134 graduates awarded biliteracy seal achievements
A record-high number of 134 Springfield Public Schools students who either speak a language other than English or are enrolled in an upper-level world language class tested for and received the Missouri State Seal of Biliteracy, an important honor reflected on students’ final transcripts.
To earn the seal, students must score high enough on a national language proficiency exam in reading, listening, writing and speaking a language other than English, have qualifying test scores from their SPS English classes and demonstrate cross-cultural competency. With a high enough score, students can earn up to 18 credits at participating Missouri universities.
“It is the dedication of our world language teachers that allows so many SPS students to be successful language learners,” said Rachel Love-Jones, coordinator of curriculum for world language. “Students take their language classes in the elective block, but our curriculum sets specific, high expectations for real language production, and our consistently expanding numbers of seniors reaching this goal demonstrates how students will rise to meet those expectations with the help of a supportive teacher. Studying another language opens up the world to students and guides them to discover new things about themselves and their place in our community.”
Ten students received the Distinguished seal, which requires higher test scores in both English and another language in all domains (reading, writing, speaking and listening). This year, 57 former or current English language learning students received the seal, more than double the number of students last year.
This year, the number of students receiving the seal in multiple languages increased. One Glendale senior received the seal in four languages, and one Kickapoo senior received the seal in three languages. Six other SPS seniors received the seal in two languages.
Seal of Biliteracy Recipients 2026
- Colin Andrews, Spanish
- Lily Bartlett, Spanish
- Sophia Brown, Spanish
- Ugurcan Buyurgan, Spanish
- Ila Cripps, Spanish
- Ethan Dang, Spanish
- Bach Dao, Spanish
- Lydia Davis, Spanish
- Keren Ding, Spanish
- Josue Garcia Martinez, French & Spanish
- Madison Gong, Spanish, Distinguished
- Aleyse Goodfriend, Spanish
- Audrey Hawkins, Spanish
- Emily Hernandez, Spanish
- Kael Hitchcock, Spanish
- Carolina Kessinger, Spanish
- Race Lamb, Spanish
- Grace Meyer, Spanish
- Brayden Miao, Spanish
- Chelsea Miller, Spanish
- Maya Murdaugh, Spanish
- Lindsay Nel, Spanish
- Avila O'Reilly, Spanish
- Danielle Ocampo, Spanish
- Grace Yeeun Park, Spanish
- Joselyn Parra, Spanish
- Dhruv Patel, Spanish
- Isabella Ramirez, Spanish
- Jehieli Reyes, Spanish
- Melanie Sanchez, Spanish
- Zella Schopp-Gosnell, Spanish
- Rachel Smitherman, Spanish
- Claire Szura, Spanish
- Calvin Torres Donjuan, Spanish
- Alex Trieu, Spanish
- Adelaide Trumble, Spanish
- Sophy Wickham-Zhou, Spanish
- David Woodman, Spanish
- Chloe Wootton, Spanish
- Jefferson Aguilar-Reinado, Spanish
- Marius Broiko, Spanish, Romanian, Ukrainian, & Russian Distinguished
- Mary Lyn Castro, Filipino & Cebuano Distinguished
- William Fortanel Reyes, Spanish
- Julia Hofmann, French & German, Distinguished
- Lily Jones, French
- Macy Lindley, Spanish
- Xavier Murray , Spanish
- Bowen Nelson, Spanish
- Sofiia Revutska, Russian & Ukrainian
- Hannah Rico , Spanish
- Nayelie Rodriguez, Spanish
- Mackenzie St. Clair, Spanish
- Ariel Yudin, Spanish & Russian
- Seth Ballard, Spanish
- Callie Dills, Spanish
- Zachary Hawkins, Spanish
- John Karsten Stack, Spanish
- Grayson Stenger, Spanish
- Justin Gonzalez, Spanish
- Nathaniel Aquino, Spanish
- Macy Babcock, Spanish
- Anne-Marie Barbara, Spanish
- Olivia Beck, Spanish
- Aaliyah Bedell, Spanish
- Jaxon Bermudez, Spanish
- Ana Bermudez Marroquin, Spanish
- Charlie Beyer, Spanish
- Breahna Catron, Spanish
- Kate Crist, Spanish
- Nathanael Cummings, Spanish
- Justin Escobar, Spanish
- Kati Folle, Spanish
- Gracelyn Fraker, Spanish
- Chloe Goocher, Spanish
- Tia Griffin, Spanish
- Samuel Hernandez, Spanish
- Ni Hnem, Hakha Chin, Distinguished
- Lily Howser, Spanish
- Evelyn Journagan, Spanish
- Ella Kimm, Spanish
- Matthew Liehr, Spanish
- Lizbeth Malaga Cinta, Spanish Distinguished
- Leah Martin, Spanish
- Aolany Merlo, Spanish
- Jane Nguyen, Spanish Distinguished
- Lauren Odom, Spanish
- Johan Orozco, Japanese
- Bella Pan, Chinese
- Emma Pearcy, Spanish
- Phuc Pham, Spanish, Japanese, & Vietnamese
- Thao Pham, Vietnamese Distinguished
- Hien Pham, Vietnamese Distinguished
- Evolet Pizarro Reyes, Spanish
- Manahil Raja, Urdu Distinguished
- Ellie Shevey, Spanish
- Jalie Smith, Spanish
- Jing Sun, Chinese
- Madeline Swenson, Spanish
- Brock Thompson, Spanish
- Hailey Tuttle, Spanish
- Isaac Van, Hakha Chin
- Brenden Villalobos, Spanish
- Kayleen Williams, Spanish
- Hattie Witte, Spanish
- Emily Adan, Spanish
- Sham Al Saleh, Arabic
- Leslie Alvarado-Villalta, Spanish
- Matthue Benson, American Sign Language
- Chasity Borden, Spanish
- Ansam El Mazdi, French & Arabic
- Amber Gilbert, Spanish
- Kyrie Godby, American Sign Language
- Martina Gordon, Spanish
- Jalyn Green, American Sign Language
- Valeria Guzman, Spanish
- Leslly Hernandez, Spanish
- Madison Holte, American Sign Language
- Mohd Hossain, Filipino
- Yomari May, Spanish
- Sandra Padilla-De Leon, Spanish
- John Rodas, Spanish
- Violet Smith, American Sign Language
- Siiri Vuorinen, Finnish