COVER PHOTO: Miguel Garcia
Wayland Union Schools last year had a graduating senior earn the Michigan Seal of Biliteracy,but this year there are three!
The Seal of Biliteracy represents a student who exhibits language proficiency in English and at least one additional world language. The seal may be awarded to any student receiving a high school diploma, a high school certificate of completion, or a high school equivalent certificate and who has demonstrated ‘Intermediate High Proficiency’ on acceptable world language assessments.
The three Wayland seniors so honored are Arquimedes Miguel Garcia, Jose Rosales and Heritier Rafiki.
Arquimedes Miguel Garcia was born in Michigan and has been attending Wayland Union Schools since preschool. After graduation, he plans to attend Grand Valley State University to earn a degree in accounting. Arquimedes represents Mexico.
He says Mrs. Diaz for encouraged him to continue pursuing Spanish studies, and he would like to recognize his late father, who gave him the gift of their native Spanish language.
Jose Rosales — has been attending Wayland Union Schools since his seventh grade year when he first arrived from Mexico.
At home, he speaks his native language with his family to embrace their culture. After graduation, he plans to enter the workforce with the hope of becoming an electrician. He is looking forward to using his bilingual skills to better support his community.
Heritier Rafiki — came to Wayland Union Schools during his senior year of high school. Born in Africa, he is representing his home country Rwanda.
Heritier and his family moved to the United States when he was 12 years old and he continues to speak Kinyarwanda with the Rwandan community.
After graduation, he plans to study civil engineering. He hopes he can help bridge the language barrier to make communication easier for all those involved.
