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Metuchen High awards 34 State Seals of Biliteracy; coaches, athletes honored at board meeting
Summary
Metuchen High School recognized 34 students who earned the New Jersey State Seal of Biliteracy in multiple languages and the district honored spring athletic champions at the June 10 Board of Education meeting.
Ashley Jay, the Metuchen Public School District supervisor of world languages, announced that 34 Metuchen High School students earned the New Jersey State Seal of Biliteracy in languages including Chinese, French, German, Marathi, Korean, Polish, Russian, Telugu, Hindi and Spanish.
"The New Jersey State Seal of Biliteracy was established to recognize high school graduates who have attained a high level of proficiency in speaking, reading, listening, and writing in 1 or more world languages, in addition to English," Jay told the board. She explained that students must meet English language arts graduation requirements and earn at least an intermediate-mid proficiency on a state-approved world language assessment.
Jay described the testing process: the district holds an interest meeting in November or December, students register via Google form, study guides and technology requirements are provided, testing is scheduled over a two-week window in January with additional make-up time, and the state must receive results by Feb. 1. Jay also said students do not have to be enrolled in a world language course to take the assessment and that the program uses multiple assessments to accommodate many languages.
The board recognized seniors who earned the seal, including Oliver Atkins (Spanish), Daniel Ayala (Spanish), Joseph Dume (Spanish), Emily Gambali (Spanish) and Kaya Gradinski (Polish). Jay also listed juniors who have completed the requirements early and will graduate with the seal next year.
The meeting also featured athletics recognitions. Mr. Cathcart introduced spring champions and invited coaches and teams to the front. Coach Danick presented the White Division baseball team, which finished the season 11-3 in division play and won the division championship — the first division title for that program in 55 years. Danick named three players who made the all-division team: Matt Jellamy, Lucas Malamug and James Fenton, and noted that several players were selected for regional all-star showcases.
Athletic staff also reported that Metuchen had 21 varsity teams this year, 54 all-division athletes, 28 all-GMC athletes, nine division championships, seven state titles, seven coaches of the year and four GMC coaches of the year.
Student board member Prisha Shrestha offered brief remarks reflecting on the school year and thanked the board for the experience. The recognitions were presented during the public portion of the June 10 meeting; no policy changes were proposed as part of the presentations.
