Riverhead High School inducts 65 students to National Foreign Language Honor Society

The awards season at Riverhead High School began in earnest last week with the induction of 65 students to the National Foreign Language Honor Society.

The National Foreign Language Honor Society is more than just an honor roll. The World Language Department seeks to promote a supportive environment, which enables their students to attain sufficient learning in a language other English in order to prepare the students for a productive role in the global community. The purpose of the National Foreign Language Honor Society is to recognize those students who have excelled in the study of their chosen world language.

The audience enjoyed a prelude from a musical Quartet of violinists Amy Methven and Aria Saltini with Jocabed Caraballo on the viola and Yasmine Kocan on cello before the ceremony began.

“Sixty-five students were inducted this year,” stated Director of K-12 ESL, Bilingual Programs and World Languages Director Liz Scaduto, who congratulated the students, parents and teachers on their accomplishment and encouraged the language students to continue their studies in world languages.

An introduction by Latin and Ancient Greek teacher “Doc” Greenberger outlined the requirements for induction. To be eligible for membership in the society, the following criteria are considered…
The student must:
– be enrolled in at least a third year language course,
– have at least a 90% cumulative average in her/his world language course,
– have at least a cumulative grade point average of 85%,
– have the approval and recommendation of her/his language teacher
based on consistent high academic performance.

Doc’s introduction included a plea for families to volunteer to house exchange students and was followed by a short greeting from Foreign Exchange students, Lila Cheval (France) and Raimundo Sandoval Avila (Chile).

Lila encouraged, in a charming French accent, “if you get an opportunity to live and study in another country, I think you should just–like–do it.”

Later, Raimundo (aka “Rai” or “Chile”) echoed Lila’s advice and concluded his remarks by thanking Valedictorian Noah Markewitz for remarking to him each day this winter, “It’s a little ‘Chile’ outside today, Rai.”

The following students met the above qualifications and were inducted into
Riverhead High School’s National Foreign Language Honor Society:

French
Grade 10
Alvarez, Dayanna
Chabla Sarmiento, Emily
Deschamps, Michelle
Flores, Cesar
Gevinski, Kyle
Gove, Amelia
Hernandez Balbuena
Llamas Oliva
Mohammad, Dena
Morocho, Bella
Pizzuto, Julia
Ramos Deulofeutt, Susan
Renten, Nicolette
Scura, Natalie
Wallace, Cailyn
Grade 11
Alvizures, Jose
Campanelli, Kristen
Pozamantir, Michael
Sment, Liam
Grade 12
Funfgeld, Jacob

Latin
Grade 10
Baldwin, Ella
Baron, Christian
Borges, Brielle
Bornstein, Sarah
Brennan, Justin
Brophy, Abygaele
Falisi, Tristan
Giron Berganza, Vanessa
Gregory, Kathleen
Hernandez, Vanessa
Hubbard, Elizabeth
Lagun, Claudia
Lynn, Brandon
Moloney, Ian
Plitt, Casey
Rubino, Ashleigh
Saltini, Aidan
Sheridan, Rachel
Vazquez, Roy
Wowak, Skylar
Zeltmann, Shannon
Grade 12
Markowski, Erik

Spanish
Grade 10
Carini, Christionna
Chaudhry, Sidra
Coach, Amaya
Danowski, Kristina
Edwards, Dana
Green, Isabella
Harris, Annie
Harris, Kamaria
Hodun, Heather
Horyczun, Kelly
Lohman, Megan
Mancini, Ryan
Marelli, Taylor
Meilunas, Blaise
Murgolo, Marisa
Murray, Tahnaja
Palmer, Mackenzie
Ruano Estrada, Kevin
Thomas, Julia
Van Houten, Geoffrey
Grade 11
Chabla, Kimberly
Nieto, Jennifer
Rosenbaum, Sarah

HONOR SOCIETY OFFICERS:
The induction ceremonies were led by the officers in each of the language societies. It was apparent from their readings and remarks that they loved their studies in languages and felt another language had added another dimension to their lives.

French teacher Mrs. Kristine Cresser introduced the new French inductees. This year’s French officers included: Aria Saltini – President, Shannon Harden – VP, Pamela Karwowski – VP, Joanna Messina – Secretary and Joseph Zawada – Secretary.

“Doc” Greenberger introduced the new Latin inductees. This year’s officers included: Emily Behr, Jeremy Bornstein, Amy Methven, Liana Salgado and Hayley Sheridan.

Spanish teacher Mrs. Penelope Boerum introduced the new Spanish inductees. This year’s Spanish officers included: Ines Garcia-Rojas – President, Joscelin Morrow – VP, Maria Anderson – Secretary.

INTRODUCTION OF SENIORS
One of the most moving parts of the program includes the introduction of graduating seniors formerly inducted into one of the foreign language societies. The person introducing these students shares both their names and where they plan to attend college and what their majors will be. These seniors are attending an impressive array of colleges and planning majors from linguistics, medicine, engineering, writing and more in college programs near and far.

DEPARTMENT OF WORLD LANGUAGES
Congratulations to these outstanding world language students and their teachers:
Ms. Diana Acosta, Spanish
Ms. Penelope Boerum, Spanish
Ms. Kristine Cresser, French
Ms. Lorene Custer, Latin
Ms. Kimberly Esteve-Garcia, Spanish
Dr. Jeff Greenberger, Latin & Ancient Greek
Ms. Norma Jenkins, Spanish
Ms. Kellyann Parlato, Spanish
Ms. Keri-Ann Westfall, French

Source: Press release issued by the Riverhead Central School District.