Thirty-nine JHS seniors earn Seal of Biliteracy

By Clara Toot, JCSD Communications Specialist

Johnston, Ia. (April 18, 2025)— Thirty-nine Johnston High School seniors will be recognized at graduation this year for earning the Seal of Biliteracy in one of six languages: Spanish, French, Portuguese, Bosnian, Turkish and Chin Mizo. Two of those students received this distinction in two languages.

The Seal of Biliteracy is an award given by a school district to honor students who have attained proficiency in two or more languages, one of them being English, by the time they graduate high school. The State of Iowa has offered this distinction to students since 2018.

At least 177 world languages are spoken in Iowa, including 63 that are spoken in the Johnston Community School District.

Growth in recipients

Johnston continues to see growth in the number of students seeking and attaining this award since its inception in 2018. The number of Johnston seniors attaining the Seal of Biliteracy this year represents a 62.5% increase over the 24 seniors honored with the award last year.

JHS Class of 2025 seniors receiving this distinction are (first row) Katherine Acevedo Valencia- Spanish, Jimena Acuna-Munoz- Spanish, Anna Allison- Spanish, Connor Brinkmeyer – Spanish, Katelyn Carr- Spanish, Olivia Chen – Spanish, Reagan Dammeier – Spanish, Thomas Dicken – Spanish.

(Second Row)-Celia DiNitto – Spanish, Rose Freeman – French, Abigail Good – Spanish, Dzejna Hadzic – Bosnian, Keaton Hanson – Spanish, Rachel Hentscher – Spanish, Sophia Holm – Spanish, and Dory Holms – Spanish.

(Third and Fourth Row) – Claire Holub – Spanish, Gabrielle Jambor – Spanish, Madalena Julho – Spanish and Portuguese, Christelle Kabamba – French, Amelia Kaduce – Spanish, Gabriela La Rota – Spanish and Portuguese, Kate Lippincott – Spanish, and Luke McCammon – Spanish.

(Fifth Row) – Adonawit Meshesha – Spanish, Lance Mixdorf – Spanish , Grace Parker – Spanish, Sidney Peterson – Spanish, Jacqueline Rios Contreras – Spanish, Najla Salihovic – Bosnian, Benjamin Sanga – Chin Mizo, and Nikolay Silkin – Spanish.

(Sixth Row) – Reese Smith – Spanish, Rorie Smith – Spanish, Jaxson Stocker – French, Cate Taylor – Spanish, Ege Turkmut – Turkish, Sophia Wall – Spanish, and Sarah Wetterberg – Spanish.

Because the Seal of Biliteracy is awarded at graduation, some of these seniors may have taken the assessment in previous years, as a sophomore or junior.

This year’s Seal of Biliteracy Assessment

In the 2024-2025 school year, 79 Johnston students took the Seal of Biliteracy assessments.

Of the students who took the exam, 66 students (or 83.5%) received the Seal of Biliteracy in one of 12 languages.

ASL – 1 student

Bosnian – 4 students

Chin Mizo – 1 student

Dari – 1 student

English – 1 student

French – 3 students

Italian – 1 student

Portuguese – 1 student

Punjabi – 1 student