141 Bilingual Student Superheroes Unite

Sound School senior Cesar Mendez wore a purple cord to symbolize his bilingual superpower — and so that his younger brother Giovanni can now recognize him as the hero that he is.

Cesar and Giovanni Mendez were two of the attendees at the New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) district’s latest annual Seal of Biliteracy ceremony, which was hosted at Wilbur Cross High School last Wednesday. 

The ceremony brought out over a hundred New Haven families to celebrate high school students who received Seal of Biliteracy awards for studying and becoming proficient in a second or third language. 

A total of 141 NHPS seniors from nine different local high schools were awarded the seal and a purple cord to wear at their graduations. 

In Cross’ auditorium a banner reading ​“I’m bilingual! What’s your superpower” was on display. As was a cutout of the district’s mascot, ​“multilingual man,” a superhero who’s superpower, like the students’, is knowing more than one language. 

On Wednesday students were awarded for becoming proficient in languages including Spanish, Italian, Pashto, German, Korean, Swahili, French, Chinese, Arabic, Russian, Urdu, Azerbaijani, Dari, and Portuguese. 

To be awarded the seal each student took a computer assessment in listening, speaking, reading, and writing for their studied language. 

Of the 141 awardees, 118 students received a seal for proficiency in Spanish. 

The students will also receive a seal of biliteracy on their diplomas to recognize their accomplishments and in recognition of their proficiency in a secondary language on their high school transcript. 

NHPS Supervisor of World Languages Jessica Haxhi informed students and their families that nine out of ten employers rely on employees with language skills other than English. 

During Wednesday’s celebration families watched several student performances and a congratulations video from U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal. 

In the video, Blumenthal reminded the students that their success gives them a ​“tremendous advantage” and gives them the opportunity to make great contributions to their communities. 

Haxhi said NHPS is working hard to put all students on a ​“pathway to biliteracy.” 

NHPS English Language Learner Programs Director Pedro Mendia-Landa reported that 71 languages are spoken by families with students who attend local public schools. The district has representation from 116 countries, he also reported. 

He asked parents, ​“Please do not stop speaking your mother tongue to your children” at home. 

“Being bilingual will give you many different gateways,” he said. 

Cesar Mendez, a senior at Sound School, was awarded his seal for his proficiency in Spanish, a language he often speaks at home. 

His words of advice to others looking to learn a second language were to ​“always take risks” and to ​“not be afraid to make mistakes.” 

Mendez’s mother Silvia Lopez described bring proud of her oldest son on Wednesday. ​“I hope it helps him to get better opportunities in jobs,” she said. 

Lopez recalled Mendez teaching himself to read in Spanish while a child. 

She added that with three boys at home and a fourth on the way, she hopes Mendez’s success will show his siblings that ​“if he was able to do it they’re capable too.” 

Fair Haven School third grader Celestio Sanchez presented a piece called ​“Being Able to Help My Mom” which he wrote for his schools ​“power of bilingualism” contest. He read his piece in Spanish and Haxhi read it in English. 

His piece read: ​“One day I went with my mom to buy food. When I was going to pay there was a cashier who only spoke English. My mom didn’t know how much a gallon of milk cost. I helped my mom ask in English how much milk cost. My mom only speaks Spanish. Being able to help my mother, I felt grateful to be able to study and help my family. Bilingual means speaking two languages. For me being bilingual is a privilege because English is important at school to communicate with my teachers and friends. In my home Spanish is important because my parents do not speak English so I strive everyday to learn more English to help my parents. When I grow up I will be competing for jobs and scholarships for university with children who speak English. Since I am bilingual I can find more jobs and have more opportunities.” 

An East Rock third-grade Spanish class performed a song in Spanish for the ceremony.

Career High School senior Amelia Stefanovics, who received a seal for proficiency in Russian and Spanish, performed the poem ​“Willkommen und Abschied” by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in German. She won for her performance at the CT COLT Poetry Recitation Contest. 

Stefanovics also is learning Latin, Arabic, Japanese and French. 

Her interest in languages sparked from coming from a trilingual household where her grandparents spoke Russian and German and her parents English. 

She next hopes to become proficient in Mandarin Chinese, Turkish, and Finnish. 

“I hope to use them [languages] to help people,” Stefanovics said. 

New Haven Academy’s Hispanic heritage club performed two dances for the ceremony. 

New Haven Academy senior Paris Feliciano Cosme sang ​“No me quad más” which caused families and her classmates to cheer along and wave their phone flashlights from the crowd. 

Hillhouse 2019 graduate Nour Al Zouabi was Wednesday’s keynote speaker. Al Zouabi received her seal of biliteracy in Arabic and will graduate from the University of Connecticut (UConn) this year. She’ll begin a Yale masters degree program this fall. 

She described the students’ achievements as a ​“testament to your dedication, perseverance, and shared love for languages.” 

“To me language is much more than words sung together, it is the bridge that connects people, cultures, perspectives that are different from ours. It is the tool that we use to navigate the world,” she said. ​“When you learn to express your thoughts and feeling in a different language, you did not only learn vocabulary or grammar, you gained your ability to understand and appreciate the beauty of diversity.” 

She recalled unlocking new worlds while learning English, Spanish, and Arabic. 

She described the seal of biliteracy as a ​“badge of honor.”