The Nathan Hale chapter of the National Honor Society at Huntington High School welcomed 80 new members during the organization’s 65th annual induction ceremony.
The teenagers have compiled spectacular academic records and captured the respect and admiration of the faculty. The new inductees join 53 continuing members, swelling the group’s ranks to 143. Chapter members are committed to pursuing numerous projects this year. Teachers Patricia Avelli and Tara Fisher serve as the organization’s faculty advisors.
Principal Brenden Cusack addressed the new and continuing members along with a crowd of about 200 parents and family members. Superintendent James W. Polansky, Assistant Principal Gamal Smith and Huntington School Board member Lynda Tine-D’Anna also attended the induction ceremony.
“I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all of our students who are being inducted into the National Honor Society this evening,” Mr. Cusack said. “I thank you because you are our true ambassadors. Your academic effort, your stellar character, your dedication to service and your outstanding leadership are all shining examples of what Huntington High School strives to represent. Students like you make our institution stand out. The roster of National Honor Society inductees includes presidents, senators, authors, athletes, surgeons, scientists, musicians, astronauts and actors, among many others. I have great confidence that you, too, will go on to do amazing things beyond high school and in so doing you will continue to make us all very proud.”
The new inductees include Tahiyat Akber, Kelly Alfaro-Alvarez, Zubair Ali, Lena Annunziata, Hannah Avidor, Riva Bergman, Brooke Biernacki, Alice Bradford, Alicia Brooks, William Burton, Jr, Emily Cheshire, Natalie Ciccone, Moira Contino, Brian Contreras, Terrel Cox, Marissa Cribar, Anna Crockett, Livia D’Anna, Christiana DeLuca, Kyra DeSalvo, Josefina Fasolino, Jack Flores, Charles Forte, Kiara Gelbman, Alexandra Gerbavsits, Craig Haas, Abigail Holmes, Catherine Jamison, Neil Jean-Baptiste, Shyann Maragh-Jean-Baptiste, Peyton Kalb, Paul Katigbak, Molly Kessler, Oskar Kilgour, Andrew Knowles, Ryan Knowles, Madelyn Kye, Margaret Lalor and Patrick Langton.
The ceremony also featured the induction of Baylie Larsen, John Lourenso, Keenan Lyons, Abigail Maichin, Michael Mathews, Christopher Mavrogian, Gabriel Medina-Jaudes, Madeline Meidenman, Ryan Miller, Max Mittleman, Jack Monahan, Haley Mortell, Ethan Mulroy, Nathan Musso, Adam Neber, Charles O’Rourke, Caitlyn Palermo, Cole Pillion, Diya Rai-Gersappe, Madelyn Reed, Michael Reed, Julien Rentsch, Samuel Roberts, Julia Segal, Abigail Semelsberger, Lia Shechter, Nathan Soric, Lily Stein, Omari Stephen, Jack Stewart, Jose Suarez, Charles Sze, Grace Tyrell, Kimberly Valle, Jason Verville, Claudia Villatoro, Bryce Vitulli, Ava Waxenberg, Christopher Weber, Ryan Williams and Graham Young.
“We are exceptionally proud of the 80 new members of the Nathan Hale chapter of the National Honor Society,” Superintendent James W. Polansky said. “These students have upheld the standards expected from chapter members and continue to serve as genuine role models for their peers. I have no doubt that they will continue to pursue their interests and find success in response to both hard work and commitment during and beyond their remaining high school years.”
The National Honor Society’s motto is “Noblesse Oblige,” a French term that translates in English to “nobility obligates.” The new members are expected to assist all students on the path toward academic excellence through a variety of tutoring and community service activities.
Speakers during the ceremony included Nathan Hale chapter President Mia Nitekman, who gave an articulate address about the ideals of the organization. Executive officers Nicole Walsh (vice president), Christian Bellissimo (secretary), Alyssa Sorensen (treasurer) and Yasmin Khilji-Neal took turns speaking about the group’s membership pillars of character, scholarship, leadership and service.
A string quartet consisting of Arielle Harvey, Haley Mortell, Ella Siepel and Hannah Bailin entertained the crowd as it filed into the auditorium, providing grace and dignity to the proceedings. The high school chamber choir sang “The Star Spangled Banner.”
The inductees were asked to affirm their support for the National Honor Society’s ideals by stating: “I pledge myself to uphold the high purposes of this society to which I have been selected, striving in every way by every word and deed to make its ideals the ideals of my school and my life.”
After Huntington’s top scholars paraded out of the auditorium, they were joined by their families and faculty members in the main lobby for a reception in their honor.
