Twenty-five* Urbana High School students have earned the prestigious Illinois State Seal of Biliteracy in 2024.
The State Seal of Biliteracy program recognizes high school students who have attained a high level of proficiency in English and in one or more foreign or world languages. The Seal is designated on the student’s diploma and transcript.
To determine proficiency, students must take an assessment that determines whether they meet the state qualifications for the Seal. The assessment tests for proficiency in the four language domains: reading, writing, listening and speaking.
Urbana High School students receiving the State Seal this year are:
- Nourseen Ismail (Arabic)
- Henry Burrus (German)
- Abigail Fairbanks (German)
- Ioelle Lee (German)
- Gabriel Srajek (German)
- Max Kwon-Allred (Spanish)
- Casandra Alvarado (Spanish)
- Eduardo Diego Andres (Spanish)
- Gabriela Bautista (Spanish)
- Jessica Diaz (Spanish)
- Steven Marcos Diaz (Spanish)
- Mia Fragoso (Spanish)
- Roselyn Cox-Garcia (Spanish)
- Anna Ginsburg-Sullivan (Spanish)
- Joshua Cruz Hernandez (Spanish)
- Hadasha De Leon Hernandez (Spanish)
- Pace Dominguez-Hultgren (Spanish)
- Kwale Johnson (Spanish)
- Nicholas Lehman (Spanish)
- Alexa Maldonado (Spanish)
- Luna Morales (Spanish)
- Avalon Ogolsky (Spanish)
- América Rebolledo (Spanish)
- Achly Ramos Rivera (Spanish)
- Jesse Wald (Spanish)
Additionally, 14* Urbana High School students have earned the Commendation toward Biliteracy in 2024. The commendation toward Biliteracy is awarded to students who demonstrate progress toward biliteracy, but do not fully meet the requirements of the Seal. The students who have earned the commendation are:
- Nourseen Ismail (French)
- Beatrice Ebel (German)
- Samuel Drasgow (German)
- Alexander Maslov (German)
- Hudson Coady (Mandarin Chinese)
- Alicia Garcia (Spanish)
- Eliel Abril Garcia (Spanish)
- America Gomez (Spanish)
- Clara Hazen (Spanish)
- Leslie Hernandez Rivera (Spanish)
- Phia Marino (Spanish)
- Sebastian Orrala (Spanish)
- Lorelie Yau (Spanish)
- Isauro Zenil (Spanish)
Participating in the State Seal and Commendation Program encourages the study of other languages, increases employment and academic opportunities, and allows participants to get college credit at public universities.
In 2023, Urbana School District was one of only 114 districts in the state to participate in the Seal of Biliteracy Program and one of only 98 districts to participate in the Commendation Toward Biliteracy Program. USD first began participating in 2021.
*There are two students whose results are pending, who could also earn the Seal or Commendation.