Penn-Trafford High School recently established its own chapter of Spanish National Honors Society (SHH). Similar to the original NHS, SHH is dedicated to providing a platform for high-achieving students who are interested in Spanish.

     Originally created in 1953, SHH has promoted well-deserving students to broaden their interests in the language and culture surrounding it. Requirements to be inducted include maintaining a 3.5 or above GPA, maintaining a 3.5 or above GPA in Spanish and two teacher references. Students must also be currently enrolled in the Spanish 4 Honors or AP Spanish class.

     The initiative to start a chapter at P-T came from senior Jalyn Adams who wanted to do so for their senior project. Adams credits her inspiration to a drop off she found with language courses.

     “In school, I would see students only taking the required years of a foreign language, usually Spanish, and then quit,” Adams said. “I wanted to create the Spanish National Honors Society as a way to influence students to continue their language education” 

     Organizing and assisting in this task were teachers Nikki Stoup and Desiree Alba.The process of creating this opportunity at P-T did not  face much resistance but did require time and effort.

     ‘We had to gain permission from the administration and [high school  principal Tony] Aquilio, then finish the application process through  AATSP (American Association of Teachers of Spanish and  Portuguese),” Stoup said. “ We then created an application and  collected dues.”

      Senior Maya Roman has also taken on duties for this endeavor as    she will be speaking and taking part in the induction ceremony. Roman  said she was pleased with the feedback from students so far.

     “I’ve heard all positive feedback so far,” Roman said. “All the students involved are excited to have an honors society for Spanish and collectively come together to bond over our passion for the language and culture. “ 

     The induction ceremony for this chapter will be held on May 13 both virtually and in person. The live stream for induction can be found on the PTTV Facebook or Youtube account.

Youtube Link: https://www.youtube.com/user/PTWarriorVideo