Festival & Bonfire Launches Year for Italian Honor Society

Huntington High School’s National Italian Honor Society chapter started the year off with a bang at the Homecoming Festival & Bonfire last week, selling a variety of food items and refreshments to raise funds for the organization’s initiatives.

The group is led by an energetic executive board, which includes Michael Mendikyan (president), Gabriela Vilorio (vice president), Sam Soric (treasurer) and Angelina Marcelino-LaQua (secretary/public relations). Teacher Natalia Kopshti serves as the faculty advisor.

The Benvenuta nella Società Onoraria Italica, the National Italian Honor Society for High School Students, is sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of Italian. The purpose of this program is to give recognition to achievements in Italian as well as to promote a greater understanding and appreciation of Italian culture and civilization.

“The bonfire was a really successful event for the Italian Honor Society,” Mr. Mendikyan said. “All the members took an active role at the bonfire. We had a great collaboration with all of our honor society members to represent us at the table at all times. Everyone was really engaged. They were all looking to genuinely support the Italian Honor Society in any way they could, whether that be calling a friend over to buy a slice, or even just organizing the table when needed. We sold pizza, drinks, candies and even cookies.”

While Huntington’s Italian Honor Society might be one of the smallest organizations in the building, it is also among the proudest. The chapter is comprised of group of exceptional students who have all been high achievers in the study of the Italian language. The teenagers have also demonstrated a wonderful appreciation of Italian culture and civilization.

“The plans for this year are to keep every member engaged with different events,” Mr. Mendikyan said. “We are planning more bake sales, club recruiting for new members and more. This year we are also introducing tutoring, which allows those who need just a little extra help to connect with a member of the Italian Honor Society to hone in on any part of the language, whether that be listening, speaking, reading or writing.”

The national organization is sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of Italian, which was founded in 1924 “to promote the study of Italian language, literature and culture in schools, colleges and universities in North America,” according to the group’s website. It has about 1,500 members worldwide.

“The Italian Honor Society is focusing on expanding engagement this year,” Mr. Mendikyan said. “We hope that all the members involve themselves with the Italian Honor Society in any way they can.”

Interested in getting involved? Join Remind@iHS219. Meetings are held on the second Monday and fourth Wednesday of every month at 2:30 p.m. Click on the following link to access the organization’s Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/hhsitalian.honorsociety/

Questions? Send a message to Ms. Kopshti at nkopshti@hufsd.edu.