By Nicki Resnikoff



Twenty-one students will be honored on May 9 for placing in the top 10 nationwide in the National French Contest in March.

Over  101,000 students took the exam around the country. The students, taking French classes ranging from levels I to V, who placed in the top 10 nationally will be honored in a ceremony at Flintridge Prep in La Cuñada.

Chanah Haddad ’11 (French II), Jack Petok ’11 (French III), and Joe Girton ’10 (French V) placed first in their respective levels in Southern California and they placed third nationally.

In French I, Marissa Rosenthal ’10 placed seventh in Southern California and eighth in the country, while Phoebe Singer ’10 and Sarah Tither-Kaplan ’09 placed ninth regionally and tenth nationally.

Besides Haddad one other French II student will be honored next month. Jordan Freisleben ’11 placed fifth in Southern California and eighth in the nation.

In addition to Petok, 10 more French III students did well enough on the exam to be named Grand Concours Winners. Kevin Schwarzwald  ’11 placed second regionally and fourth nationally. Ester Khachatryan ’10 placed third and fifth in the national and regional levels respectively. Enrique Aquino ’10,Max Druz ’10, and Irene Manousiouthakis ’10 all placed fifth in Southern California and seventh nationally. Jordan Bunzel ’11 and Jessica Lange ’10 will also be honored at the ceremony as they placed sixth regionally and eighth nationally. Sarah Fiskin ’11 placed seventh and ninth, while classmates Gabriela Figueroa ’11 and James Myerson ’11 each placed eighth in Southern California and tenth in the country.     

French IV students Claire Kao ’10, Joey Rafidi ’10, and April Rosner ’10 all placed seventh in Southern California and tenth nationally.

Lindsey Ward ’09 second place regionally in the French V level and sixth nationally.