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Students Compete in World Languages Day at UW

children and teenagers interacting in a room
Students participate in the annual World Languages Day competition hosted by the University of Wyoming. (UW Photo)

Some 307 students and 33 teachers representing 17 junior high and high schools from across Wyoming participated in the annual World Languages Day competition March 8-9 at the University of Wyoming.

World Languages Day is Wyoming’s state championship of foreign language study, hosted by UW’s Department of Modern and Classical Languages. This year’s theme was “history.”

“We believe high school students should be given opportunities to excel in their talents, be it football, cheerleading, marching band or world language learning,” says co-director and German Associate Professor Rebecca Steele. “World Languages Day not only provides this opportunity for friendly competition, but it shows off the UW campus and allows students to learn from experts from around the world.”

Some 234 students competed in linguistic competitions in seven languages, while 89 shared their artistic talents in a people’s choice award art competition. For the main event, students participated in a poetry and drama contest, in which students competed in multiple categories depending on level and language.

Additionally, there were 14 resource tables and 15 workshops to generate excitement about world languages and similar fields of international study, which included content in the following languages: Arabic, Chinese, English as a Second Language (ESL), French, German, Japanese, Korean, Latin, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Thai and Turkish.

Co-directors Steele and Mark Person, a senior lecturer of German, led this year’s event alongside 82 volunteers, including 17 UW interns, 23 UW student volunteers, 22 UW faculty members and two representatives from Laramie County Community College. All organizers helped judge, guide or teach through five Friday night activities: karaoke, salsa lessons, South American instruments, trivia and a planetarium show as well as through the competitions, resource fair and workshops.

Here are this year’s winners, listed by schools they represent:

Campbell County High School, Gillette

Kadia Sarvey and Alissa Burbank, Chinese Level 1 Group, third place; Ezekiel Allison, Isaiah Nava and Harrison Riss, Chinese Level 2 Group, first place; Lekili Grebinger, Chinese Level 3 Group, third place; Morgan Shannon and Adrianna Grant, German Level 1 Group, third place; Myles Yake and Gina Hitt, German Level 2 Group, third place; Maricruz Contreras-Sanchez and Ximena Molina, Spanish Level 5 Group, first place; Ploychanok Dumdoungrom and Prada Pattanuku, ESL Group, first place.

Centennial Middle School, Casper

Zoe von Gunten, Spanish Level 1 Individual, second place; Kynlee Griffith, Amber Ordiway and Zoe von Gunten, Spanish Level 1 Small Group, first place; Kaydence Geist, Chayse Grahm, Avery Strand, Chloe Bowden and Emma Holmberg, Spanish Level 1 Small Group, second place.

Cheyenne Central High School

Marie Lucas, French Level 1 Group, second place; Sam Voeller and Julia Steele, French Level 1 Group, third place; Kate Hayes-Siltzer, French Level 2 Group, second place; Anthony Higginbottom, French Level 2 Group, third place; Lexi Arp, French Level 4 Individual, first place (tie); Madison Webb, French Level 4 Individual, second place; Aspen Annas, French Level 4 Individual, third place; Abigail Framer and Juana Hicks-Rodriguez, French Level 4 Group, first place; John Eleshunk, French Level 5 Individual, first place; Ray Kline, Painting, first place; Aspen Annas, Photography, third place; Danielle Ivie, Craft, third place (tie).

Cheyenne East High School

Alleynah Ronnau, German Level 1 Individual, first place (tie); Katy Smith, German Level 1 Individual, first place (tie); Willow Buster and Stormi Buster, German Level 1 Group, first place; Allyson Gardner, German Level 2 Group, first place.

Cheyenne South High School

Averi Tomczyk, Ashley Baker, Kendyl Near and Sierra Adams, German Level 1 Group, second place; Lawrence Harris, German Level 2 Group, second place.

CY Middle School, Casper

Nathan Hamilton, Russian Level 1 Individual, first place; Emma Schwarzrock, Russian Level 1 Individual, second place; Mason Napier and Jonathon Thompson, Russian Level 1 Individual, third place; Jack Dawson and Bella Brubaker, Russian Level 2 Group, first place; Jazmine Stovall, Spanish Level 1 Individual, first place (tie); Aurora Hanson, Spanish Level 2 Individual, second place; Emma Bahr, Keating Chase and Emily Manville, Spanish Level 2 Group, first place; Victor Moreno, Spanish Level 3 Individual, second place; Sophia Pardo, Spanish Level 4 Individual, first place.

Davis Middle School, Evanston

Alexye Taliercio, Jack Driver, Raygan Cazares, Kelsey Carter, Maura Turner, Riley Kohler, Haillie Hernandez, Maya Saavedra-Herrera, Luke Benton, Bryton Smith, Hailey Gillette, Landon Palmer, Macaria Medina-Cox, Kailey Penhollow, Troy Ramirez, Emily Sawyer, Brinkley Francom, Aubrey Horrocks, Janet Heredia, Ethnee Swensen, Morgan Blair, Porter Hatch, William Kartchner and Dillon Espy, Spanish Level 1 Large Group, first place.

Evanston Middle School

Jaydon Welling, Brandon Magaña, Landon Heaps, Hank Dearden and Hadley Blackwell, Spanish Level 1 Small Group, third place; Kayleb Elkins, Braxton Young, Savannah Winfield, Jaydon Welling, Kylie Smith, Victoria Salas, Daniela Navarro, Anna Munoz, Xitlali Montaño, Brandon Magaña, Amelia Lester, Easton Kopp, Landon Heaps, Abygale Geroge, Kamrie Frongner, Hank Dearden, Kallee Cook, Halli Anderson and Hadley Blackwell, Spanish Level 1 Large Group, second place; Daniela Navarro, Victoria Salas and Xitlali Montaño, Spanish Level 2 Group, third place; Savannah Winfield, Painting, second place (tie); Hank Dearden, Craft, third place (tie).

Guernsey-Sunrise High School

Zavier Lee, Photography, second place.

Johnson Junior High School, Cheyenne

Aleks Slutzky, French Level 1 Individual, first place; Kanon Bever, French Level 1 Individual, third place.

Laramie High School

Gianna Rose, French Level 2 Group, first place; Ally Delaney, French Level 3 Group, first place (tie); George Yost, French Level 3 Group, first place (tie); Mikhela Scovil, French Level 4 Individual, first place (tie); Gianna Rose, Drawing, first place.

Laramie Middle School

Logan Jones and Dean Morgan, Spanish Level 2 Individual, first place (tie); Alan Martinez and Dean Morgan, Spanish Level 5 Group, third place.

McCormick Junior High School, Cheyenne

Camila Rivera, Anna Groth and Rain Coward-Long, French Level 1 Group, first place; Ariellen Inverster and Tatum Brown, French Level 1 Group, second place.

Shoshoni High School

Jacie Schnieder, Spanish Level 1 Individual, third place; Bridgette Fullmer, Sculpture, second place (tie); Lilly Schuback, Photography, first place.

Thunder Basin High School, Gillette

Macy Kasperik, Chinese Level 1 Group, first place; Ellee Rowland, Chinese Level 1 Group, second place; Sage Blessing, Chinese Level 2 Group, second place; Ramsdell Jaida, Alisha Khan, Luke Hoese, Saad Khan and Jakson Robbins, Chinese Level 2 Group, third place; Titus Stevens and Megan McEntee, Chinese Level 3 Group, first place; Elizabeth Wood, Chinese Level 3 Group, second place; Megan Green, German Level 1 Individual, second place; Jackson Black and Emma Ganné, German Level 4 Group, second place; Zion Morbeto, Spanish Level 3 Individual; first place; Jennifer Martinez, Paola Lopez, Saira Gutierrez and Alma Castaneda, Spanish Level 5 Group, second place; Henry Stuart, Drawing, second place; Macy Kasperik, Craft, second place.

UW Lab School

Stella Adelt and Alexa Naschold, German Level 4 Group, first place; Paulo Mellizo, Spanish Level 1 Individual, first place (tie); Fischer Kirven, Spanish Level 2 Individual, third place; Sienna Durr and Laura Brandt, Spanish Level 2 Group, second place; Asja Martin, Drawing, third place; Mebrat Weschler, Painting, second place (tie); Monique Borti, Sculpture, first place; Sean Prather, Sculpture, second place (tie); Madeline Bender, Sculpture, second place (tie); Rowan Ahern, Craft, first place.

The day was supported, in large part, by grants from UW College of Arts and Sciences; Wyoming Humanities Council; UW Service, Leadership and Community Engagement; the Department of Modern and Classical Languages; UW Global Engagement Office; the School of Politics, Public Affairs and International Studies; Oliver and Sidney Walter; Wyoming Foreign Language Teachers Association; Joyce Scott; Anne Alexander; Douglas Norbitt; Klaus and Jan Hansen; Martha Wood; Thomas Miller; Mark and Debora Person; June and Tom Parnell; the UW Office of Admissions; McDonald’s; and Ridley’s.

For more information about the annual World Languages Day competition, visit the Department of Modern and Classical Languages website at www.uwyo.edu/modlang or email Steele at rsteele4@uwyo.edu.

 

 

Contact Us

Institutional Communications
Bureau of Mines Building, Room 137
Laramie, WY 82071
Phone: (307) 766-2929
Email: cbaldwin@uwyo.edu


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