Berner Middle School eighth graders Daniel Annunziato and Anthony Soviero were recognized for their exceptional world language skills and all-around academic excellence by the New York State Association of Foreign Language Teachers (NYSAFLT). Annunziato was the recipient of the 2015 Philip A. Fulvi Love of Language Award and Soviero, as runner up, was presented with a Certificate of Merit. The students were awarded these top honors based on nominations from the entire Long Island and New York City region.
Annunziato, whose award came with a $50 savings bond, was nominated by his Spanish teacher Janice Kincaid who has taught him the language for two years.
“Daniel is highly successful in all academic areas and shows a particularly exuberant enthusiasm for Spanish,” Kincaid said. “He always goes above and beyond to develop his language skills and has achieved a great level of fluency in two years. He takes the initiative to practice the language with friends and, more significantly, this year when we were studying a unit on health and students had to research a Spanish-speaking non-profit organization, Daniel went beyond the scope of the project and took it upon himself to reach out to the director and converse with him in Spanish to better understand his agency.”
In his nomination for Soviero, German teacher Dean Guarnaschelli, who has taught Anthony the language for two years, said, “Anthony has a gift when it comes to academics, whether learning by himself or in a group situation. Learning German takes not only discipline but also a great deal of imagination. Throughout the years Anthony has shown that he possesses both of these traits and has great potential for college-level study in the future.”
Both students were very humbled by the awards and praised their teachers for their excellent instructional skills, acknowledging that they would not have come so far in learning a world language had it not been for their talent, guidance and support.
