The Spanish Honors Society had the privilege of inducting its newest set of members to their selective and prestigious organization. On March 26, 2015, 11 students, being mostly juniors except for one sophomore, took part in a ceremony that was coordinated by the Spanish Department, specifically Mrs. Martinez and Mrs. Rivas. The 2015 Spanish Honors Society inductees are as follows: Kaylee Seiders, Brandon Parker, Tatiana Vargas, Bierka Paulino, Leah Matari, Daniel Teixeira, Eric Criscitelli, Ronny Pena, Saul Hernandez, and Melissa Bilbao.

During the program itself, Spanish Honors Society members Ammy Pena, Secretary Veronica Rodriguez, Kimberly Cano, and Julian Parra spoke of the organization’s aims to enhance the knowledge of the Spanish culture. Going further, they highlighted the objectives of the Juan Carlos establishment (the program). According to the overview that was given at the ceremony, the mission of the Spanish Honors Society is to “Recognize High School achievement in Spanish and Portuguese and to promote interests in Hispanic and Luso-Brazilian studies.” In addition, all of the speakers emphasized the qualifications that the candidates were able to meet, including maintaining an overall average of an 85 or higher and having an interest towards Hispanic culture. Soon after the speeches were delivered, the inductees were each called out and were given certificates and patches that would forever legitimize their positions in the SHH.

In addition, Hawthorne Board of Education members were given the opportunities to speak, including Hawthorne Board President Mr. Alex Clavijo and Hawthorne Superintendent Mr. Richard Spirito. Another event involved the giving out of the Honor Cords to current members of the Spanish Honors Society. The members are as follows: Kimberly Cano, Ammy Pena, Veronica Rodriguez, Matthew Altemus, Rozana Atieh, Samantha Borrero, Stephanie Brown, Taylor Conroy, Shamel Dishack, Kayla Gordon, Danielle Hampson, Yousef Kawash, Scott Miele, Rachael Millbrook, Ninutsa Nadirashvili, Paul Reilly, Kiyoung Sung, Theodore Wagner, Leyla Yakoub, and Julia Zuckerburg.

After the ceremony ended, Mrs. Martinez said, “I’m very proud of all of them! Especially since in our department, getting good grades is very difficult and often challenging. To see them inducted warms my heart. To know that they made it all the way to this point that makes me really happy to see them here. They made it all the way up!”

All in all, this year’s inductees have done what is deemed difficult and were (as a result) rewarded for their deeds. Like their predecessors, they are to maintain stable and efficient grades and show everlasting devotion towards the Spanish Honors Society.