Newtown High School held its annual World Language Honor Society Induction Ceremony on Thursday, May 16, in the school’s cafetorium.

NHS Spanish teacher Paula Olmos Valeri and NHS Latin teacher Catharine Kimberly welcomed those in attendance to celebrate the 65 students honored in the ceremony.

Both advisors to the World Language Honor Society, Valeri and Kimberly beamed with pride as they congratulated all of the students for their hard work and achievements. Learning additional languages, Valeri said, gives everyone the chance to communicate with more people, teaches them to be more welcoming, helps them embrace each other’s differences, and more.

Kimberly said that the students understand and demonstrate these skills through their efforts in different settings and support of language learning.

“As Nelson Mandela said, ‘If you talk to a person in the language they understand, that goes to their head. If you talk to them in their own language, that goes to their heart.’ And for that, we celebrate this evening,” Kimberly said. “Congratulations to all inductees on this well-deserved recognition.”

Valeri said that the event is special because the students go “above and beyond” to be inducted. The students had to fulfill specific requirements depending on the language that they studied.

In addition to the specific language requirements, students also have to complete eight hours of service over the course of one semester. Whether that means tutoring, helping in another class, or something else entirely is up to the student, so long as they do it within the given time frame.

“It’s amazing because some of them, after they complete the eight hours, they continue. And some of them offer to do it next year,” Valeri said. “It’s very important because they get to see a different view of the language, not just as something to pass a class. It’s like, ‘I can actually do something else with it.’ It becomes something rewarding.”

Each student received a certificate and a flower after getting inducted. They also received an honor cord with colors correlating with their respective language and honors society.

Valeri said the ceremony came together through the help of several people from around the school. NHS Greenery provided the flowers and made the flower arrangements, while NHS custodial staff helped set up and clean up for the ceremony.

NHS Culinary made several different types of cookies for the event, including koulourakia, sable breton, chocolate biscotti, and polvorones de canela. These cookies are popular in different countries such as Greece, France, Italy, and Mexico.

Students inducted into the Société Française were Bridget Gioffe, Dorothy Letts, Alicia Ligouri, Virginia Lynch, Grace Lyons, Jaclyn Mauri, Noelle Meadows, Ryan Michlovitz, Britta Petersen, Sophia Wade, Angela Wennerholm, and Andersen Zatulskis.

Students inducted into the Società Onoraria Italica were Isabelle Ammerman, Eric Bogursky, Kelsey Brennan, Brady Brosius, Sophia Caruso, William Conlin, Gabriella Cordeiro, Emily Daoust, Gavin Doyle, Gianna Galassi, Jenna Lagan, Owen Marshall, Jonathan Ramzy, Audrey Srebotnik, Lucia St Lorenzo, Kaila Sullivan, and Grace Zulli.

Students inducted into the Societas Latina were Lilian Accettella, Connor Child, Daniella Crisci, Nathaniel Crone, Shaun Daoust, Luke Doherty, Charlie Dunn, Adlien Ekman, Alicia Ligouri, Isabel Nesheiwat, Grayson Renkert, and Reese Smith.

Students inducted into the Sociedad Honoraria Hispénica were Rachael Albrecht, Willow Assante-LaBash, Gracie Ballard, David Baghdady, Gabriella Cordeiro, Oliver Clancy, Alexandra Dul, Annabelle Foley, Francesca Glazer, Abigail Ihlefeld, Aadit Jerfy, Alexandra Kinsey, Zoey Lehecka, Edward Liu, Kris Luci-Bernard, Grace Lyons, Charlie Massett, Evelyn Mogrovejo, Moira Murphy, Matthew Murray, Ava Schalkham, Casey Schnitzler, Alex Siksay, Owen Sullivan, Nate Twitchell, Trysten Ulibarri, Penelope Warren, and Angela Wennerholm.

Reporter Jenna Visca can be reached at jenna@thebee.com.