Students from Holy Spirit Preparatory School recently excelled in the National Latin Exam, which was taken worldwide by over 140,000 students.

Overall 35 percent of Holy Spirit Prep students were awarded a gold or a silver medal, more than twice the national average. Most impressive were the 14 gold medals that the students earned. This level of achievement places these 14 students in approximately the top 5 percent nationally.

Every student enrolled in Holy Spirit Preparatory High School studies Latin for his or her entire high school career. The school opted to have all students enter the national competition regardless of comparative aptitude or grades. The exam consists of 40 questions, and students earn national recognition based on the number of questions answered correctly. At each level of Latin (Latin I, Latin II and Latin III), Holy Spirit students earned recognition.

At the Latin III level, 79 percent of Holy Spirit Prep students scored in the top 50th percentile nationally among all students sitting for the exam.

Earning a gold medal (summa cum laude) were Christopher Dale, Andres Guzman, Timothy Holdsworth and Matthew Murray.

Earning a silver medal (maxima cum laude) were Joseph Cassandra and Patrick Metz.

Scoring at the magna cum laude level was Mauri Simmons.

Scoring at the cum laude level were Josh Badger, Natasha Lindenau, Meghan Fitzpatrick and Michael Nelson.

At the Latin II level, earning a gold medal (summa cum laude) were Lucy Andia, Kathleen Boyle, Kelly Coles, Matthew Crane, Kristin Shaver, Morgan Stockard, Brett Thomas and Trevor Thompson.

Earning a silver medal (maxima cum laude) were Patrick Agrippina, Thomas Couture, Esther Grasinger, Charlotte Lambert, Justin Natic, Natasha Pistilli and Patrick Young. Scoring at the magna cum laude level were James Adedapo, Justin Hatch, Anthony Suarez and Zachary Raus.

Scoring at the cum laude level were Paola Aponte, Tanner Dashiell, Elizabeth DiResta and Kyle Hatch.

At the Latin I level, earning a gold medal (summa cum laude) were Oriana Carrasquel and Sarah Farnsworth. Earning a silver medal (maxima cum laude) were Rebecca Baudry, Veronica Briceno, Blair Brown and Danielle Grieco.

Scoring at the magna cum laude level were Serafina Furgiuele, Elizabeth Hanna and John Sacca.

Scoring at the cum laude level were Erin Church, John Hanna, Michael Lindenau, Jennifer Nolan, Camille Okhio and Austen Spencer.

Additionally, the Gary Delneo Award (named in honor of the school’s former principal) is given to the student who earns the highest overall score. Oriana Carrasquel, Sarah Farnsworth, Kelly Coles, Andres Guzman and Tim Holdsworth each answered 38 out of 40 questions correctly. A Latin Trivia contest was held to determine the winner of the Delneo Award. The top-scoring students were asked questions in front of the entire Upper School student body. Winning the trivia competition and the Delneo Award was junior Andres Guzman.