Huntington students are enjoying studying the Italian language and culture
Huntington students are enjoying studying the Italian language and culture 

Huntington’s Italian Language Students Capture Awards

May 22, 2023

Italian language students at Huntington High School and J. Taylor Finley Middle School enjoyed success in this year’s National Italian Exam. The students earned eight medals and two merit awards.

According to the National Italian Exam website, “[the] NIE is the official national language contest for middle and high school students … It is a web-based proficiency and performance assessment that measures written and aural interpretation skills.”

The National Italian Exam has three categories for each level: A (students who have only studied Italian in school); B (students whose native language is a Romance language); and C (students who were raised in a household where Italian is spoken regularly and actively used by its members).

The Huntington Italian students that volunteered to take this exam ranged in level from Novice to Level III. Italian teachers, Natalia Kopshti and Michelle Viani said they “are beyond proud” of their students for their accomplishments and for “extending themselves beyond the classroom to apply their Italian language skills.”

The honorees include:

Gold Medal Winners:

● Kayla Hernandez (Level Novice B, 7th grade)

Silver Medal Winners:

● Millicent Ciccotto (Level Novice A, 7th grade)

Bronze Medal Winners:

● Caleigh Camarata (Level Novice A, 7th grade)

● Michel DiVincenzo (Level 1 A, 8th grade)

● Veda Gross (Level 1 A, 8th grade)

● Jayden Zambrano (Level Novice B, 7th grade)

● Vincenza Garofalo (Level II B, 10th grade)

Merit Award Winners:

● Addison Delfino (Level II A, 8th grade)

● Sabino Gomez Morales (Level Novice B, 7th grade)

● Kelly Zelaya (Level III B, 11th grade)

Participatory Awards:

● Christopher Granito (Level Novice A, 7th grade)

● Alexa Wasoski (Level Novice A, 8th grade)

● Jessica Ramirez (Level II B, 8th grade)

● Allison Sifontes Torres (Level II B, 8th grade)

● Gemma Bedell (Level II A, 8th grade)

● Nayeli Umana Bustillo (Level Novice B, 7th grade)

● Massimiliano Terrado (Level I C, 8th grade)

● Sam Soric (Level II A, 10th grade)

● Brooke Parks (Level III A, 11th grade)

● Gabriela Vilorio (Level II B, 10th grade)

● Damaris Mani Muñoz (Level III, B 11th grade)

● Julia Aldas (Level II B, 10th grade)

● Mayra Rivera (Level III B, 11th grade)

The National Italian Exam debuted in 1985 as the official national language contest for middle and high school students of the American Association of Teachers of Italian. In a typical year, as many as 6,000 students of the Italian language sit for the exam nationwide.