June 26, 2008 – Congratulations to Shaker High School students for their outstanding performance on the National French Contest earlier this spring.

This year, more than 98,000 students competed in the prestigious competition nationwide. The 240 Shaker High School students were among the more than 2,400 students representing the Hudson Valley Chapter, which stretches from Rockland County to Lake George.

The annual contest, sponsored by the American Council of Teachers of French, awards scholarships, certificates and medals to students nationwide based on their performance on a written exam. Students compete in one of four performance levels.

Shaker high sophomore Joanne Millet placed tenth in the nation and second in the Hudson Valley Chapter in level II.

In French IV, junior Anthony Farrell placed ninth in the nation and second in the Hudson Valley Chapter. Junior Tracy Jiang ranked seventh in the chapter, while junior Andrew Doyle received an honorable mention.

Freshman David Haller ranked fifth in the chapter, while sophomore Gabriela Carrascal ranked sixth in level III. In addition, sophomore Alexis Ponte, freshman Yulia Shtutman and sophomore Zosia Dunn received honorable mentions.

In French V, senior Patrick Derocher ranked first in the chapter, while senior Alexander Turpin ranked second, senior Katherine DiFabio ranked fifth and junior Brian Haller ranked sixth. In addition, seniors Meghan Brady, Rick Yin, Ashlee Armsby, Reashma Jose and Ryan McCarthy received honorable mentions.

The following students ranked in the top 15 percent in the nation.

Level II
Brennan Austin-Peters, Elyse Barna, Allison Belanger, Allen Ferris, Daniel Fitzpatrick, Elizabeth Ford, Meghan Gumnitz, Elizabeth Hoffman, Emily Johnson, Christina Jungwiwattanaporn, Mariah Kitner, Andrew Ko, Alexander Layden, Annie Loftus, Bridget Malick, Ali Mesick, Samantha Murray, Ethan Pagano, Megan Planz, Ryan Polsinello, Althea Porter, Mattie Rosi-Schumacher, Elaine Tse and Courtney Turner.

Level III
Javeria Ahmad, Prateek Baghel, Christopher Bogdan, Marissa Bourgon, Amanda Carney, Shana Connell, Kari Huneau, Kathleen Lawton, Jennifer Mans, Laura McKillip, Eric Perez, Gerald Pinchinat, Sanjhai Ramdeen, Claire Rupert, Emily Sleasman, Ashley Wu and Jennifer Zoufaly.

Level IV
Michelle Acheampong, Brittany Farron, Adah Hetko, Michael Hovish, Leah MacKey, Heather O’Keefe, Sean Ogden, Anjali Puttachi, Catherine Richardson, Kira Rose-Schumacher, Matt Schwenzfeier, Pavel Sidorenko and Stephanie Tleiji.

Level V
Chris Bunce, Christie Chenot, Samuel Delaughter, Ryan Gardner, Travis Harmon, Carissa Huang, Rebecca Millock, Caroline Patton, Corinne Pro, Olivia Quillio and Brandilyn Wagoner.