Wilbraham & Monson Academy has a history of doing very well on the National Latin Exam, and this school year followed that trend.
Thirty-five percent of the Academy students who took the 2016 exam were recognized with awards for their performance.
"Our students in Latin have traditionally had strong results on the national exam," explained Mr. Kevin Kane, Chairperson of the World Languages Department. "Our consistent results have always been great reinforcement for the quality of our program, and great recognition for students who may not always be in the limelight."
More than 150,000 students from all 50 states, as well as 19 countries, took the 2016 exam. Thirteen WMA students garnered honors, including two students – Brendan Kane '17 and Min Kyum "Jonathan" Kim '17 - receiving the highest award possible.
"Brendan and Jonathan took the exam seriously and used the knowledge they had learned and showed they have a good mastery of the language," longtime WMA Latin teacher Don Kelly said.
Even though the students didn't specifically study for the national exam, Brendan said he felt very prepared.
"The knowledge we had going into the exam was very good," said Brendan, who took the Latin 1 exam. "Still, it caught me by surprise how much I knew on the test. I knew after I turned it in that I had done a good job, but I didn't think I'd win an award."
Below is the list of all of the WMA award recipients:
Summa Cum Laude certificate and gold medals
Brendan Kane '17, Latin 1
Min Kyum "Jonathan" Kim '17, Latin 2
Maxima Cum Laude certificate and silver medal
Peter Stoute '18, Latin 2
Magna Cum Laude certificates
John Kennedy '19, Latin 1
Lauren Foley '17, Latin 1
Gordon Hertel '19, Latin 1
Mary Sparago '17, Latin 4 Poetry
Cum Laude certificates
Sofia Tosato '16, Latin 4 Poetry
Logan Bell '18, Latin 2
Erin Demers '16, Latin 2
Enming "John" Zhang '17, Latin 1
Anna Axas '19, Latin 1
Dylan Lattell '17, Latin 1