Southeastern hosts Foreign Language Festival
Wednesday, May 31, 2023
by: Tonya Lowentritt
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Cutlines are located at the bottom of the press release.
HAMMOND – Southeastern recently hosted the 40th annual Foreign Language Festival
on campus.
The festival drew schools from Natchitoches, Orleans, St. Tammany and Tangipahoa
parishes that brought nearly 150 students to compete in Spanish and French recitation,
oral interview, music and extemporaneous speaking categories.
The judges for the festival included many world languages and cultures alumni,
bilingual community members, faculty and staff, and even governmental officials.
Individual winners, listed by parish and school, were:
NATCHITOCHES
Louisiana School for Math, Science, and the Arts – First Place: Joy Qiu, French Recitation III; and McKenzie LaCombe, French Recitation IV. Second Place: Kushal Upadhyay, French Recitation II; Colin Perret, French Extemporaneous Speaking
I; Anastasia Adams-Giron, Spanish Recitation Native Speaker; and Grace Herpin, Spanish
Extemporaneous Speaking II. Third Place: Aiden Allgire, French Recitation I; Tadgh Bowman, French Extemporaneous Speaking
III; Jaime Perdue, Spanish Recitation IV; Maci Bergeron, Spanish Extemporaneous Speaking
III, Jesse Zaffron, Spanish Extemporaneous Speaking IV; Juliana Allemand, Spanish
Extemporaneous Native Speaker; and Lucia Allemand, Spanish Native Speaker Translation.
ORLEANS PARISH
Cabrini High School – First Place: Isabella Bernard, French Extemporaneous Speaking, IV and French Oral Interview;
Brie Haydel, French Native Speaker Translation; Gabriella Olivier, Spanish Extemporaneous
Speaking IV and Spanish Oral Interview; Ana Maria Andrade, Spanish Extemporaneous
Native Speaker; Abigail Reyes, Spanish Native Speaker Translation. Second Place: Ava Legar, French Recitation I; Mila Barnes, French Extemporaneous Speaking III;
Catherine O’Neill, Spanish Recitation I; Nevada Charity, Spanish Recitation III; Hilary
Vaucresson, Spanish Recitation IV; Anna Coniglio, Spanish Extemporaneous Speaking
I; Tessa Anderson, Spanish Extemporaneous Speaking III; Marcia Quispe and Sophia Quispe,
Spanish Prose II; Bridgette Murillo, Spanish Native Speaker Prose and Native Speaker
Extemporaneous Speaking; Tessa Anderson, Spanish Extemporaneous Speaking II; Logan
Lewis, Spanish Extemporaneous Speaking IV; Tessa Anderson, Spanish Extemporaneous
Speaking II; Logan Lewis, Spanish Extemporaneous Speaking IV; and Sofia Quispe, Spanish
Music. Third Place: Bree Naquin, French Recitation III; Na’Khi Myers, French Extemporaneous Speaking
II; Lillie Kennard, French Music; Eaden Roberson, Spanish Recitation II; Marcia Quispe,
Spanish Recitation Native Speaker.
Mount Carmel Academy – First Place: Rebecca Vindel, French Recitation II; Sophia Giarusso, French Extemporaneous Speaking III; Mia Peppo, French Music; Bella Hymel, Spanish Recitation I; Addison Ferreras, Spanish Recitation II; Marguerite Hopkins, Spanish Recitation III; Elyssa Pedalino, Spanish Recitation IV; Giselle Estrade, Spanish Recitation Native Speaker; Elizabeth Holden, Spanish Extemporaneous Speaking II; and Riley Kitchen, Spanish Extemporaneous Speaking III. Second Place: Ava Wimberly, French Recitation III; Margaret Watson, French Recitation IV; Alexis Gray French Extemporaneous Speaking II; Hana Hammond, French Extemporaneous Speaking IV; Ellie Bono, Spanish Extemporaneous Speaking IV; Isabella Polk, Spanish Native Speaker Translation. Third Place: Ella Giutsi, French Extemporaneous Speaking I; Avah Smith, Spanish Extemporaneous Speaking I.
ST. TAMMANY PARISH
Archbishop Hannan High School – First Place: Mary Barwick, French Poetry II; Georgia Gottschalk, French Extemporaneous Speaking
I; Luke Boudreaux, French Extemporaneous Speaking II; Amalie Thrasher, Spanish Poetry
I; Nyssa Valencia, Spanish Prose III; Natalia Elvir, Spanish Native Speaker Extemporaneous
Speaking; and Victoria Fernandez, Spanish Native Speaker Translation. Second Place: Melia Broussard, French Poetry I; and Adelyn Lemoine, Spanish Extemporaneous Speaking
III. Third Place: Gaby Buffa, French Prose II and Sebastian Elvir, Spanish Native Speaker Prose, Scarlet
Hensarling, Spanish Music.
Pope John Paul II Catholic School – First Place: Jasmin Pham, French Prose II and Alex Bremond, French Prose III. Second Place: Morgan Thies, French Poetry III; Joey Hosni, French Poetry IV; and Avery Cerise, Spanish Poetry I. Third Place: James Thompson, French Poetry II; Aaron Frick, French Prose I; Wyatt Combs, French Extemporaneous Speaking I; Marshall Thompson, Spanish Poetry II; Sarah Humberg, Spanish Poetry III; Angela Kelley, Spanish Prose I; and Evan Keister, Spanish Prose II.
St. Scholastica Academy – Third Place: Sofia Eversgerd, Spanish Extemporaneous Speaking II.
TANGIPAHOA
St. Thomas Aquinas – First Place: Mackenzie Bergeron, Abby Layrisson and Blayne Schilling, Spanish Music. Third Place: Emily Jiménez, Spanish Recitation III.
CUTLINES
1) FOREIGN LANGUAGE FESTIVAL WINNERS (FRENCH) FROM ORLEANS PARISH - Students from Orleans Parish recently competed in French and placed at the Foreign
Language Festival at Southeastern Louisiana University. Pictured are, from left, Rebecca
Vindel, Mia Peppo, Sophia Giarusso, and Valeska Mora, all of Mt. Carmel Academy, and
Isabella Bernard and Brie Haydel of Cabrini High School.
2) FOREIGN LANGUAGE FESTIVAL WINNERS (SPANISH) FROM ORLEANS PARISH - Students from Orleans Parish recently competed in Spanish and placed at the Foreign Language Festival at Southeastern Louisiana University. Pictured are, front row, from left, Elyssa Pedalino, Bella Hymel, and Addison Ferreras, all from Mt. Carmel Academy, and Addison Virgadamo, Meredith Severa, Abigail Reyes, and Sophia Carmargo-Ramirez, all from Cabrini High School. Back row, from left, are Riley Kitchen, Elizabeth Holden, Giselle Estrada, and Marguerite Hopkins, all of Mt. Carmel Academy, Vivienne Kish, Gabriella Olivier, Angelina Arguello-Turcios, and Ana Maria Andrade, all of Cabrini High School.
3) FOREIGN LANGUAGE FESTIVAL WINNERS (FRENCH) FROM NATCHITOCHES PARISH - Students from Natchitoches Parish recently competed in French and placed at the Foreign Language Festival at Southeastern Louisiana University. Pictured are, from left, Mckenzie LaCombe and Joy Qiu, both of the Louisiana School for Math, Science, and Arts.
4) FOREIGN LANGUAGE FESTIVAL WINNERS (FRENCH) FROM ST. TAMMANY PARISH – Students from St. Tammany Parish recently competed in French and placed in the Foreign Language Festival at Southeastern Louisiana University. Pictured, front row, from left, are Noora Abi Rafeh, Lolo Loris, and Georgia Gottschalk of Archbishop Hannan High School.
5) FOREIGN LANGUAGE FESTIVAL WINNERS (SPANISH) FROM ST. TAMMANY PARISH – Students from St. Tammany Parish recently competed in Spanish and placed in the Foreign Language Festival at Southeastern Louisiana University. Pictured, from left, are Jerry Parker, Southeastern instructor of French and Spanish, Katherine Thompson of Archbishop Hannan High School, and Rosario Rodriguez de Hall, Southeastern instructor of Spanish.
6) FOREIGN LANGUAGE FESTIVAL WINNERS (SPANISH) FROM TANGIPAHOA PARISH – Students from Tangipahoa Parish recently competed in Spanish and placed at Southeastern Louisiana University’s Foreign Language Festival. From left, are Abby Layrisson, Blayne Schilling and Mackenzie Bergeron, all of St. Thomas Aquinas High School.
