A Central Valley teen is in the middle of a national controversy after the valedictorian gave his graduation speech in Spanish.

Among the critics is well-known TV commentator Bill O’Reilly, and the attention has put the small Stanislaus County town of Newman in the spotlight.

The Orestimba High School valedictorian says when he chose to deliver his message in Spanish, he never thought he’d spark a national controversy.

“I actually said in advance that I would like to apologize for people who don’t speak Spanish,” Saul Tello said Tuesday.

The apology was followed by a five-minute speech only in Spanish.

The 18-year-old says he wanted to deliver his valedictorian speech in both English and Spanish but was told there wasn’t enough time at the graduation ceremony. He was forced to pick one language.

“In our school there’s a big Spanish-speaking community,” he said. “I felt that would be good.”

Read the full story at CBS Sacramento