Language Masters Honored

The national French, Italian, Latin, and Spanish honor societies recently welcomed Academy of the Holy Angels students who have achieved a high level of competence in their chosen language. AHA World Language Department Chair Lisa Betti organized the March 19 event, acknowledging the “effort and courage it takes to become a real language user.”

Principal Jean Miller and Betti both shared the sentiment that attempting to speak another language expands human contact and cultural connections.

Angels who have demonstrated a high level of achievement in their studies of French entered the Société Honoraire de Français. Honorees include Crystal Buelvas and Annabella De Leon of Teaneck; Jaime Carlin of Norwood; Evelyn Chia of Stony Point, New York; Anjolie Castro of Englewood Cliffs; Alexis David and Mia Iannucci of Cresskill; Peyton Dockery of Saddle River; Eleanor Finnegan of Pearl River, New York; Chanel Hwang of Old Tappan; Sarahsihu Kim of Englewood; Kiera Kwiatkowski of Glen Ridge; Lucia McClure of Wyckoff; Dahlia Moondra of Wayne, Victoria Mueller of Upper Saddle River; Chelsey Park of Palisades Park; Nataly Jane Perales Rengel of Hackensack; Victoria Perez Vega of Cliffside Park; Valentina Poire of Dumont; Sienna Speed of Ridgewood; and Kiera Valdes Perez of Fort Lee.

New members of the Società Onoraria Italica are Attiana Badolati of Norwood; Kyleigh Baker of New Milford; Haedyn Brigati and Giovanna Marinuzzi of Englewood Cliffs; Isabella Butler of Hillsdale; Olivia Cutri of Tenafly; Regan Garrity of Old Tappan; Madelyn Krol of North Bergen; Gabriella Kuskin and Gabriella Petriello of Ridgefield; Elisabeth Mueller of Upper Saddle River; Lilyanna Potts of Hasbrouck Heights; and Mina Puma of Fort Lee.

Societas Latina Honoris members now include Carina Ardizzone of Englewood; Yeon “Elizabeth” Choe of Nutley; Julianna Dail of Saddle River; Sophia Emmi of Tenafly; Amalia Ferolie of Cresskill; Kate Hynes of Park Ridge; Lily Lehman of River Edge; Carolynn Manniello of Montclair; Alyssa Petrowski of Paramus; and Kaitlyn Zheng of Englewood.

Angels who took the Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica oath include Martine Alvarez of Chestnut Ridge, New York; Michele Carabuena of Ho-Ho-Kus; Sarah Cho of Palisades Park; Lily Cossio and Caitlin Liau of Tenafly; Angelina Diamond of Ridgefield; Humari Figueroa and Breanna Meletiche of Edgewater; Alyssa Finch of River Vale; Chloe Hahn and Norah Park of Cresskill; Christina Hur of Closter; Alana Jones of Hackensack;  Reagan Mirque of Tappan, New York; Julia Paek of Englewood Cliffs; Francesca Rizzo of Paramus; Eva Santelli of West Nyack, New York; and Skylar Toddings of Alpine.

Four honor society officers won the 2024 Jennifer Moran World Languages Excellence & Leadership Award. This year’s honorees are Mia “Aiko” Chang of Valley Cottage, New York, co-president of the Société Honoraire de Français; Katelyn Lee of Cresskill, Italian; Graicen Van Blarcom-Deluise of Glen Rock, Latin; and Victoria Velasco of Woodcliff Lake, vice president of the Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica. Each winner received a certificate and a $100 check. This award was established in 2016 to honor former AHA Principal Jennifer Moran upon her retirement. Each recipient is chosen for demonstrating a love for the language she studies, overall academic achievement, and outstanding commitment to her world language honor society.

World language teachers who participated in the ceremony included Italian teacher Laura Kraytem, Latin teacher Frank Hunter, and Spanish teacher Andréa Palacio.