A total of 69 students were inducted into their respective world language honor societies during a ceremony held in November replete with pomp and circumstance and which celebrated the first group of students to be inducted into the newly instituted Chinese Honor Society. Flag-bearing officers led their inductees into the auditorium as cultural music played. Senior Emily Levitt, who served as Master of Ceremonies, introduced the various guest speakers of the evening.
Christian Buren, representing the Chinese language, talked about learning Chinese, and in particular, about “the concept of zhun zhong, or respect – Respect for ourselves, for each other, our elders, for opinions and ideas, and especially respect for our studies.” Rose Giandana related her experiences traveling to France through our French exchange program, commenting on the confidence she gained by communicating in French beyond the classroom and by having the opportunity to question and rethink some of her beliefs, perspectives and ideas. Olivia Barcia, who represented the Italian language, spoke to how, as a fourth generation Italian, learning the language has helped her connect more deeply with her family heritage. Max Mazursky, a senior in AP Spanish, spoke eloquently about the 10-day all expenses paid trip to Ecuador he won through the AATSP Bertie Green Junior Travel Award. Max noted that his most memorable experience came from the day his group visited an orphanage in Quito, where he realized that, “no matter how different our cultures may be, the orphans, and every other human in the world, just want a place to belong, with people who care about them.”
Officers from each honor society led their individual candle-lighting induction ceremonies, which were all conducted entirely in the target language. Senior Simon Oster, the final guest speaker, was not only inducted into the French Honor Society that evening, but also represented German as the last, lone member and President of the German Honor Society. In his speech, Simon spoke of his love for learning languages, relating his unique and admirable path to proficiency in both German and French.
The evening concluded with a celebratory reception in the cafeteria.
Officers included Francesca Jones, Lorie Marie Rosado, Erin Sheehy and Justin Yang (Chinese), Alyssa Cordero and Ian MacPherson (French), Julia Guarneri, Caroline McNichol and Kelsey Werkheiser (Italian) and Kiara Cruz and Daniela Fonseca (Spanish). Chinese Honor Society Inductees were Sara Begalman, Christian Buren, Amy Chen, Kelly Hopkins, Francesca Jones, Lorie Marie Rosado, Erin Sheehy and Justin Yang. Inducted into the French Honor Society were Sara Banasiak, Rachel Breit, Maya Dunchus, Hannah Finan, Mackenzie Inacker, Katherine Keiser, Quinn Kekelis, Brianna Linder, Michael Lockfeld, Caraid McGovern, Briana McGowan, Sara Miller, Alexa-Jada Nelson,
Simon Oster, Nikita Paranjape, Gabriella Scannell, Megan Small, Sydney Smith, Gabriel StaRosa, Connor Wirth and Karl Wirth. Italian Honor Society Inductees included Olivia Barcia, Brandon Boyarsky, Francesca Carlino, Josephine Catuogno, Maria DelSordi, Riya Desai, Angela DiGiacomo, Alanna Gaona, Nina Halberstadter, Adam Mayerson and Ryan Midwinter. Inducted into the Spanish Honor Society were Jason Acevedo, Madeline Bord, Caitlin Bourke, Jack Cannon, Natalie Choque, Daniella Cohen, Phoebe Collins, Hannah Davis, Francesca DiFabio, Anna Dunchus, Caroline English, Patrick Gannon, Madison Goldberg, Caroline Gutierrez, Jacqueline Harvey, Isabella Hurtado, Kathryn Kalaigian, Nicholas Lavin, Rachel Maizes, Jared Mann, Paige McMorrow, Kerri McNeely, Gia Pares, Molly Pritchett, Nathaniel Redmount, Veronica Sendao, Lauren Trentacoste, Isaac Velasquez and Ethan Wollman.
(above) Chinese Inductees
(above) Spanish Inductees
(above) Italian Inductees
(above) French Inductees
