish II
Annais Vallejo ’23, Spanish II
Ina Wang ’24, Spanish III
Welmerly Maria ’24, Spanish III
Olivia Kick-Nalepa ’22, Spanish IV-Hallmark Spanish
Ruby McDonald ’22, Spanish IV-Hallmark Spanish
Randi McGeary ’22, Spanish IV-Hallmark Spanish

Sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese, the National Spanish Exam is administered annually to students in grades 6 through 12. More than 73,000 students participated in the 2022 exam.