Of the many languages offered at Lambert (Latin, French, etc), one stands iconically as the most popular, Spanish. Students nationwide take Spanish courses in middle and high school often to obtain their language credits in order to graduate. Yet, some students at Lambert pursue Spanish past their credit requirements and join the prestigious Spanish National Honor Society or, as it’s known in Spanish, la Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica (SHH).
Though the chapter was founded in 2013 under the name “Pamplona Club” (a reference to the historical Spanish city of Pamplona), it is currently sponsored by Señora Gonzalez, a Spanish I-III teacher who’s been working at Lambert since 2020.
“‘It would be great to provide a place for Lambert students to dive deeper into the Spanish language’ is what they thought when the club was first founded,” Jane Fang, Club President and Lambert senior, said. “And those that are interested in the Spanish pathway could serve their community more and get more involved.”
One major goal of the National Spanish Honor Society is to provide assistance to the local Spanish-speaking community through various means, such as donation drives, volunteer work and awareness programs. Very recently, the officer team of SHH collaborated with the Latin American Association to gather donations for the association’s food pantry established to combat food insecurity among Latino families in Atlanta.
“We also collect toys during Christmas, we give food to people in need, we collect books and donate them to different institutions,” Sra. Gonzalez said. “The value of this organization, and what makes it different from other organizations, is that our members are always pushing on ‘what can we do to help?’; they are very motivated.”
This strong motivation seen in members of Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica carries into another important service the club provides – tutoring. Every Wednesday and Friday, students who might need extra support in Spanish II and III can schedule and attend free help sessions with SHH members (who are excelling in either Spanish IV or above) to better their work and understanding of Spanish linguistics and class assignments. In return, the SHH tutors earn service hours that can be used to obtain honor cords for graduation.
“Tutoring takes place during Lunch N’ Learn in any of our Spanish classes with the teachers there,” Sra. Gonzalez said. “So if any student desires support, or maybe their tutors require some explanation on what other tasks they need, they can get a teacher to help them.”
This school year, SHH inducted 40 new members. To become a member of the Spanish National Honor Society, a student must have a 90 or above course average in all their (Lambert) Spanish classes, past and present, and be in or above Spanish IV. These standards exist to honor high proficiency in the language and highlight those with a committed, passionate interest in learning the Spanish language.
“Because the club is exclusive to those who have a certain GPA in their Spanish classes, it’s harder to get people,” Fang said. “Hopefully, by providing more service opportunities and making joining the club more worth it to the members, we’ll have more people who are like you need to join SHH. It’s amazing.”
During the club’s induction ceremony, all new members vow to uphold the values of the Spanish National Honor Society. The values, “to approach Spanish language and culture with an open mind” and “to serve the Spanish community” around them, are integral to the club’s operation as an efficiently functioning organization and unite those who can embrace and celebrate Hispanic culture and language learning as a diverse student populace.
“Gaining more knowledge about cultures that aren’t your own is a great way to increase peace in our community,” Fang said. “Striving to create peace and kindness and an open acceptance of other cultures, not only Hispanic culture but all cultures, is a doorway to that.”
The future of SHH, in striving to create peace and kindness, is filled with donation drives, exciting service opportunities, penpals in Spain and partnerships with other clubs, such as with International Club for International Night. International Night, set for March 28 in the LHS cafeteria, will feature a variety of cultural displays in art, music, dance and more. Be sure to attend to learn about the vast array of other cultures at Lambert!
