Hawthorne High School Italian I, Italian II, and Spanish II classes are participating in a poster contest to celebrate National Foreign Language Week. The top three posters, chosen by the World Language teachers, Marissa Margarucci, Karen McSherry, and Karina Rivas, were created by Alex Ferriola, Miriam Sokolska, and Mina DiFilippo. The Hawthorne community is now invited to vote for the one poster that best illustrates the 2015 theme: Climbing the Proficiency Ladder: Many Languages, One Goal! Click on the photo in this article to enlarge the picture and then vote for Poster A, Poster B, or Poster C in the Clarion Poll at the right of the article on the home page. The winner will receive a $10 Dunkin’ Donuts gift card.
National Foreign Language Week began in the Spring of 1957, based on an idea by Sister Eloise Therese, who was the National President of Alpha Mu Gamma from 1956 to 1960. The intention of the event then (and now) is to make the people of the United States aware of “the need for and the importance of foreign language study.”
The first celebration back in 1957, was actually held during the month of February. But since then, the National Foreign Language Week has been held for a full week in the month of March.
Chapters of Alpha Mu Gamma, who is still the official sponsor of the event, state that the “purpose of this event is to make the American student aware of the vital necessity for foreign language study.”
