New bilingual distinction to be on Kennewick, Pasco diplomas

Southridge High School was a bit of a scary place when Kahory Madrigal showed up halfway through her freshman year.

It was difficult to start over in a school vastly different from those she attended while growing up in Mexico. She also could not speak or understand English.

“It was bad,” she said of her first day.

More than three years later she’s graduating on time. But when she receives her diploma at the Toyota Center on June 4, it won’t just note she’s a Southridge High graduate, it will also note her fluency in the very language that made it hard for her communicate with students and teachers.

About 30 seniors at Kennewick’s high schools will graduate with the Seal of Biliteracy in June, district officials said, while another 30-some underclass students already have met requirements for the certification in Spanish and also Arabic, Burmese and Italian. At least 180 seniors from Pasco’s high schools also will graduate with the distinction.

Kennewick offers four language courses to high school students as well as a dual language program starting in kindergarten and the seal is a way to officially recognize bilingual students, officials said.

“The students just beam when they learn of this,” said Alyssa St. Hilaire, the district’s bilingual programs coordinator.

State lawmakers created the seal in 2012 to recognize students who acquired proficiency in a language other than English.

Students have to demonstrate their skill in the language when it comes to listening, speaking, reading and writing. Testing is done through either Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate or competency-based exams.

Not all Washington school districts offer the certification to their students, which means a special emblem on a qualified senior’s diploma as well as a citation in their transcript.

Graduating seniors in Pasco will be able to earn the seal this year if they earn at least a score of 3 or higher on a 5-point scale on the AP Spanish exam, but that is the only language available in that district. District spokeswoman Leslee Caul said administrators are looking for ways to expand student options when it comes to qualifying for the distinction.

Amber DeGraaf, a paraprofessional at Southridge, worked with Kahory after she arrived as a freshman and has seen how earning the seal for her Spanish fluency helped her confidence.

“She’s become a mentor to a lot of the students coming in,” she said.