PENDLETON – Five graduating Native students, including Seth Scott who made remarks in Nez Perce at the Pendleton High School commencement ceremonies, have earned the Oregon Seal of Biliteracy for their achievements in studying native languages.
Besides Scott, four students from Nixyaawii Community School earned the Oregon Seals, which will appear on their diplomas. Those students are Christina Kaltsukis, Susie Patrick, Lilly Picard and Joseph Simon.
The Seal of Biliteracy recognizes students who achieve proficiency in English and one other world language before graduating high school. The national program was adopted in Oregon in 2016, but this is the first year that languages of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) have been included.
Scott passed the exam in Nez Perce while the NCS students passed the exam in the Umatilla language. The tests, developed by the CTUIR Language Program, were created to measure students’ abilities in speaking, reading and understanding Umatilla and Nez Perce. The tests were administered to the students one at a time by a tribal elder and fluent speaker of the languages. Each test took about two hours.
Students came into the test with different backgrounds in their language experiences. One had been studying hard for just under a year, while others who had been studying longer “chatted” comfortably in the oral exam.
The purpose of the State Seal of Biliteracy, as described on the Oregon Department of Education website, is “to encourage students to study additional world languages, to allow employers and institutes of higher education to recognize people with language skills, and to promote world language education in schools.”
SETH SCOTT’S
PENDLETON – Five graduating Native students, including Seth Scott who made remarks in Nez Perce at the Pendleton High School commencement ceremonies, have earned the Oregon Seal of Biliteracy for their achievements in studying native languages.
Besides Scott, four students from Nixyaawii Community School earned the Oregon Seals, which will appear on their diplomas. Those students are Christina Kaltsukis, Susie Patrick, Lilly Picard and Joseph Simon.
The Seal of Biliteracy recognizes students who achieve proficiency in English and one other world language before graduating high school. The national program was adopted in Oregon in 2016, but this is the first year that languages of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) have been included.
Scott passed the exam in Nez Perce while the NCS students passed the exam in the Umatilla language. The tests, developed by the CTUIR Language Program, were created to measure students’ abilities in speaking, reading and understanding Umatilla and Nez Perce. The tests were administered to the students one at a time by a tribal elder and fluent speaker of the languages. Each test took about two hours.
Students came into the test with different backgrounds in their language experiences. One had been studying hard for just under a year, while others who had been studying longer “chatted” comfortably in the oral exam.
The purpose of the State Seal of Biliteracy, as described on the Oregon Department of Education website, is “to encourage students to study additional world languages, to allow employers and institutes of higher education to recognize people with language skills, and to promote world language education in schools.”
