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AMONG THE NATION'S BEST - Amherst residents, eighth-graders at Elmwood Franklin School, were recently honored for excelling on National Foreign Language Exams. Awarded in Spanish were, from left, Drew Slawson, Kevin Acker and Evan Brannen. French awards were given to James Dryden and Patricia Haddad. Competing against many high school students, Acker won a gold medal; Slawson, a silver; and Brannen, a bronze, from the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese. Dryden and Haddad tied for first place in Western New York and fourth in the nation on the French exam.