Plainfield East Students Post Record Results on National Spanish Exam

Submitted by Plainfield School District 202

PLAINFIELD, IL — Sixty-seven Plainfield East High School students earned top honors on the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese 2016 National Spanish Exams.

A record-high number of students both took the challenging exams and earned top scores this year, said PEHS Spanish teacher Hilda Rosario Stewart. They set new 5-year records with number of tests taken (108), percentage achieving “Honor” or better (62 percent), and percentage achieving “Silver” (11 percent) and “Gold” (9 percent).

“Congratulations to each award-winning student and congratulations to each Spanish teacher who guided and supported these students during their earlier years,” she said. “I am extremely proud of our students this year. They have worked very hard, and the results speak for themselves.”

The 2016 winners are:

Gold – Ten students, scoring in the 95th percentile or better of students nationwide (up from three in 2015)

Sophomores: Abigail Angomas

Juniors: Claire Correll, Dominic Culotta, Madeline Haymond, Alexandra Kiszluk, Olivia Luca, Gabriel Gandara, Evelyn Quintana

Seniors: Erika Barrios, Ana Pardo-Recalde

Silver -- Twelve students, scoring in the 85th percentile or better of students nationwide (up from four in 2015)

Juniors: Melanee Castillo, Ashley Dzimira, Jordi Garcia, Mitchell Kiska, Tristan Romero, Alexis Tamayo, Alexandra Thill, Emma Vasquez, Gowtham Yerneni, Andrew Zavala

Seniors: Chichezum Adibe, Venessa Paez

Bronze -- Nine students, scoring in the 75th percentile or better of students nationwide (down from 13 in 2015)

Juniors: Kevin Bryson, Mira Hassan, Esgar Murillo, Adrian Manjarrez, Lotanna Onua, Jake Street, Julian Del Rosario, Jennifer Tapia

Seniors: Jonathan Marrs

Honor – 36 students, scoring in the 50th percentile or better of students nationwide (up from 16 in 2015)
Juniors: Ivana Aboagye, Ali Abushamat, Nicholas Bailey, Justin Blaney, Maggie Boctor, Ashley Brouillard, Mikayla Cameron, Megan Clendening, Shannon Coughlin, Joshua George, Jordan Miller, Justin Sanghani, Alishba Sarwar, Mohammed Shamsi, Ashley Smoldt, Anna Tonarelli, Katie Wiatrak, Gabrielle Hoffman, Christian Sanchez, Carlos Giron, Julissa Miranda, Marco Moncada, Karina Arias, Daniel Arroyo, Tanya Diaz, Liliana Gallarzo, Giselle Ortega
Seniors: Keith Bitner, Nicholas Bitner, Jean Gabriel Gutierrez, Troy Mayon, Dina Nashed, Ethan Rodriguez, Suzanne Vizhalil, Edgar Bahena, Yazmin Noriega

The National Spanish Exams are administered each year in sixth through twelfth grades. They are sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese.

Nationally, 160,753 students took the 2016 National Spanish exam. Attaining a medal or honorable mention for any student on the National Spanish Exams is very prestigious, because the exams are the largest of their kind in the United States.