It has been years since anyone from Baldwin earned the highest award on the National Latin Exam. This year, three students did.

The students who scored at the gold level were senior Josh Barone, junior D.J. Pickell, and sophomore Flaviana Shkoza.

“I am proud of these students for scoring so high on the exam,” Latin teacher Liz Allemang said.

There were 43 students from Baldwin who took the exam and more than 143,000 students total from America and more than 20 other countries. The test is optional for students.

The winners receive medals and certificates, and if they win more than one year, they can be eligible for scholarship money.

Baldwin has had students score at the silver and other high honors level in the past, and some Baldwin students reached those levels this year. But having students finish at the very top is new this year.

Barone said he scored a 36 out of 40 on the multiple-choice exam. The test is on various subjects including grammar, culture, mythology, sentence structure, and analysis.

“Latin is useful to my other classes, and you can even see it on the back of the United States dollar,” Barone said.