Tracy Veler Knick
2007 Hall of Fame Nominee
Rockledge High School
Rockledge, FL
2007 Finalist from SCOLT
French
“The learning of a second language has proven to have a positive impact on intellectual growth. Students of a foreign language learn about their own language and score statistically higher on standardized tests...The high-stakes testing mandated by the No Child Left Behind Act can be directly and positively impacted with an increase in the learning of languages, as the skills gained in the study of language transfer. I have had many students who have improved their Florida Comprehensive Achievement (FCAT) scores and attributed their success to the study of French. I currently have a senior student who told me that she wishes that she had started her French studies earlier so that she wouldn’t have had to retake the FCAT during her senior year. She will be the first in her family to graduate high school with a traditional diploma and she will start college in the fall...If we don’t support the inclusion of the study of language and culture in the core for all students, then we will all be left behind.”