Merced County Seal of Biliteracy Awards Honor Nearly 500 High School Seniors

The Merced County Office of Education (MCOE) celebrated the achievements of 475 high school seniors from 15 high schools who were awarded the Merced County Seal of Biliteracy. The awards ceremony was held at Golden Valley High School where parents, teachers and guests attended.

A total of 900 seniors and juniors from 15 high schools across the county applied for the Seal ofBiliteracy this year. High schools included Atwater, Buhach, Delhi, Dos Palos, El Capitan, Golden Valley, Gustine, Hilmar, Le Grand, Livingston, Los Banos, Merced, Merced Scholars Charter, Pacheco High and Stone Ridge Christian.

In addition to the 475 seniors who were awarded the Seal of Biliteracy, 200 juniors also met the criteria and will receive the Seal next year as seniors.

The accolade, which is listed on student transcripts and includes a seal affixed to their diploma, is awarded by MCOE in partnership with school districts and recognizes proficiency in English and at least one other world language by the time students graduate high school.

The ceremony featured remarks from Merced County Superintendent of Schools Dr. Steve Tietjen, Merced Union High School District Superintendent Alan Peterson and host site principal of Golden Valley High School Kevin Swartwood on the benefits of language acquisition.

Students recited speeches in their target languages, which included Arlet Leon Javier from Pacheco in French, Claudia Taylor from Hilmar in Portuguese and Jessica Elias Mendez from Golden Valley in Spanish. Students also earned the Seal this year in Punjabi, Hindi, Hmong and Gujarati.

For more information on the Merced County Seal of Biliteracy, contact events@mcoe.org.