(Wayne, NJ–May 16, 2019) The William Paterson University of New Jersey’s Department of Languages and Cultures held its 37th Annual Dr. Orlando E. Saa Poetry Recitation Contest, in which over 700 North Jersey students from about 50 high school districts competed in the eight languages offered, announced Dr. Joseph Giammarella, Principal of High Tech.
Students had the opportunity to recite poetry in Chinese, ESL, French, German, Italian, Korean, Japanese, Latin, or Spanish for prizes awarded to the very best students in the categories of Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, and Native (except for Latin and ESL).
As for High Tech, the following students earned special recognition at the Recitation Contest: in French, Sandra Youssef of Jersey City received 2nd place, Intermediate Level; Union City resident Sabrina Peralta earned 3rd place, Advanced; for German, Monica Arce Sanchez of East Newark received 2nd place, Intermediate Level; in Japanese, Bayonne resident Remi Hayashi earned 3rd place, Native Level; Kalsey Colotl of Kearny received Honorable Mention, Intermediate Level; North Bergen resident Diana Concepcion, 1st place, Advanced Level; Alondra Rosas of West New York received 3rd place, Beginner Level. Also, these High Tech students participated in the contest: Guttenberg resident Kiana Roman, Beginner Spanish; Josephine Conlon of Hoboken, Intermediate Spanish; Jersey City residents Rishika Bandamede, Advanced Italian, and Carlos Hernandez, Advanced Spanish; Avni Pande of Secaucus, Advanced German; Union City residents Erycka Castro, Intermediate French, and Izabella Morejon, Native Spanish; and Lucas Agudelo of West New York, Intermediate Italian.
Dr. Orlando E. Saa, the program’s namesake, passed away a few years back.
The Dr. Orlando E. Saa Poetry Recitation Contest started in 1982 as an offshoot of the Foreign Language Collaborative Program, and this program also sponsored most qualified students for a scholarship to study their specialized language in a country of their choice. Over 100 instructors from various New Jersey institutions worked collaboratively to improve their language offerings during the initial five-year period.
