Huntington High School’s world language honor societies are proud organizations committed to recognizing student excellence and engaging in community service activities.
The French, Italian, Latin and Spanish honor societies held their annual induction ceremonies late last week, welcoming dozens of new members who are mastering a second or even a third language.
The evening attracted a larger than usual crowd of parents and school officials and featured many time-honored rituals, including the tapping of new members followed by the lighting of battery operated candles by inductees.
Society faculty advisors Deidre Mayer (French), Natalia Kopshti (Italian), Kristin Fortunato (Latin) and Nadine Araoz and Maria Gonzalez (Spanish) looked on with pride as the teenagers recited their respective society’s pledge before the faculty members presented certificates to the newly inducted scholars.
The French Honor Society welcomed Kelly Alfaro-Alvarez, Hannah Avidor, Alice Bradford, Paul Katigbak, Andrew Knowles, Madelyn Kye, Michael McCooey, Diya Rai-Gersappe, Eunice-Bonita Ramos, Julien Rentsch, and Lia Shechter into its ranks.
The Italian Honor Society brought Brooke Biernacki, Livia D’Anna, Carmine DeIeso, Kyra DeSalvo, Ana Diaz, Isabella Floro, Eylin Garciaquirre-Yanes, Alexandra Gerbavsits, John Lourenso, Keenan Lyons, Anyi Mancia-Matute, Ethan Mulroy, Cole Pillion, Kimberly Valle and Phoebe Walther into its fold.
The Latin Honor Society opened its arms to Zubair Ali, Matthew Gennarelli, Max Gordon, Thomas Holly, Robert Jean-Gilles, Ryan Knowles, Jonathan Koumas, Margaret Lalor, Kolby Rappel, Lily Stein and Isabella Toscano.
The new Spanish Honor Society inductees include Catherine Arevalo, Dania Avelar-Romero, Riva Bergman, Stephanie Bermudez-Rivera, Sulma Campos, Emily Cheshire, Natalie Ciccone, Casey Coleman, Brian Contreras, Anna Crockett, Mya Davis, Christopher Diaz, Nayely Estrada-Rodriquez, Cenia Flores Velasquez, Laura Flores Velasquez, Aiden Franznick, Emma Grassi, Craig Haas, Evelyn Hernandez-Veliz, Peyton Kalb, Molly Kessler, Yasmin Khilji-Neal, Baylie Larsen, Abigail Maichin, David Marroquin-Lopez, Johnny Menjivar, Nathan Musso, Raul Orozco, Caitlyn Palermo, John Panos, Cynthia Portillo-Yanes, Matthew Quinn, Kiara Rafailan, Daniela Ramos Campos, Abigail Semelsberger, Alyssa Sorensen, Yaniris Tavarez-Espinal, Melisa Torres, Rocio Trujillo, Andy Ulloa, Karen Ulloa Moreira, Jason Verville, Grace Wildermuth and Ryan Williams.
The evening included a delightful musical performance, too. Accompanied by Katherine DeGennaro on piano and Keny Flores on drums, Aidan McCooey sang “Mademoiselle, par Henri Salvador.” Mr. McCooey also gave the induction’s keynote address during which he extolled the value of studying a second language.
Following the ceremony participants and their parents enjoyed refreshments in the auditorium lobby as they socialized and posed for photos during a reception that capped off a night recognizing exceptional academic achievement.
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Teachers presented a series of academic awards to several graduating seniors. The Italian Academic Award went to Isabella McGinness. Italian Honor Society scholarships were presented to Katherine Aparicio, Casey Moskowitz and Jamie Spector.
The Spanish Academic Award was captured by Gaia D’Anna and Rocio Rivas. The Spanish Honor Society scholarship went to Rocio Rivas.
The French Academic Award was presented to Lindsay Saginaw and Thomas Edgar-McNerney. Aidan McCooey won the French Honor Society scholarship. Mr. McCooey was also awarded the $1,000 Dusica M. Riscic Memorial Scholarship, which commemorates the life of beloved mother and grandmother who passed in the summer of 2017. The teenager was selected for the special scholarship based upon his overall excellence in language study and the manner in which he embraced it through the years.
