Spanish Honor Society Enjoys
Banner Year
In some Long Island high schools the Spanish Honor Society chapter might be a sleepy organization rarely seen or heard from, but at Huntington High School the group is thriving, thanks to an energetic membership and a dynamic faculty advisor.
This year's SHS slate of officers included Elizabeth Maldonado (president), Jeffery Sun (vice president), Justin LoScalzo (corresponding secretary), Debbie Gomez (recording secretary), Holly Blakely (treasurer) and Karen Parada (historian). Teacher Mercy Peña was the group's faculty advisor.
The Spanish Honor Society is thriving at Huntington High School, exceeding the expectations and goals the organization set for itself last September. The group focuses on addressing community needs through fundraising and running other events.
The society provides members with a unique experience that no other honor society offers its students, according to Ms. Peña. Members get to interact with students whom they had not known prior to attending events. It's virtually guaranteed that anyone who attends a Spanish Honor Society event will walk away with a new friend. ESL students walk away with a new sense of confidence to practice their English skills.
The Spanish Honor Society is successful because of the high level of dedication exhibited by each member of the society. The students work countless hours at bake sales, fundraisers, social groups and a variety of other community events.
Social groups are one of the most popular initiatives sponsored by the organization. These groups provide ESL students with the opportunity to work on their English and SHS members a chance to brush up on their Spanish in an entertaining learning environment. Students play a variety of games including charades, "Guess Who," bingo and chess in both English and Spanish. The games help improve everyone's language skills.
Each of the society's officers, and many of its members, worked hard to accomplish the group's goals. Ms. Maldonado spent countless hours organizing events while Ms. Parada served as a tutored three students in Spanish and even served as a babysitter. Society members that speak Spanish fluently have helped ESL students to adapt to a new environment and learn English. These members help students who have immigrated to the United States from various countries, to become more comfortable in schools.
Jose Hernandez, Karen Parada and Holly Blakley provided after school tutoring for ESL students. Madison Biernacki and Scarlett Lopez attend social studies teacher Joseph Leavy's Global History class where they help ESL students learn the material.
Fatima Bonilla, Giselle Martinez and Samantha Levine go regularly to special education teacher Erica Murphy's Life Skills class to help students on their social skills.
The society honored Francesca Gray for providing the most community service this year and Karen Parada for providing the most service over the past two years.
Money raised throughout the year by the society has benefited many causes, including the Relay For Life, which in all generated more than $128,000 for the American Cancer Society. The organization also sponsored a $500 scholarship, which was awarded to senior Maria Alfaro-Perez.
During the holiday season, society members collected holiday gifts for the Huntington Interfaith Homeless Initiative and needy Huntington High School students. Clothes were collected during the winter and donated to HIHI. The society even organized a collection of baby items and donated the goods to the Life Center, which provides help to poor unwed mothers.
"It has been wonderful being a member of the Spanish Honor Society for the past three years and serving as corresponding secretary this year," Mr. LoScalzo said. "I have enjoyed participating in numerous fundraisers and community activities that have provided aid to a great number of people; social groups, bake sales and collections have been very successful. We have received a great deal of support from both the school and community. I am very thankful that I have been a part of the Spanish Honor Society."
Mrs. Peña helped guide the society's student members through one of the best years in the organization's history. She earned a BA degree from the State University of Cuenca (Universidad Estatal de Cuenca), majoring in teaching English to speakers of other languages. She traveled to New York for her master's degree, studying at New York University at night while working as an administrative assistant at Plenum Press during the day. She met her future husband at the Xerox machine there.
"My first teaching experience was in my native country, teaching English as a foreign language in various schools in Cuenca, Ecuador," Mrs. Peña said. "From the first day of teaching, I knew it was for me."
(Seniors Justin LoScalzo and Karen Parada contributed to this article.)