Huntington High School students turned in another sensational performance on this year’s National French Exam, formally known as Le Grand Concours.
Foreign language teacher Deidre Mayer has annually encouraged her students to challenge themselves by taking the national test since she joined Huntington’s faculty in 2000. This year, 17 students responded to her call.
Huntington High School French teacher Deidre Mayer.
Over the years the teacher, affectionately known as Madame Mayer to her students, has seen several of her protégés win top honors in both the national French and Latin exams, LI Language Teachers Assn. competitions and Competitions and American Assn. of Teachers of French poetry recitation contest.
Le Grand Concours is an annual contest sponsored by the AATF. Students of French in grades 1-12 take the computerized test and compete against their counterparts with similar educational backgrounds for prizes. Participants come from all 50 states and abroad. Students enter the competition through their respective French teachers. All students of French are eligible.
A graduate of Miss Porter’s School in Farmington, Connecticut, Mrs. Mayer studied for an undergraduate degree at Mount Holyoke and Barnard College of Columbia University, carrying a major in French and minor in Latin. The veteran educator obtained a master’s degree at New York University in French language and civilization.
Among Huntington’s 17 participants there was one silver medalist, one bronze medalist and six honorable mention recipients. The top performers included:
- Level 2A: Cassidy Casabona - Suffolk 13th, nationally 18th - Honorable Mention
- Level 3A: Lauren Gooding - Suffolk 16th, nationally 26th - Honorable Mention
- Level 3A: Rebecca Hoffmann - Suffolk 13 th, nationally 23 rd - Honorable Mention
- Level 3A: Grace Kenny - Suffolk 2nd, nationally 8th - Silver Medal
- Level 3A: Gemma Pellegrini - Suffolk 10th, nationally 20 th - Honorable Mention
- Level 4A: Eunice Bonita Ramos - Suffolk 9th, nationally 21 - Honorable Mention
- Level 4C : Alice Bradford - Suffolk 5th, nationally 17th - Bronze Medal
- Level 5A: Finn Malone - Suffolk 6th, nationally 24th - Honorable Mention
- Level 5A: Isabella Malone - Suffolk 9 th, nationally 28th
Huntington students have been winning honors for their scores on the national exam for many years and this year’s test-takers have managed to build upon the exceptional tradition of their predecessors.