More than 400 high school seniors from schools across the city gathered Wednesday at George Washington High School to receive one of our highest honors: the Seal of Biliteracy. We award the Seal of Biliteracy to honor graduating seniors who are proficient in more than one language, and each senior will wear a gold cord with their caps and gowns as they officially graduate in the coming weeks.
For these students, the Seal of Biliteracy represents greater professional opportunities in an increasingly global economy. We also know the personal benefits are equally important. Being bilingual offers these young leaders more opportunities to learn about other cultures and societies outside of our own and, in so doing, bring us all a little closer together.
"Being a dual-language speaker has given me the courage to go out of my comfort zone to travel far away from home," said Calla Horan, a senior at Denver School of the Arts proficient in English and Spanish, "and it has given me the steps to become a global citizen."
Seal recipients represent proficiency in English and 14 languages, from Spanish, Arabic and French to Chinese, Mongolian and Kiziwgua.
"When I heard about the Seal, it made me want to help my language from becoming extinct," said Collegiate Prep Academy senior Sahra Mberwa, who is proficient in English and Kiziwgua, spoken in Somali. "By speaking this language, I can help keep my language, history and culture alive."
Research shows learning a second language improves your native language skills. "I think part of my love for Spanish comes from the opportunity it gives me to stretch my mind," said East High School senior Peter Krumholz. "Speaking Spanish has allowed me to exercise my brain and think about words more carefully and be more expressive."
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DCIS senior Sofia Romero-Campbell received two Seals of Biliteracy for proficiency in Spanish and Mandarin Chinese.
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For many students, the Seal is an incentive to build on a language they've learned from their parents, their "heritage" language, and earn credit for it. Years ago, in many school districts, speaking a language other than English was considered a deficit. In DPS today, we celebrate developing fluency in heritage languages and the opportunities it creates for our students.
At Lincoln High School, for example, heritage Spanish speakers have the opportunity to take Advanced Placement Spanish as ninth graders. And the school is developing an innovative approach where those students can then take college-level Spanish courses in grades 10, 11 and 12 -- with the goal of earning the equivalent of a college minor in Spanish when they graduate high school.
Three generations of one DPS family attended Wednesday's ceremony: Esther Romero, a retired elementary bilingual Spanish teacher, her daughter Diane Romero-Campbell and granddaughter Sofia Romero-Campbell.
For Esther, the celebration was especially poignant. She was among the founding members of the Congress of Hispanic Educators, known as CHE, which sued Denver Public Schools in the 1970s seeking better instruction for English language learners.
This week, she watched as her granddaughter, a senior at the Denver Center of International Studies at Baker, earned not one but two Seals of Biliteracy -- one for Spanish and one for Mandarin Chinese.
"I'm very proud," Esther said. "We are honoring the languages the kids are bringing."
Best,
Tom
Pictured above: DPS students celebrate earning the Seal of Biliteracy at a George Washington High School celebration.
