Huntington High School’s Rho Kappa Social Studies Honor Society chapter welcomed 52 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.
Social Studies Honor Society faculty advisor Ken Donovan with Kimberly Valle and Britney Guardado
The new inductees include Brenden Abedin, Ryan Aguirre, Isabella Algieri, Alexa Amorison, Stephanie Bardales, Alex Bellissimo, Aidan Bender, Torin Bograd, Mia Brown, Yolani Cabrera, Taylor Case, Aaron Chin, Jazmynn Clark, Matthew Colavecchio, Kyle Colleluori, Elizabeth Dugan, Jackson Dunn, Chas Forte, Aiden Franznick, Jailyn Fuentes, Alex Gonzalez, Zach Gordon, Britney Guardado, Jaden Italiano and Jack Kurathowski.
The organization also inducted Angelina Larkin, Lauren LoScalzo, Andrew McKenzie, Mackenzie Madison, Charlotte Maggio, Juliet Marinello, Chelsea Munoz, Lily O’Heir, Raul Orozco, Jorge Parada-Cisneros, Gianna Prosseda, Daniela Ramos, Samir Rathore, Alexa Rind, Rosa Rivera, Julie Rogel, Valerie Rogel, Ricardo Romero, Andreas Seferian, Kate Sheran, Ella Siepel, Julia Steinberg, Kimberly Valle, Daniela Weihskopf, Grace Wildermuth, Daniel Williamson and Chaohan Yang.
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 Madelyn Kye (president), Ryan Knowles (vice-president), Luca Perna (treasurer), Kyle Perea secretary) and Kyra DeSalvo (historian).
This marked the Huntington chapter’s seventh induction ceremony since it was founded. This year’s guest speaker was Huntington High School graduate and local author Dr. Alfred Sforza, who has penned three books on town history, with a special emphasis on Huntington Station. Dr. Sforza regaled the crowd with stories of old Huntington and how he went about his research to compile the books.
Huntington School Board President Jennifer Hebert, Superintendent James W. Polansky and Chairman of Humanities, 7-12 Joseph Leavy 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.
