Memorial High School’s National Spanish Honor Society conducts annual induction ceremony

On Sept. 25, Memorial High School’s National Spanish Honor Society gathered after school to formally induct its new members. Through a ceremony involving an oath, a spoken poem and official certificates of membership, NSHS welcomed 34 students to the honor society. 

“The induction ceremony was really nice,” new member Catalina Rossi said. “I’m really happy to be a part of NSHS and to have the ability to service my Latino community and represent my culture.”

The National Spanish Honor Society, or the Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica, is an international organization sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese with over 3,500 chapters. Opening in 2021, Memorial’s current NSHS chapter “Papalotl” began with Spanish teacher Ivania Sierra as club sponsor and 14 original members. The honor society has since grown to include over 60 members. 

“As a sponsor, it has been very gratifying to see how the officers have developed their leadership by assuming the responsibility of managing connections with organizations and how they have managed to make an impact in the community,” Sierra said.

The purpose of the National Spanish Honor Society is to cultivate passion for the Spanish language and Hispanic culture, to promote diversity and international mindfulness and to serve others.

“We’re focused on service and volunteer opportunities for helping the Hispanic community, so that includes donations to immigrants, whether it be refugees or illegal immigrants,” NSHS president and senior Eugenie Malbrel said. “They’re human too, so we just try to help them.”

In past years, NSHS has organized many service projects, including working with a retirement home with primarily Spanish-speaking residents to create holiday cards for the seniors and making Christmas stockings with candy, decorations and basic living necessities for students in refugee camps. Most recently, the honor society partnered with the Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church to host a food drive for the church’s Fuente Food Pantry, which provides groceries to about 400 families each week.  

“I donated Spam and tomato cans,” new member Yannes Xiong said. “I love how NSHS focuses on the day-to-day, real needs of our community, helping local families with what we ‘can’!”

Besides volunteer work, NSHS also has presentations from special guest speakers. Notably, last year, Consul General of Spain in Houston Julia Olmo y Romero visited the honor society to speak about the Spanish language and her job at the Consulate of Spain. Additionally, the honor society takes part in contests, some of which include benefits for participants.

“[Members] can do competitions and receive scholarships for colleges and general financing things,” Malbrel said. “[The National Spanish Honor Society] is a pretty cool organization.”

Now with 34 new members and a mission to serve others, the National Spanish Honor Society will continue to fulfill its purpose through volunteer work and other projects this semester and for years to come. 

“It’s not just a resume builder,” Malbrel said. “The community here, it’s [made up of] people that care a lot.”