2020 Department and SHH Awards

2020 World Language Department Outstanding Senior Awards


French - Michael Cowden is the recipient of the Outstanding French student award. Not only does Michael have a natural aptitude for languages, but he also has a passion and a drive to study multiple languages in his spare time. He has studied all three languages we offer at Arvada West. Michael quickly understands new material, pays great attention to detail, and retains the information. He is skilled in reading, writing, speaking, and listening. He also has beautiful French pronunciation. He earned the seal of Biliteracy in French. He thoroughly enjoys every opportunity to use the language. He engages other language teachers and students, as well as people he meets on vacation. Madame Taylor says that Michael  is one of the most talented language students she has had the pleasure of teaching.


Spanish - Cade Ainsworth is the recipient of the Outstanding Spanish student award.  Cade has worked diligently for 6 years to achieve fluency in Spanish. He took AP Spanish as a junior and then signed up for Spanish 5 honors as a senior, to keep up his language skills. Cade’s fluency in speaking, listening, reading, and writing is impressive!  Cade has demonstrated his passion for the language and culture of the Spanish-speaking world as a dedicated member of Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica for the past two years.  He is a great role model for A-West Spanish students in general and represents the department for community events like Choice Enrollment Night and 8th Grade Parent Night. 



2020 Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica, Tito Puente Chapter Awards


Joseph Adams Senior Scholarship:


Clare Edmundson - Clare applied for this competitive scholarship from the Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica.  There are over 2,500 national and international chapters of the SHH, and Clare was selected among the applicants because of her excellent 500-word Spanish essay and video recorded conversation in Spanish!  Clare has studied Spanish for the past 6 years, and she is currently in the AP Spanish Language and Culture class.  Clare has also studied French for the past two years.  During her sophomore year, Clare was one of the founding members of Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica, Tito Puente Chapter.  Clare served as Secretary, Vice President, and now President of the club.  Clare has proven herself to be a very dependable and hardworking leader.  She has spearheaded three successful fundraisers for the Pulsera Project, an organization that provides education and healthcare to fair trade artisans in Nicaragua and Guatemala.  Clare also helped organize both a toiletries drive and a school supplies drive for Casa Hogar Palabra de Vida orphanage in Chihuahua, Mexico. 



Premio de Honor: 

Sponsors of active chapters may award the Premio de Honor to the best graduating senior member of the chapter. Nominations were accepted from all members and world language teachers, and final selection was made by the chapter sponsor. This year’s Premio de Honor goes to Clare Edmundson.


Clare Edmundson - Here is what SHH members said about Clare in their nominations: Clare embodies much of what SHH is about. She deserves this award because her leadership skills have been shown in this society, and she really cares about this society and the people in it. She has always been kind and inclusive. Clare has put so much time and effort into this chapter by striving to come up with creative ideas and supporting all members.  She is always full of energy and always smiling and makes SHH a lot more fun.  Clare is a role model for everyone in the chapter, and she has played such a key role in the development of our Tito Puente Chapter from the start. She is dedicated to SHH and helped welcome all the new members. She is also dedicated to her study of Spanish and is always striving to get better. She has been a great officer for the past three years!



Certificado por Servicios: 

The Certificado por Servicios recognizes members who have rendered meritorious service to their Chapter.  All members were invited to make nominations for this award, and final selection was made by this year’s officers.  It was a tough choice, because so many members had such a wide variety of great service to this society, the school, and the community. Our recipients this year are: Reed Brzezinski, Dylan Butler, Addison Page, and Sebastian Pardee.  Below are descriptions of the recipients, in the words of their fellow SHH members and teachers.


Reed Brzezinski - Reed has always been willing to help and excited to participate. Reed includes everyone and has an uplifting energy.  The Spanish Club meeting that Reed led was so simple but so fun.


Dylan Butler - Dylan signed up for just about every volunteer opportunity there was this year!  He not only completed a wide variety of service activities, but he did them with enthusiasm and always a big smile.  Dylan attended Spanish Club every week and always had a great attitude and participated in the conversations.


Addison Page - As a new member, Addy has stepped up and always signed up for service opportunities. She is very dedicated to the club and very enthusiastic about learning Spanish and promoting Spanish at Arvada West! She has come to all Spanish Club meetings, planned a meeting, and completed a lot of service hours in a variety of ways.


Sebastian Pardee - Sebastian has been the unsung hero of SHH for three years in a row.  He volunteers so much of his time for the club.  He has such a servant-leader attitude.  He has been a faithful, hard-working member for all 3 years of our existence.  He is very passionate about SHH and puts in the work to prove it.  Sebastian because he is always there for this society! For every event, he is always there to help and you can always go to him. He is a good person to talk to and is very good at what he does.  He is a joy to work with because he lightens up any situation. He makes everything a little more fun. Sebastian has been a part of SHH since the beginning, and he continues to show his dedication year after year. Constantly, Sebastian is working on all of the odds and ends that need to be done, and he often goes without any special recognition, which is truly inspiring.  Sebastian committed his time and effort to make SHH both a helping and an educational environment. He himself created various activities for the benefit of the club, and always had a smile to go along with the process.



Certificado de Excelencia:  

The Certificado de Excelencia recognizes students that demonstrate excellence in Spanish.  Nominations and final selections were gathered from the world language teachers.  This year’s awardees for the Premios de Excelencia are: Dominic Danborn, Lucia Faulkner, Sophia Prada, and Anahi Solis Balderrama.  Below are descriptions of the recipients, in the words of their fellow SHH members and teachers.


Dominic Danborn - Dominic puts forth a tremendous effort in all of his many honors and AP classes, and Spanish is no different. He has created interesting presentations, participated extremely well in class, and generally set the bar for scores on exams. He should be very proud of his fluency in Spanish!


Lucia Faulkner - Lucia has been turning heads in Spanish class for the past 2 years. As a sophomore in AP Spanish, she is impressive and intelligent. She speaks like a native speaker and writes very well.  She works hard on every assignment.  She is a very kind partner to have in class.  She is so patient and sweet, and it makes her classmates want to practice their Spanish.


Sophia Prada - Sophia has demonstrated her commitment to learning Spanish by working hard this year as an independent study student for AP Spanish Language and Culture. She is highly motivated to continue her Spanish education even without the support and structure of a full class environment. Sophia is also great at sharing her Spanish expertise with students who need a little guidance. She is patient and kind with them and does a great job explaining concepts!  Sophia was also a founding member of SHH, and she has given countless hours to the society over the years.


Anahi Solis Balderrama - Anahi has received the Certificado de Excelencia for two years in a row!  Anahi has been in Spanish 4 honors, Spanish 5, and now AP Spanish Language and Culture.  She has an energetic and fun presence in Spanish class, and gives her classmates authentic practice talking with a native speaker, while also being encouraging and kind.  Anahi is an active member of SHH who uses her artistic skills to help the club. During Trick or Treat street this past year, she gave up many hours to draw and design some of our decorations.  Anahi demonstrates her passion for world languages and cultures by also participating in French Club!  Anahi is a very energetic character, and an awesome person to get to know!



2020 Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica Graduates

Piper Acuff

Cade Ainsworth

Nicole Asuquo

Calista Bergstrom

Clare Edmundson

Valentena Ibanez 

Sebastian Pardee

Sophia Prada

Julia Rohner

Peyton Wilken



2020 Arvada West Seal of Biliteracy Candidates

French:

Michael Cowden

Kaitlyn Helsel-Henry

William Zhao


Russian: 

Nicole Gelement


Spanish:

Piper Acuff

Cade Ainsworth

Nicole Asuquo

Calista Bergstrom

Emily Burg

Rene DeMoulin

Cole Drinnan

Jack Dugan

Clare Edmundson

Timothy Flores

Bryan Gamboa

Nicole Gelement

Tylee Goodson

Briana Graf

Paiton Hancock

Olivia Henkel

Valentena Ibanez

Judah Johnston

Aryanna Kemler

Ashyn Kuehn

Aliya Kuester

Max Link

Blake Maly

Zachary Marcolina

Nicholas Nuhfer

Elijah Olson

Sebastian Pardee

Naya Pauly

Sophia Prada

Brody Reynolds

Jackson Roberts

Julia Rohner

Amelia Shields

Andre Silva

Addison Southwick

Braden Thomson

Calaiya Vickles

Anna Wagner

Peyton Wilken 


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