Le Grand Concours: The National French Contest 2014

 

On Wednesday, May 21 at Rye CDS, six Hackley Middle School French students were honored as prize winners in this year’s National French Contest. Mirabel M. was placed fourth in Westchester in the 7th grade age-group, while at 8th grade level Ijeoma N. was placed third, Hunter F., Samhitha J. and Lexi S. were placed 4th and Eleanor A. was placed 9th. Those placed 3rd and 4th in the county were also ranked in the top 10 nationally and so won bronze medals.

On the Wednesday, May 28th at Ardsley HS, six Hackley Upper School French students were honored in the same way. At level 2 Olivia G. and Benjy R. were placed 2nd in the county and nationally and were awarded silver medals, while Austen F. and Uriel G., 8th and 9th respectively in both county and nationally, received bronze medals. At level 3 Domenique M. 5th in the county and 6th nationally, also received a bronze medal.

At level 5, the top level where almost all participants are seniors, and taking a test that is used for placement purposes by many universities, Michael R.’s outstanding achievement was to make a perfect score and thus be ranked first in the county and 1st nationally, sharing this distinction with just one other level 5 competitor. He was awarded a gold medal, a plaque and a cash prize. His performance is all the more remarkable as he is a junior in just his third year of French at Hackley. In the beautifully delivered short speech that Michael was asked to give he expressed thanks to the AATF (American Association of Teachers of French) which organizes the contest, to his teachers and to Hackley and spoke of his resolution to continue his study of la belle langue française.