LPS students showcase language skills with Nebraska Seals of Biliteracy

Twenty-four Lincoln Public Schools students passed important milestones on their global communications journeys this summer.
 
Nebraska Department of Education (NDE) officials presented the Nebraska Seal of Biliteracy to 15 Lincoln High School students and nine East High School students. The award honors students who have achieved a high level of proficiency in both English and at least one additional language before graduating from high school. More than 30 percent of this year’s 74 recognized Nebraska recipients came from LPS.

Zach Mapes teaches Spanish at Lincoln High and chairs the school’s world language department. He was proud of the large number of students who accomplished the feat this year. Lincoln High students earned seals in both French and Spanish.
 
“This is the first year we have seen double-digit numbers of students achieve the seal, and we hope to build on the momentum for the future of world language at LHS!” Mapes said.
 
The NDE and Nebraska International Languages Association (NILA) co-sponsor the program each year. They recognize students who have displayed proficiency based on the Nebraska World Language Standards. The standards are structured around the essential components of communication, culture, connections, communities and cognition within a language other than English.
 
The Nebraska Seal of Biliteracy program aims to encourage students to develop and maintain multilingual skills. Mapes said that was especially important in today’s internationally-connected economy and culture.
 
“To put it plainly, it is extremely important for students to be multilingual today, not only for the language aspect but global interculturality,” Mapes said. “In the coming decades, Spanish will rival English as the most spoken language in the U.S., and Lincoln’s diversity offers opportunities to use many languages every day in the community.”
  
LPS offers world language courses in Chinese (Mandarin), French, German, Japanese, Spanish, Spanish for Spanish speakers and Arabic for Arabic speakers. The school district has developed proficiency targets, grading guidance and world language competency-based credits as part of the world language curriculum.

“In order for our students to position themselves for careers, either at home or abroad, it is important to learn additional languages, whether that is second, third, fourth or more,” Mapes said.

We congratulate the following LPS students who earned Nebraska Seals of Biliteracy during the August 2024 awards session.

Abby Umana
Lincoln High School – Spanish 

Avery Fast
East High School – Spanish

Brady Waite
Lincoln High School – Spanish

Brandon Mueller
Lincoln High School – Spanish

Camrie Franssen
Lincoln High School – Spanish

Claudia Licht
Lincoln High School – Spanish

Cole Butler
Lincoln High School – Spanish

Cole Christophersen
Lincoln High School – Spanish

Elaine Yu
East High School – Spanish

Emma Loos
Lincoln High School – Spanish

Faith Gottula
Lincoln High School – Spanish

Harry Dunder
Lincoln High School – Spanish

Jackson Sparks
Lincoln High School – Spanish

Joshua Schulte
East High School – Spanish

Kalleigh Champagne
East High School – Spanish

Lily Korpas
East High School – Spanish

Luke Weiss
East High School – Spanish

Madeline Scholl
Lincoln High School – Spanish

Madelyn Krupka
Lincoln High School – Spanish

Nicholas Li
East High School – Chinese and Spanish

Paige Christensen
Lincoln High School – Spanish

Sam Tidball
East High School – Spanish

Silvia Foss
Lincoln High School – French

Yinuo Daniel Wang
East High School – Chinese
 
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