Hawthorne High School held the 9th annual Italian National Honor Society Induction (Societa’ Onoraria Italica) Ceremony on March 27, 2014. Advisor, Karen McSherry, was proud to welcome 18 new members.
Co-presidents Julianna O’Neill and Leonardo Paladino welcomed the family and friends of the inductees to the ceremony. This was followed by the playing of the American and Italian National Anthems. Then, the new inductees were introduced through a slideshow on the big screen featuring each student giving key information about themselves in Italian.
Honored guests Dr. Jill Mortimer, Superintendent of Schools, Abbey Goff, Board of Education member, and Barry Cohen, HHS principal came forward to say a few words of praise about the new inductees and the Italian National Honor Society. Cohen said, “The students are among the best Hawthorne High School has to offer.”
Senior and current members of the Italian Honor Society were then called up to receive their honor cords for graduation. These students include Alexa Ambrogio, Jetmira Cafuli, Mike Charron, Haley Cimillo, Manuela Correa, Nicole DeSpirito, Ruqaiyah El-Saawy, Tino Graziano, Conor Gugliotta, Sebby Inturisi, Marina, Kaghado, Faith Martin, Giovanna Motta, Juliana O’Neill, Christina Pecoraro, Joseph Russo, Lisa Scola, Chris Siracusa, Paige Stroh, Natalie Tousignant, Nicole VanderWerf, Melissa Zappala, Morgan Zimmer, and Ryan Zawojski.
O’Neill and Paladino then inducted new members of the Italian Honor Society with the official pledge that was read in Italian. These members include: Kaitlyn Amoresano, Nairi Asadurian, Steve Blanchard, Taylor Carbone, Alyssa Chichizola, Emily Cocuzza, Talia Firenze, Jenna Grimaldi, Stefanie Hauser, Juliana Kimberlin, Alexandra Kowalski, Erika LaMonaca, Francesca Lupo, Alyssa Matos, Karen Meola, Kiana Moore, Salvatore Pierro, and Steven Sutphin.
The new inductees then presented the audience with a performance interpreting a scene from a story they read in class about an American girl who goes to Frascati, a small town outside of Rome, to visit a pen pal.
After the ceremony, various Italian refreshments were served to the inductees, members, their families, and faculty (with special thanks to Sorrento Bakery in Lodi).
To qualify for the Italian Honor Society, a student must be in the third level of the language and have maintained a 90 percent average overall in Italian through the second semester of year three, in addition to having a B-average overall.
Taylor Carbone, junior and Italian National Honor Society inductee, said, “I’m truly honored to be a member of the Italian Honor society thanks to Mrs. McSherry.”