BRANSON MO NEWS: As 121 seniors walked across the stage for the graduating class of 2018 for Hollister high school, one student helped put the school in rare company.James Tavera was the school’s first recipient of the Missouri Seal of Biliteracy. The award is still in its first year of implementation, with the graduating class of 2018 being the first to be eligible for the award.“It’s an honor to get this award, especially for our school,” Tavera said. “Whenever I go places, people don’t know Hollister, and they come up with Branson first. So it’s nice to be able to bring recognition to the school.”
According to the Missouri Department of Education, 37 school districts in Missouri have implemented the award, and is awarded to students with high achievement in English and intermediate proficiency in another language.“I had to write, talk and point out places,” Tavera said. “I had to fully understand the language of Spanish.”Having attended the Hollister School District for four years, Tavera said he moved from Pennsylvania to the South American nation of Columbia at a young age. According to Tavera, he credits both Marta Nangle, an English as a Second Language coordinator for the district, and Katie Schiefelbein, a Spanish instructor at the high school, for helping him become proficient in the language.“I was never that formal,” Tavera said. “I could speak it with friends and family and people, but wasn’t able to speak it dedicatedly, formally, in a proper manner.”Nangle, who joined the school district in the fall of 2017, said she’s proud of Tavera and hopes his achievement leads to a larger acceptance and celebration of cultures.
“It will help our kids know a second language will help them get a good job out there in the real world,” Nangle …
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