Piast Institute Honors Students

HAMTRAMCK, Mich. – The Piast Institute hosted a ceremony on Saturday, June 1, 2019 to honor high school students Gabriela Andrzejewska, Maria Emilia Bieciuk and Elizabeth Wright who were awarded the Seal of Biliteracy diplomas and presented with congratulatory letters from the Michigan Department of Education. These Polish students achieved very high levels of Polish language proficiency on the standardized Polish biliteracy test.

The Piast Institute also recognized four other students who completed the Polish biliteracy test. These students achieved the high proficiency required for the Seal of Biliteracy but due to age restrictions the students did not receive the Seal at this time.

The Seal of Biliteracy program is a voluntary program to certify students who have high proficiency in both English and another world language. The program is being introduced in many Michigan high schools, but its implementation often requires efforts from parents or from the school board to request that the school allow students to participate.

Until recently, Polish students could not receive the Seal because a standardized test for Polish proficiency did not exist. Now the STAMP4S test developed by Avant Assessment Inc. has been approved as an exam to certify students across the U.S. for the Seal of Biliteracy. Between April 2018 and May 2019, over 890 students in fourteen states have taken the STAMP4S test to receive their biliteracy certification in the Polish language.

Additional information about the Seal of Biliteracy program and the STAMP4S test can be found atSealofBiliteracyPoPolsku.com.