On April 9, 2026 high school students from across the state studying Spanish, French, German, Arabic, Chinese and Japanese had the opportunity to demonstrate acquisition of language and cultural knowledge in competitive events at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln Language Fair.

This year only first-place trophies were awarded for each category and Columbus High School earned seven out of the possible ten possible first-place state titles for the events they participated in. Students competed in an impressive range of entries in both Level 2 and Heritage Speaker, including 4 plays, 2 songs, 4 dances, 3 art pieces, 10 poems and several short films.

"Our students performed exceptionally well across the board and truly dominated the competition," said Lilian Velasco. "I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to all of the students who participated. They represented our school with excellence and made me incredibly proud through their talent, dedication and hard work."

State Winners

• 1st Place - Art Level 2: Kyrstyn Long
• 1st Place - Short Film Level 2: Jack Baptiste, Makenna Inman, JaRae Nickolite, Autumn Gerou and Sadie Luebbe
• 1st Place - Poetry Heritage Speaker: Adis Batista Guerra
• 1st Place - Poetry Level 2: Ryland Augustine
• 1st Place - Drama Level 2: Taylor Alexander and Emily Mowrey
• 1st Place - Drama Heritage Speaker: Esteban Arcos, Lucero Ludena, Alejandra Rocha-Robles and Jose Rojo
• 1st Place - Folkloric Dance - Taylor Alexander, Emily Mowrey, Tressa Kucera, Aliyah Betz adn Elena Moseman