CLASSICAL TO WORLD LANGUAGES
French and Russian Student Competitions and Awards
French Competitions and Awards
Students studying foreign languages had opportunities to participate in state and national competitions. They were sponsored by the professional organization associated with the language in which students were enrolled. That was the case with those who opted to study French.
During the months of February and March, the American Association of Teachers of French (AATF) sponsored Le Grand Concours, a written test for students of French. In grades 1-6, students participated in the Foreign Language in the Elementary School (FLES) contest and students in grades 7-12 took the secondary exam.
Students enrolled in the exam through their teacher who registered them with the local AATF chapter contest administrator in their state. An entry fee was charged for each student entered and, if the teacher was an AATF member, the amount was less than for non-members. There were seven different levels, and within the levels, five divisions so that students were competing with other students with similar educational preparation. The Grand Concours was a multiple-choice exam composed of 80 questions to be completed in a 60-minute time frame.
To help prepare the students, teachers could order tests taken in previous years to give them an idea of the format and the type of questions asked. AATF also provided a list of specifications for students and teachers to use when preparing. Prior to early 2000, the exam was administered using only paper and pencil. After that, teachers could opt to have students take the exam on a computer. Today, the test is solely computer-based. The test must be proctored by someone other than the teachers of their own students.
Students who receive the highest scores are recognized with prizes at the state chapter level. Gold, silver, or bronze medals and honorable mention certificates are awarded for those declared national winners. For many years regional winners were also recognized, but that category was eliminated and only state and national winners are now named.
Once the final results are announced on the written exam, each state chapter may have the option of participating in a Concours Oral. Those students who were top winners on the Grand Concours for the Iowa chapter could participate in the spoken contest, the Concours Oral, hosted by Central College in Pella. Here each student was required to memorize and present a literary piece in French, have a one-on-one interview with a French professor, and participate in a group quiz bowl at the student’s level. The top three students at each level were recognized and a $500 scholarship for the top speaker in the advanced category was awarded. This scholarship could be used for Central College’s study abroad program in France, but the student did not have to be a student at Central.
Northern University High School students participated in the Grand Concours and the Concours Oral where students achieved success at several levels. The number of participants on the written exam for the state of Iowa varied from 1200 – 1700 students each year. Those who placed in the top of their respective levels, usually about 40 - 50 students, competed in the oral competition. (The only extant record of winners we gave at tgus tune is for Lowell Hoeft’s students. During his 15 years of teaching French at Northern University High School (1989-2004) Hoeft had 152 state, 8 regional and 33 national winners on the Grand Concours, and 33 students who placed in the Concours Oral in Pella.)
It is always an honor to be recognized for excellent performance, but the Grand Concours also helped teachers see how their students performed on aural and reading comprehension items, grammatical concepts, and cultural subjects.
Between 1989-2004, Hoeft served as the Iowa administrator for the National French Contest, except for the year he taught English in France and the year he supervised student teachers in Okinawa, Japan. His responsibilities included:
Contacting the Department of Public Instruction to obtain a list of current French teachers in Iowa.
Creating a cover letter and entry form explaining the guidelines, entry fees, and dates.
Opening a checking account to be used when ordering testing materials and paying for postage and awards.
Submitting the state order to the national office once entry numbers and fees were received.
Boxing up test directions, tests, and blank answer sheets for mailing to participating schools.
Receiving and tabulating answer sheets returned by Teachers. Once corrected, scores had to be manually added from the two sides of the answer sheet and then ranked by level and division. Thanks to the cooperation from Cedar Falls High School, Hoeft was able to use their Scantron machine to do this because NU did not have one.
Compiling state results and sending them to the national office and to each participating Iowa school.
Sending another letter with boxed medals and awards when regional and national results are received.
The role of local chapter administrators changed in 1995 when regional awards were eliminated and only rankings were given at state and national levels. Around the same time, the correction of the tests was done through the national office and not by individual contest administrators freeing them from many hours of work.
Le Grand Councours National Contest Placements
Year/Level | National Finish | Name |
1990/1 | 2nd | Beth Pedersen |
1990/2 | 6th | Kari Lundeen |
1993/2 | 7th | Genelle Sawyer |
1993/4 | 7th | Kimberly Riehle |
1995/1 | 2nd | Ed Liao |
1995/1 | 3rd | Brad Jacobson |
1995/1 | 5th | Jessica Schachterle |
1995/1 | 7th | Leah Buck |
1998/4 | 2nd | Brad Jacobson |
1999/1 | 7th | Christopher Hardy |
1999/1 | 8th | Peter Behroozi |
2000/1 | 5th | Mallory Piehl |
2000/1 | 8th | Colin McElligatt |
2000/2 | 4th | Peter Behroozi |
2000/2 | 9th | Christopher Hardy |
2001/2 | 6th | Colin McElligatt |
2001/2 | 7th | Aaron Popp |
2001/2 | 7th | Sameet Sangha |
2001/2 | 8th | Mallory Piehl |
2001/3 | 3rd | Christopher Hardy |
2001/3 | 5th | Peter Behroozi |
2001/3 | 8th | Katherine Lyman |
2001/3 | 10th | Jason Brasch |
2001/3 | 11th | Chris Vanderwall |
2002/1 | 10th | Madeleine Lynch-Dungy |
2002/1 | 11th | Amber Smith |
2002/3 | 10th | Colin McElligatt |
2002/4 | 2nd | Peter Behroozi |
2002/4 | 3rd | Christopher Hardy |
2002/4 | 11th | Katherine Lyman |
Year/Level | National Finish | Name |
2003/2 | 10th | Mae Colburn |
2003/2 | 10th | Brittany Waack |
2003/2 | 10th | Catie Wiesley |
2003/2 | 11th | Madeleine Lynch-Dungy |
2003/4 | 5th | Colin McElligatt |
2003/4 | 5th | Mallory Piehl |
2003/4 | 5th | Sameet Sangha |
2004/2 | 3rd | Alison Hardy |
2004/2 | 6th | Michaela Gansen |
2004/3 | 2nd | Brittany Waack |
2004/3 | 5th | Mae Colburn |
2004/3 | 7th | Genevieve Bertram |
2004/3 | 7th | Anson Poe |
2004/3 | 7th | Catherine Wiesley |
2004/3 | 8th | Jessica Bertram |
2004/3 | 9th | Arthur Padget |
2004/3 | 10th | Caitlin Tracey |
2005/3 | 6th | Alison Hardy |
2005/3 | 10th | Michaela Gansen |
2005/4 | 8th | Jennifer Bertram |
2006/3 | 8th | Jennifer Hills |
2008/3 | 9th | Megan Hardy |
2009/2 | 7th | Joni Griffith |
2009/2 | 8th | Sarah Dietz |
2010/3 | 8th | Sarah Dietz |
2010/3 | 8th | Alexander Prinsen |
2010/3 | 9th | Jyothi Dhanwada |
2011/4 | 8th | Alexander Prinsen |
2012/1 | 4th | Lily Conrad |
Le Grand Councours National Contest State Placements
Year/Level | State Finish | Name |
1988/01 | 3rd | Sharif Nijim |
1988/01 | 4th | Kandice Halstead |
1988/2 | 5th | Sierra Jedlicka |
1988/2 | 5th | Anna Everton |
1989/01 | 4th | Marian Kirk |
1989/01 | 6th | Scott Clausen |
1989/01 | 7th | Jeff Chamberlin |
1989/2 | 4th | Sharif Nijim |
1989/2 | 7th | Steve Parrish |
1990/01 | 1st | Beth Pedersen |
1990/01 | 2nd | Kingshuk Das |
1990/01 | 3rd | Theresa Girsch |
1990/01 | 5th | Dan Maloy |
1990/01 | 5th | Kim Riehle |
1990/01 | 6th | Aaron Knutson |
1990/1 | 4th | Todd Rewoldt |
1990/2 | 2nd | Kari Lundeen |
1990/3 | 2nd | Agelo Reppas |
1990/3 | 3rd | Aaron Kamienski |
1990/3 | 4th | Sharif Nijim |
1990/3 | 6th | Kandice Halstead |
Year/Level | State Finish | Name |
1991/1 | 7th | Becky Delafield |
1991/1 | 7th | Kim Nicholson |
1991/2 | 4th | Kingshuk Das |
1991/2 | 5th | Dan Maloy |
1991/2 | 5th | Beth Pedersen |
1991/2 | 6th | Kim Riehle |
1991/3 | 2nd | Kari Lundeen |
1991/4 | 7th | Agelo Reppas |
1991/4 | 7th | Kandice Halstead |
1992/1 | 6th | Tiffani Grimes |
1992/2 | 3rd | Neel Sheth |
1992/3 | 1st | Kim Riehle |
1992/3 | 2nd | Kingshuk Das |
1992/3 | 3rd | Beth Pedersen |
1992/3 | 5th | Dan Maloy |
1993/1 | 5th | Debarshi Das |
1993/1 | 6th | Leah Ostby |
1993/2 | 2nd | Genelle Sawyer |
1993/2 | 5th | Tiffani Grimes |
1993/2 | 6th | Alisson Hoy |
1993/3 | 2nd | Zach Nielsen |
1993/3 | 3rd | Neel Sheth |
1993/4 | 2nd | Kim Riehle |
1993/4 | 3rd | Kingshuk Das |
1993/4 | 6th | Dan Maloy |
Year/Level | State Finish | Name |
1995/1 | 1st | Ed Liao |
1995/1 | 2nd | Brad Jacobson |
1995/1 | 3rd | Jessica Schachterle |
1995/1 | 5th | Leah Buck |
1995/1 | 6th | Santosh Nadipuram |
1995/1 | 7th | Bonnie Pedersen |
1995/1 | 8th | Angela Thulstrup |
1995/1 | 9th | Vanessa Kettner |
1995/3 | 4th | Leah Ostby |
1995/3 | 6th | Debarshi Das |
1995/3 | 6th | Justin Staker |
1995/3 | 9th | Patricia Wood |
1995/4 | 6th | Alisson Hoy |
1995/4 | 5th | Tiffani Grimes |
1995/4 | 6th | Rachel Wilson |
1995/4 | 7th | Solomon Wikert |
1997/3 | 2nd | Brad Jacobson |
1997/3 | 4th | Ed Liao |
1997/3 | 4th | Jessica Schachterle |
1997/3 | 6th | Angela Thulstrup |
1997/3 | 7th | Santosh Nadipuram |
1997/3 | 8th | Leah Buck |
1998/1 | 5th | Travis Coulter |
1998/2 | 1st | Kristy Reimer |
1998/2 | 6th | Theresa Price |
1998/3 | 10th | Noah Johnson |
1998/4 | 1st | Brad Jacobson |
1998/4 | 3rd | Jessica Schachterle |
1998/4 | 4th | Ed Liao |
1998/4 | 4th | Santosh Nadipuram |
1998/4 | 5th | Angela Thulstrup |
1998/4 | 8th | Leah Buck |
Year/Level | State Finish | Name |
1998/4 | 8th | John Higby |
1998/4 | 8th | Bonnie Pedersen |
1999/1 | 3rd | Christopher Hardy |
1999/1 | 4th | Peter Behroozi |
1999/1 | 8th | Anne Thompson |
1999/1 | 10th | Jason Brasch |
1999/1 | 10th | Matthew Girsch |
1999/3 | 1st | Kristy Reimer |
1999/3 | 7th | Theresa Price |
1999/4 | 10th | Allison Grote |
2000/1 | 1st | Mallory Piehl |
2000/1 | 2nd | Colin McElligatt |
2000/1 | 3rd | Aaron Popp |
2000/1 | 5th | Melanie DeVries |
2000/1 | 6th | Jade McAdams |
2000/1 | 6th | Sameet Sangha |
2000/1 | 9th | Emily Hershberger |
2000/2 | 1st | Peter Behroozi |
2000/2 | 2nd | Christopher Hardy |
2000/2 | 3rd | Katherine Lyman |
2000/2 | 3rd | Chris Vanderwall |
2000/2 | 4th | Jason Brasch |
2000/2 | 6th | Emily Callahan |
2000/2 | 8th | John Kane |
2000/4 | 2nd | Kristy Reimer |
2000/4 | 9th | Theresa Price |
Year/Level | State Finish | Name |
2001/1 | 2nd | Rachel Davis |
2001/1 | 8th | Amadea Jessen |
2001/1 | 9th | Ashley Ratute |
2001/2 | 1st | Colin McElligatt |
2001/2 | 2nd | Aaron Popp |
2001/2 | 2nd | Sameet Sangha |
2001/2 | 3rd | Mallory Piehl |
2001/2 | 7th | Eashaan Vajpeyi |
2001/3 | 1st | Christopher Hardy |
2001/3 | 2nd | Peter Behroozi |
2001/3 | 4th | Katherine Lyman |
2001/3 | 5th | Jason Brasch |
2001/3 | 6th | Chris Vanderwall |
2001/3 | 9th | Travis Coulter |
2002/1 | 2nd | Madeleine Lynch-Dungy |
2002/1 | 3rd | Amber Smith |
2002/1 | 4th | Jessica Bertram |
2002/1 | 4th | Mae Colburn |
2002/1 | 5th | Ellen Hills |
2002/1 | 5th | Katie Hoodjer |
2002/1 | 5th | Brittany Waack |
2002/1 | 6th | Arthur Padget |
2002/1 | 7th | Hannah Buck |
2002/1 | 7th | Catie Wiesley |
2002/1 | 8th | Sam Rogers |
2002/1 | 9th | Anjelica Crawford |
2002/1 | 9th | Leigha Shanley |
2002/1 | 9th | Jake Smith |
Year/Level | State Finish | Name |
2002/2 | 3rd | Rachel Davis |
2002/3 | 1st | Colin McElligatt |
2002/3 | 2nd | Mallory Piehl |
2002/3 | 3rd | Aaron Popp |
2002/3 | 4th | Sameet Sangha |
2002/3 | 7th | Melanie Davis |
2002/3 | 9th | Benjamin Wilson |
2002/4 | 1st | Peter Behroozi |
2002/4 | 2nd | Christopher Hardy |
2002/4 | 7th | Katherine Lyman |
2002/4 | 8th | Emily Callahan |
2003/1 | 1st | Alison Hardy |
2003/1 | 8th | Michaela Gansen |
2003/1 | 9th | Alexander Yefimov |
2003/2 | 3rd | Mae Colburn |
2003/2 | 3rd | Brittany Waack |
2003/2 | 3rd | Catie Wiesley |
2003/2 | 4th | Madeleine Lynch-dungy |
2003/2 | 5th | Jessica Bertram |
2003/2 | 6th | Arthur Padget |
2003/2 | 6th | Caitlin Tracey |
2003/2 | 7th | Genevieve Bertram |
2003/2 | 7th | Anson Poe |
2003/2 | 10th | Hannah Buck |
2003/2 | 10th | Amber Smith |
2003/4 | 1st | Colin McElligatt |
2003/4 | 1st | Mallory Piehl |
2003/4 | 1st | Sameet Sangha |
2003/4 | 5th | Benjamin Wilson |
Year/Level | State Finish | Name |
2004/2 | 3rd | Alison Hardy |
2004/2 | 6th | Michaela Gansen |
2004/3 | 1st | Brittany Waack |
2004/3 | 4th | Mae Colburn |
2004/3 | 6th | Genevieve Bertram |
2004/3 | 6th | Anson Poe |
2004/3 | 6th | Catie Wiesley |
2004/3 | 7th | Jessica Bertram |
2004/3 | 8th | Arthur Padget |
2004/3 | 9th | Caitlin Tracey |
Year/Level | State Finish | Name |
2005/1 | 9th | Elizabeth Brumm |
2005/2 | 5th | Jennifer Hills |
2005/3 | 1st | Alison Hardy |
2005/3 | 3rd | Michaela Gansen |
2005/4 | 2nd | Mae Colburn |
2005/4 | 3rd | Jennifer Bertram |
2005/4 | 4th | Catherine Wiesley |
2005/4 | 5th | Brittany Waack |
2005/4 | 7th | Anson Poe |
2005/4 | 9th | Amber Smith |
2005/4 | 9th | Arthur Padget |
2006/1 | 6th | Megan Hardy |
2006/2 | 9th | Elizabeth Brumm |
2006/3 | 4th | Jennifer Hills |
2006/3 | 8th | Meyer Bernd |
2006/5 (AP) | 6th | Surbhi Lal |
2007/3 | 6th | Elizabeth Brumm |
2007/4 | 5th | Jennifer Hills |
2007/4 | 8th | Brittan Lawrence |
2007/4 | 10th | Ben Kishman |
2007/4 | 10th | Dylan Klenske |
2007/4 | 10th | Shannon Piehl |
2008/1 | 2nd | Jyothi Dhanwada |
2008/1 | 2nd | Jyothi Dhanwada |
2008/1 | 3rd | Joanna Griffith |
2008/1 | 4th | Sarah Dietz |
2008/1 | 4th | Leah Joslyn |
2008/1 | 5th | Alyssa Kilbourn |
2008/3 | 4th | Megan Hardy |
2008/4 | 10th | Elizabeth Brumm |
2009/1 | 3rd | Judy Bleile |
2009/1 | 6th | Caroline Sell |
2009/1 | 9th | Christine McKenna |
2009/2 | 1st | Joni Griffith |
2009/2 | 2nd | Sarah Dietz |
2009/2 | 4th | Alex Prinsen |
2009/2 | 6th | Jyothi Dhanwada |
2009/2 | 7th | Raquel Williams |
2009/2 | 10th | Alyssa Kilbourn |
2010/1 | 6th | Nettie Enshayan |
2010/1 | 7th | Anna Smith |
2010/2 | 2nd | Caroline Sell |
2010/2 | 7th | Judy Bleile |
2010/3 | 3rd | Sarah Dietz |
2010/3 | 3rd | Alexander Prinsen |
2010/3 | 4th | Jyothi Dhanwada |
2010/3 | 6th | Joanna Griffith |
2010/3 | 8th | Sarah Prophet |
2010/3 | 8th | Devon Shaver |
2010/3 | 10th | Jake Glockner |
2011/1 | 8th | Srinivas Dhanwada |
2011/3 | 8th | Caroline Sell |
2011/4 | 1st | Alexander Prinsen |
2011/4 | 6th | Sarah Dietz |
2011/4 | 9th | Devon Shaver |
2012/1 | 1st | Lily Conrad |
2012/1 | 3rd | Daniel McVicker |
2012/1 | 9th | Cecelia Hawbaker |
2012/2 | 6th | Srinivas Dhanwada |
2012/3 | 3rd | Nettie Enshayan |
2012/3 | 7th | Josh Thompson |
2012/4 | 2nd | Caroline Sell |
Le Grand Councours Oral National Contest State Placements
Year/Level | Finish | Name |
1988/01 | 3rd | Sharif Nijim |
1992/3 | 1st | Kingshuk Das |
1997/3 | 1st | Brad Jacobson |
1997/3 | 2nd | Santosh Nadipuram |
1998/2 | 1st | Theresa Price |
1998/2 | 3rd | Kristy Reimer |
1998/4 | 1st | Brad Jacobson |
1998/4 | 2nd | Santosh Nadipuram |
1999/1 | 1st | Christopher Hardy |
1999/1 | 2nd | Matthew Girsch |
2000/1 | 2nd | Melanie DeVries |
2000/3 | 3rd | Sameet Sangha |
2000/2 | 1st | Peter Behroozi |
2000/2 | 2nd | Jason Brasch |
2000/2 | 3rd | Christopher Hardy |
2001/1 | 2nd | Rachel Davis |
2001/2 | 3rd | Colin McElligatt |
2001/3 | 2nd | Katherine Lyman |
2002/1 | 1st | Madeleine Lynch-Dungy |
2002/1 | 2nd | Mae Colburn |
2002/1 | 3rd | Katie Hoodjer |
2002/2 | 2nd | Rachel Davis |
2002/3 | 2nd | Sameet Sangha |
2002/4 | 1st | Christopher Hardy |
2002/4 | 2nd | Peter Behroozi |
2002/4 | 3rd | Katherine Lyman |
2003/1 | 1st | Michaela Gansen |
2003/2 | 1st | Mae Colburn |
2003/2 | 2nd | Brittany Waack |
2003/2 | 3rd | Madeleine Lynch-Dungy |
2003/4 | 3rd | Mallory Piehl |
Year/Level | Finish | Name |
2004/1 | 1st | Jenny Hills |
2004/1 | 2nd | Catherine Smernova |
2004/2 | 1st | Alison Hardy |
2004/2 | 2nd | Sheila Moussavi |
2004/2 | 3rd | Michaela Gansen |
2004/3 | 1st | Mae Colburn |
2004/3 | 2nd | Caitlin Tracey |
2004/3 | 3rd | Brittany Waack |
Russian Competitions and Awards
James Sweigert lost no time in bringing state and national Russian language competitions to the Lab School—even for the students having taken just Levels I and II. The contests included the National Russian Essay Contest, and the state, national, and international Olympiadas of Spoken Russian. Both contests were sponsored by the American Council of Teachers of Russian.
“Generally, a slightly larger number of students took part in the fall National Russian Essay Contest than in the spring Iowa Olympiada of Spoken Russian,” Sweigert recalls. “In fact, it was a rare occurrence in our program that ANY student did NOT take part in at least one of the language contests.”
Sweigert could not prepare his students ahead of time for the National Russian Essay Contest since the essay topic was a secret until the day of the event. “However, I found two methods to help the students: (1) constant work on their cursive writing of Russian letters and words (orthography); and (2) continued review and remediation of Russian grammar, spelling, punctuation, syntax, vocabulary and language conventions. It comes as no surprise that students who were more skilled in these areas tended to do better on the NREC,” he notes.
A striking number of NUHS students earned gold, silver, and bronze medals in the National Russian Essay Contest. In 1998, Jeremy Thoman received a gold medal ranking, making him one of the top two high school student Russian essayists in the nation. Across the years, NU could boast 89 national medalists.
Sweigert knew of the state and national Olympiadas of Spoken Russian from his years as a judge of the California Olympiada. From 1994-2002, he served as the state chair of the Iowa Olympiada contest. Under his leadership, the Iowa Olympiada differed slightly in its operation from many other states.
“The national Olympiada format is fairly rigid, consisting of ‘commissions’ (e.g., conversation, civilization, literature, etc.),” Sweigert explained:
“We did follow this format, but not to the depth that other states did. What we did was to focus more heavily on the oral interview (conversation), poetry recitation and poetry discussion (literature), with a few questions about Russian history and civilization. This allowed us more time to hold mixed-school, mixed-level quiz bowls and group skits. We would put students from different schools and language levels together on teams where they would compete in a quiz bowl and also put together a group skit. This was great fun, and it helped to lessen the stressful ‘winning is everything’ emphasis of the contest. It also allowed students from various Iowa schools to work together and get to know each other. (It wasn’t unusual to hear of students who would hang out with each other during the summer months after getting introduced to each other at the Olympiada.) To my knowledge, we were the only state/region that had this approach.”
Starting in 1994, the Lab School Russian Team took first place in the State of Iowa Olympiada of Spoken Russian for nine consecutive years—until Sweigert’s departure in 2003. In 1995, Lab School student Brandon Sears advanced beyond the state and national Olympiadas to the summer Moscow International Olympiada. There, competing against 300 students from 23 countries, Sears won the Silver Medal.
In 2001, NU student Erin McElligatt was also chosen to join the U.S. National Olympiada Team which competed in the summer International Russian Olympiada in Moscow.
From 1994-2002, NU celebrated 18 national Olympiada finalists—as well as many more state medalists:
April 1995 | Brandon Sears (Silver Medalist and Gold Medalist in Poetry at International Olympiada in Moscow, Russia) |
April 1996 | Mark Hays |
April 1997 | David Correll, Jason Dorris, and Peter Vanderwall |
April 1998 | Aaron McAdams and Lindsay Wood |
April 1999 | Marian Hanks and Brian Rogers |
April 2000 | Nathan Marra, Terri Thompson, and Brian Oleson |
April 2001 | Erin McElligatt, Lewis Colburn |
April 2002 | National finalists: Mary Weber, Ryan Hahn, Ian Cawley, and Jenna Davis |
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