Huntington High School’s Rho Kappa Social Studies Honor Society chapter welcomed 51 new members during a recent induction ceremony in the School Heritage Museum.
Prospective members must have a minimum unweighted academic average of 90 in social studies courses and 85 overall. The society seeks to recognize excellence and promote engagement in social studies. Teacher Kenneth Donovan serves as the organization’s faculty advisor.
Teacher Kenneth Donovan is the Social Studies Honor Society faculty advisor.
The new inductees include Megan Agrillo, Zubair Ali, Lena Annunziata, Alice Bradford, William Burton, Emily Cheshire, Natalie Ciccone, Moira Contino, Kyra DeSalvo, Nathan Gamboa, Craig Haas, Caroline Hartough, Abigail Holmes, Robert Jean-Gilles, Peyton Kalb, Lucas Kelly, Molly Kessler, Oskar Kilgour, Andrew Knowles, Ryan Knowles, Madeline Kye, Margaret Lalor, Patrick Langton, Baylie Larsen, John Lourenso, Jennifer Low, Keenan Lyons, Megan Malone, Shyann Maragh-Jean-Baptiste and Michael Matthews.
Joseph Mead, Gabriel Medina-Jaudes, Ethan Mulroy, Charles O’Rourke, John Panos, Kyle Perea, Luca Perna, Daniel Petrylka, Cole Pillion, Jessica Quintanilla, Diya Rai-Gersappe, Julien Rentsch, Lia Shechter, Julia Segal, Abby Semelsberger, Lily Stein, Jason Verville, Bryce Vitulli, Steliani Vlahos, Ava Waxenberg and Christopher Weber were also inducted.
The more than four dozen new members promised “to serve others, to search for truth, to utilize knowledge and to seek wisdom through the pursuit of academic excellence in the social studies.” The teenagers pledged “service to Huntington High School and to the community; for true scholars of the social studies lead by example.”
The Huntington chapter is led by Katie Stock (president), Dominick Stanley (vice-president), Graham Young (treasurer), Katie Burton (secretary), Terrel Cox (historian), Mia Nitekman (public relations) and Ryan Hoffmann (administrative assistant).
This marked the Huntington chapter’s sixth induction ceremony since it was founded. Chairman of Humanities Joseph Leavy served as master of ceremonies. In lieu of a guest speaker, four of the club’s officers read excerpts from seminal speeches about civic engagement and historical knowledge, including Ryan Hoffmann (Plato on wisdom), Graham Young (Theodore Roosevelt on citizenship), Mia Nitekman (Malcolm X on knowledge and books) and Dominick Stanley (John F. Kennedy on service to country).
Huntington Superintendent James W. Polansky and Assistant Principals Lisette Lors and Gamal Smith were among those in the crowd.
“Rho Kappa Social Studies Honor Society is the only national organization for high school juniors and seniors that recognizes excellence in the field of social studies,” states the group’s national website. “Any accredited public high school or non-secondary school can apply for a local chapter, through which individuals will be inducted into Rho Kappa Honor Society. Rho Kappa provides national recognition and opportunities for exploration in the social studies.”
The National Council for the Social Studies started the Rho Kappa Social Studies Honor Society in 2011.