World Languages & Cultures Department

Ava Bier has a passion for French that derives in part from the fact that she has family in French-speaking countries. Even though she began her language studies in Spanish (in Middle School), when she had a chance to switch to French in ninth grade, she took it, even though she knew she would have to work really hard to catch up if she wanted to join the IB French program (SL/HL). After studying on her own in the summer before ninth grade, Ava took French 2 last year and was ready to jump to French 3A this year, and she is one of 3-4 students who are the very top in the class. Her dedication to learning is on display daily. In class, an evolution has been seen this year from a student too shy and uncomfortable to participate to an eager volunteer who reads aloud in front of the class and asks helpful clarifying questions. She comes to office hours, sometimes before completing an assignment, sometimes after, just to “double check”. Ava loves to have as much knowledge and as solid a grasp on the material as she possibly can. She truly exemplifies what the love of learning award is all about.

Jeremy is passionate about learning Spanish and consistently exceeds expectations of any in-class task or assessment. While he absorbs new grammar concepts and vocabulary with ease, he does not learn the material to simply do well on assessments. One day in the hallway, he was overheard telling a classmate that he loves Spanish. He is genuinely curious about the language and culture and seeks to learn something new from each of our classes. If asked about a new vocabulary word I mentioned in the past, Jeremy can be counted on to recall it. He has been receptive to the feedback given his class about correct pronunciation and is reproducing the sounds so that he may sound more like a native speaker. On summative assessments, it is always a pleasure to read his writing as he incorporates all the requested elements, but in an original and creative manner. To quote a colleague’s comment about Jeremy’s writing in English: “When I read Jeremy’s work, I can put down the pen and enjoy his writing.” He has won the gold medal on the National Spanish Exam for the past two years, placing in the 99th percentile on the exam this year.