On November 30th, 70 new members were inducted into the World Language Honors Societies. At Athens Academy, students can be inducted for high achievements in Spanish, French, and Latin. Unfortunately, this marks the last year for Latin as it is being discontinued at ACAD. The hardworking students earned recognition through three years at the honors level in their language along with receiving a 90 or above in those classes.
Being in the World Language Honors Societies gives members a boost in college admissions as well as an opportunity for members-only scholarships. Generally, since the members have shown a higher interest in their language, they leave school with more knowledge under their belt and are more likely to continue in college with language classes or study abroad programs.
Nina Rutledge, a junior at ACAD and the last inductee ever for the Latin society at our school said, “I chose to stick with Latin because I wanted to grow my understanding of a variety of languages. It’s been a great decision because I can apply the subject to other classes, and I am starting to understand the value of learning how to translate the language.”
Joshua Xie, an inductee for the Spanish society, said, “As someone who’s grown up surrounded by two languages, I’ve always understood the importance of foreign language learning. Being able to study Spanish throughout high school is both exciting and important to me.”
Furthermore, Kartik Menke, now a member of the French society, said that “the opportunity to study language even above graduation requirements is an excellent chance for students like myself to better their understanding of international affairs and cultures.”
Normally, you would think that having 70 members inducted in our smaller school signifies that this honors society is easy to get into, but that isn’t the case. Athens Academy provides many cultural and language opportunities for its students and encourages students to take at least three years of a language before college. Many schools provide classes similar to Athens Academy, but ACAD does an excellent job of nurturing its students. Learning a language is sometimes overlooked due to its extensive nature, making it harder for students to be inducted into this honors society. The fact that we had 70 students inducted shows just how many students in our school have put in effort into learning a language at a rigorous pace and have handled the workload well.
With the 10th annual induction complete, ACAD continues to provide more opportunities for its students and pushes for high excellence in languages, arts, sports, humanities, and more. Many of these students will go on to take another year of honors or even the AP version of their language which puts them far ahead of other schools in terms of language studies. Congratulations to the new inductees, as their hard working attitude has certainly paid off!
