St. Thomas Aquinas High School Spanish Students Score Well on National Spanish Exam

From left to right:

Three St. Thomas Aquinas High School students win National Spanish Exam recognition in New Hampshire:  Junior Alison Hiatt of Newington, NH (Level 4) secured fifth place in the state; seniorGabrielle Ouellette of Epping, NH (Level 4) placed third; and senior Matthew Radford of Brentwood, NH (Level 5) came in fourth among New Hampshire participants.

Congratulations to several world language students from St. Thomas Aquinas High School who attained national recognition for excellent performance on the 2012 National Spanish Examinations. 

Students from St. Thomas earned a total of one gold, three silver and seven bronze medals along with 18 honorable mentions.  "Attaining a medal or honorable mention for any student on the National Spanish Examinations is very prestigious," said Kevin Cessna-Buscemi, National Director of the Exams, "because the exams are the largest of their kind in the United States with 143,641 students participating in 2012.”

St. Thomas Aquinas High School students have a long history of high achievement on these exams.  Miriam Hanlon, Jacqueline Dubay and Carlos Paz are the teachers of students honored in the 2012 NSE.

Nationally, Gabrielle Ouellette scored in the “gold” category (in the 95^th to 100^th percentile), while three students—Isabel D’Alessandro,Alison Hiatt and Muriel “Alex” Pollock scored in the “silver” category (in the 85^th to 94^th percentile); those attaining “bronze” level scores (75^th to 84^th percentile) were Nicole Devaney, Timothy Downs, John Gentes, Molly Jones, Emma Keane, Bridget Kelly, andMatt Radford.  Receiving honorable mention were the following:  Gabrielle Benoit, Erin Cabrey, Caragh Collins, Matthew Cornell, Jack Cronin, William Donovan, Aaron Dubois, Michelle Dunbar, Emily Fernald, Eric Gilmore, Amanda Girard, Abigail Hannigan, Jillian Holden, Walter Hutcheson, Anthony Kassas, Jordyn Palmer, Mary-Margaret Quinn, and Barclay Stewart.

The National Spanish Examinations are administered each year in grades 6 through 12, and are sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese.

Located in Dover, NH, St. Thomas Aquinas High School is a coeducational, Catholic high school community where young people are called to be challenged academically, to stretch their hearts spiritually and to embark on a journey to make a difference.   For more information, visit us at www.stalux.org or call (603) 742-3206.