On Sunday, April 24, 2016, 9 students from The Mandelstam School were awarded the Academic Order of Don Quijote de la Mancha for outstanding effort in learning the Spanish Language. The awards were presented at the Manuel Artime Theater by the Instituto de Cultura Hispánica, an organization founded in 1973 with the goal of preserving and promoting Spanish in South Florida. After a moving procession featuring the flags of Spanish-speaking countries, The Mandelstam School’s very own Sophia Calvo (Grade 3) and Ella Lucia Lombardo (Grade 4) delighted the audience, comprised of a number of Miami-Dade County Public and Private Schools, with their Spanish poetry recitations. Please join us in congratulating all recipients: Isabella López & Emma Wiesenfeld (1st Grade), Valeria Touron & Ari Chunowitz (2nd Grade), Casey Manno & Sofía Calvo (3rd Grade), Sophia Bonanno & Ella Lucia Lombardo (4th Grade) and Julia Carbajales (5th Grade). The Mandelstam School’s dedicated Spanish Teacher, Señora Joanna Marchal was also awarded the Orden Académica Miguel de Cervantes.