Mykal York: senior, drum major, oboe player, language connoisseur.
York has devoted much of her academic career to mastering five languages, three of which she has taken here at the school. She can speak French, German, Spanish, Hungarian and Italian, and can read Greek and Yiddish. She also participated in the Nez Perce Language Knowledge Bowl, where she and a team from LHS gave definitions for Nez Perce words. The team placed 6th out of 27.
What were her reasonings for learning these languages? She was inspired to learn these languages in her years taking French with Cynthia Yarno. York found that languages were easy to learn. Then she used her French skills to develop her learning of other languages. York said she prefers to learn in the classroom, as there are more resources for her, though her method of learning Hungarian is through books she owns.
Yarno highly regards York’s work ethic, which has made her proficient in language.
However, it wasn’t just French class that helped her advance in these languages. York is a fan of opera and musical theater. She spends much of her time watching foreign operas, which has improved her speaking ability in these languages, as she can listen and pick apart different phrases in the languages she is learning. Along with this, York has been in many productions at Lewiston High School, with roles such as Luigi Gaudi in LuckyStiff, Nancy Love in Silver Wings on Blue, and General Cartwright in Guys and Dolls.
With her acting repertoire, she is also skilled in clarinet and oboe playing. She played the oboe in the orchestra for the LHS Beauty and the Beast production. In the marching band, she became the drum major in 2023. This means that while they are competing, she directs the group and ensures they stay in time with the music.
“She’s really been an asset to the entire humanities department… and just really an outstanding citizen and student,” Yarno said. “I have nothing but nice things to say about her.”
York praised other students for their abilities to learn languages as well. She wanted to show recognition to other students dedicated to languages, such as senior, Eli Lindauer, who has studied French and Nez Perce.
York will continue her pursuit of language at the University of Idaho, studying modern language and business. She plans to pursue international business or relations.