Germantown Academy honored nine students at the 16th Annual Honorary Society Dinner and Induction Ceremony on Wednesday, April 12, 2017 in the Common Room. Overall, GA inducted five students into the Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica and four students into the Société Honoraire de Français.

The students who were inducted into the Spanish, French and Chinese Honor Societies were selected based on the following criteria:

• Overall cumulative scholarship
• Positive influence in the school community
• Successful completion of Level 3 of the language at the honors level and enrollment in Level 4 Honors or above of the language
• High academic achievement in the study of the modern language
• A demonstrated commitment to fostering the study and use of modern languages
• Active membership and leadership in language and/or language-related cultural activities

"The Modern Language Department is excited to announce the inductions of nine accomplished students into the French and Spanish National Honor Societies," said Upper School Modern Language Co-Department Head and Upper School French teacher Linda Test. "They are shining examples of students dedicated to the study of language and culture and they have met the rigorous criteria set forth by the national organizations, Société Honoraire de Français and Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica. Although we do not have any Chinese students who qualify for the Chinese National Honor Society this year, we look forward to inducting new members next year."

With the help of 2016 inductees Akosua Adubofour '17, Braden Cody '17, Jade Houri '17, Isabelle McMahon '17, and Gavin Rees '17, as well as Upper School Modern Language Co-Department Head and Upper School Spanish teacher Carol Ayers, Anjalee Bhuyan '18, Andrew Luo '18, Nicole Marion '18, Daniel Smith '17, and Rachael Villari '17 were inducted into the Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica.

Sophie Kallenbach '18, Sarah Lindgren '18, Aysa-Shane Milton '18, and Madison Press '18 were inducted into the Société Honoraire de Français with the help of Mrs. Test and 2015 inductees Alejandro González '17, Noelle Mlynarczyk '17, and Emma Rapp '17.

Earlier in the evening, Carolina Hackley '17, who was inducted into the National Chinese Honor Society (????????) along with Brien Collier '17 last spring, read a poem in Chinese.

Prior to the induction ceremony, students, parents and faculty in the audience also heard from keynote speaker Kevin Ruppel '06, a 2005 inductee of the Spanish National Honor Society. Ruppel is currently a pre-sales engineer at Sisense in New York City. He studied Spanish for four years here at GA before continuing his language studies at Johns Hopkins University where he majored in math and economics. As a college junior, he lived abroad with a host family in Argentina and took classes at the Universidad de Buenos Aires.

Now as an adult, Ruppel continues to use Spanish on a daily basis, whether at work leading technical demonstrations and discussions with Latin American customers or while playing soccer in his neighborhood with Spanish speaking teammates.

Congratulations, inductees!

CLICK HERE to view pictures of the induction ceremony on SmugMug.