On December 9^th 2019 the Consul General Ivan Anchev presented an award to Luis Narvaez, Strategic Project Director for the Office of Language and Cultural Education at the Chicago Public Schools, granted by the Association of Bulgarian Schools Abroad. Mr. Narvaez was honored to receive it as a mark of appreciation for his contribution to enlist the Bulgarian language in the Seal of Biliteracy program in 2017 as well as for his exceptional support in maintenance of the Bulgarian language and culture in Chicago.

It is a privilege to recall that due to the efforts of the Consulate General of Bulgaria in Chicago and Bulgarian school activists from Chicago (Mrs. Boyanka Ivanova, Founder and Board Member of the Association of Bulgarian Schools Abroad and Director of “John Atanasoff” Bulgarian School in Chicago, Mrs. Maria Labova – Director of “New Bulgarian School” in Naperville and Mrs. Vanya Nalbantova from the Bulgarian Cyrillic Institute) as well as the state and local educational institutions in the state of Illinois the Bulgarian language was recognized as an integral part of the Seal of Biliteracy Program from the spring of 2017. Assessment of the proficiency in the Bulgarian language is given in accordance with the test system of the Department for Language Teaching and International students at the Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”. To the present moment six sessions have been carried out and over 120 Bulgarian students have passed the tests and as a result they have been awarded with the Seal of Biliteracy in Bulgarian on their American diplomas.