AHA Students Enter National Business Honor Society

Seniors and juniors who excel in the Academy of the Holy Angels’ business education program have entered the National Business Honor Society. AHA Business Department Chair Krystal Reilly, who founded and advises AHA’s NBSH and DECA chapters, led the March 21 induction ceremony.

“You are part of the revolution of women in business,” Reilly told the society’s newest members.

This year’s inductees include seniors Romina Bega of Ringwood; Alexis Jacob of Tappan, New York; Reese Orlofsky of Hoboken; Amanda Tomasella and Lauren Tomasella of Oradell; Amelia Shen and Anna Governale of Demarest; Adriana Gomez of Ridgefield; Kyra Sapontzis of Park Ridge; Raffaela Manoy of New Milford; Reyna Cunningham of Saddle River; Jaclyn Larraz of Blauvelt, New York; Priscilla Lithgow of Fort Lee; Ella Oaten of Tenafly; and Teri Koustas of Closter.

Juniors Alexa Diaz of Fair Lawn and Valerie Rey of River Vale were also inducted. 

Annabelle Hur of Norwood and Shivani Sahu of Paramus (both AHA ’23) were recognized as two-year members of AHA’s NBHS chapter.

AHA Upper School Principal Jean Miller helped Reilly congratulate the honorees and distribute their pins and certificates. Seniors also received the cords they will wear at graduation. 

NBHS inductees must successfully complete four or more business courses and maintain an average of 90 or better in their business classes, with an overall GPA of 85 or better. Eligible members must also be active in DECA (formerly Distributive Education Classes of America), an international organization that encourages teens to develop their business and entrepreneurial knowledge through competition. 

The inductees delivered the prayer their peers wrote for the induction ceremony. The Angels expressed their desire to make ethical and moral business decisions, and lead by example in male-dominated careers.

Reilly, who established AHA’s NBHS chapter in 2018, welcomed the Academy’s seven charter members in the spring of 2019. In her remarks to the 2023 inductees, she noted the continuing success and growth of AHA’s program. Reilly acknowledged that more and more women are rising to the top of highly-regarded international enterprises.

“The goal is not just to enter the business world, but to make lasting impact,” Reilly noted.

AHA has been participating in DECA since the 2018-19 season, when the Academy qualified for its first state competition.

In 2022, AHA’s team qualified for the DECA International Career Development Conference for the first time, and will return to the event this spring.

Founded by the School Sisters of Notre Dame in 1879, the Academy of the Holy Angels is the oldest private girls’ school in Bergen County. The Academy’s current leaders continue to further the SSND mission to provide each student with the tools she needs to reach the fullness of her potential—spiritually, intellectually, socially, and physically, by offering a first-rate education in a nurturing environment where equal importance is placed on academic excellence, character development, moral integrity, and service to others.