MLHS seniors earn Seal of Biliteracy
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 4 months, 2 weeks AGO
Sixty-nine Moses Lake High School seniors demonstrated their proficiency in English and at least one other language, earning the state Seal of Biliteracy.
COURTESY PHOTO/GALINA SHAPORDA
Joel Martin has been with the Columbia Basin Herald for more than 25 years in a variety of roles and is the most-tenured employee in the building. Martin is a married father of eight and enjoys spending time with his children and his wife, Christina. He is passionate about the paper’s mission of informing the people of the Columbia Basin because he knows it is important to record the history of the communities the publication serves. | June 3, 2026 1:20 AM
MOSES LAKE — Sixty-nine Moses Lake High School seniors earned the Washington State Seal of Biliteracy this year, according to MLHS EL Specialist Galina Shaporda.
“Any students who speak another language are invited to take this test, and if they score high enough on the test to prove that they are biliterate, they get a certificate.”
The Seal of Biliteracy isn’t part of any class, Shaporda said. Rather, it’s a recognition by the State of Washington that a particular student is proficient in more than one language. They have to demonstrate mastery of that language as well as English credits through standardized tests approved by the state.
The tests are available in almost any language you can think of, according to the Washington Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, anywhere from world languages like Mandarin, Spanish and French to less-common ones like Irish and even Latin.
“We have had kids take it this year in Japanese, Ukrainian, Russian, Mandarin, and Amharic,” she said.
One student, Ruvym Kybukevych, actually demonstrated triliteracy, Shaporda said, earning the certificate for English, Russian and Ukrainian.
The tests cover reading, writing, speaking and listening in both English and the target language, according to OSPI.
“It's a high level of academic language that they're proving,” Shaporda said.
The majority of the students who earned the Seal of Biliteracy were born in the United States and speak English natively, Shaporda said, although some of them may use a language other than English with family at home. That doesn’t always work to the student’s advantage when it comes to showing proficiency, Shaporda said.
“Some of them speak Spanglish (at home),” she said. “Most of those kids can't pass the Spanish test, because (the test) is very formal. So, a lot of our kids who were born here and speak Spanish at home, they do not pass the test because they don't know how to read or they don't know how to write in Spanish. This is actually proving that they can read and write.”
Besides the certificate, the students will receive a notation on their transcript that will help them when it comes time to move on to college. They also celebrated their achievement with a dinner at the high school May 21.
“The achievement reflects not only academic excellence, but also the cultural diversity, dedication, and global readiness of Moses Lake High School students,” Shaporda wrote in an email to the Columbia Basin Herald. “Earning the Seal demonstrates valuable communication skills that prepare students for college, careers, and leadership in an increasingly multilingual world.”
2026 Seal of Biliteracy earners
Ruth Babak
Daniel Baez
Elizabeth Barcenas
Allison Brambilia
Ayden Britt-Rivera
Lindsey Campos
Santiago Carrillo Guzman
Davtian David
Itzel DeLeon
Lizeth Deniz-Martinez
Ruth Diaz-Duran
Areli Fernandez
Noe Figueroa
Samantha Garcia
Anthony Gomez-Valladares
Juan Guardado
Adilene Jimenez Rubio
Brian Juarez
Ruvym Kybevych
Marely Lombera
Marlen Lombera
Rey Lopez-Paniagua
Divine Maltos
Erick Manzo-Manzo
Martin Marinez Perez
Andy Martinez
Fernanda Martinez
Janitzi Nazareth Martinez Perez
Ariana Martinez- Mendoza
Aliyah Merino
Jorge Meza
Kaeden Michie
Arielle Montoya
Kevin Mora Huerta
Brittany Morales Solis
Luis Novoa
Brianna Oronia
Joaquin Oronia
Maria Paniagua Hernandez
Keziah Panlaqui
Alexis Quevedo
Arturo Ramirez
Harela Ramos
Karina Rivera
Dayaana Rodalez Paniagua
Aileen Rodriguez
Angel Rodriguez
Kely Rodriguez
Vanessa Rodriguez
Sergio(Vincent) Ruiz Salinas
Jannah Salas
Nathaly Sanchez Gonzalez
Eurydice Sandoval
Bryan Sario
Kevin Segura
Blanca Serrano
Mirella Sicaeros Albonrneo
Edwin Silva Giron
Rudy Tirado
Galilea Torres Torres
Alexis Torres-Saucedo
Nancy Vargas
Ricardo Vasquez Cuesta
Amberly Vazquez Ruiz
Marisabel Vela
Melissa Velazquez - Cruz
Anhelina Yaroshchuk
Ilona Yaroshchuk
Joshua Zamora
Some of the winners were inadvertently omitted in an earlier version of this story. It has been corrected above.
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