Butler students celebrate learning languages with Seal of Biliteracy
Being fluent in a second language does not only open one’s eyes to different cultures around the world. It can also give students a leg up in future jobs, interviews and connecting with others of different backgrounds.
Students Emily Cornish, Bayliee Payne and Ayda Revitsky, 12th-graders at Butler Senior High School, were celebrated at a May 20 assembly for achieving the Pennsylvania Seal of Biliteracy, an award that recognizes students for demonstrating proficiency in a second language.
“The thing I think is impressive the most is the years of commitment that it takes to get to this point where you get to be honored with this award,” principal Jason Huffman said. “I think today, between Emily, Bayliee and Ayda, we see three students who have done something outside of the norm, and done a commitment most people aren’t willing to make.”
The three students, all French speakers, are the first at Butler Area School District to get the statewide recognition.
The Pennsylvania Department of Education came out with program in 2022, presenting it to those who have become truly proficient in a second language before graduation. It is meant to encourage people to study languages and cultures.
“I think this serves as an example of what is possible for you. If you are here and you are involved in a foreign language, although this is the first ever, we would expect, a second, a third, a 30th, a 40th, and that is done through cooperation with your teachers, but more specifically, the interest you have,” Huffman said.
It can take years to become fluent in a second language, whether taking classes in school or learning a language on your own time.
But being bilingual, school officials emphasized, gives you something physical that you can share with colleges and universities, future employers and people you meet from different parts of the world.
“We’ve had countless conversations, countless articles that we’ve read, countless videos that we’ve watched. We’ve really dissected the language. We’ve pulled it apart, we’ve analyzed it and we’ve used it in multiple ways. We’ve spoken in it, we’ve written in it and we’ve listened to it,” said Cassandra Bunney-Nejman, a French teacher at the senior high school.
