Dustin won the gold medal for his Level-01 test for middle school-age students, in which his perfect score garnered him the honor being first in the country; he competed against more than 2,400 competitors in Southern California alone.
Celina took the silver medal in Level-1 for high school-age students, despite being in eighth grade; only missing one question, she finished second in the nation. Her classmates Troy Nguyen and Cambria Arvizo took bronze in the Level-1 test.
“They’re all excellent students,” their teacher Colette Waldron said. “They’re focused; they do their work; they participate in class. They’re not afraid to take risks, like standing up in front of others to speak.”
Troy took fourth in the nation and third in Southern California; Cambria was ninth in the nation and eighth in Southern California.
In addition, eighth-graders Jennifer Nguyen and Harry Smith, who took the Level-1 test, and seventh-graders Kelly Furuya and Nicole Cortese, who took the Level-01 test, scored in the top 20% in the country. Twenty other students from the school finished in the top 50%.
Dustin and Celina attended a French school in the past, and grew up in a household that speaks French, but Cambria and Troy had no background in the language before learning it in school, they said.
“That makes it all the more amazing for them,” Waldron said.
During the hour-long exam, students were tested on grammar, vocabulary and listening comprehension.
Although instructors across the nation use different teaching methods and textbooks, the test is the same for everyone, Waldron said; she was modest about her students’ accomplishments.
“I don’t do anything different than anyone else,” she said. “At this school, you’re expected to learn languages early. ... Our eighth-graders are competing against older, high-school-age students.”
The students said their teacher went out of the way to infuse French culture into their education, teaching them French etiquette and wearing French-inspired clothing.
“She makes sure that everyone understands in class,” Celina said.
“She really knows what she’s talking about,” Cambria said.
Waldron said she was glad that her students were able to show off their skills and perhaps increase interest in the language, in an area where Spanish is the most popular second language option.
“Many of my students want to continue learning French in high school,” Waldron said. “That, for me, is huge. ... We’ve worked hard to build this program.”
She and her students returned Saturday from their first trip to France as a group; they traveled to cities like Paris, Avignon and Nice, and were able to try out their naissant skills.
“To have the chance to use French in a place where language and culture are tied together was wonderful,” Waldron said.
She also hopes they will be able to take their experiences with them to future classes — like being able to recall the Place de la Concorde, where the French Revolution held sway, in their world history course work.
“They learned things that they’ll appreciate even more later on,” Waldron said.
Reporter CANDICE BAKER may be reached at (714) 966-4631 or at candice.baker@latimes.com.
To read this article in The Huntington Beach Independent, click HERE.
For more information about Carden Academy of Huntington Beach, please call 714-536-1441 or visit http://www.cardenacademyinc.org/
