Of the five languages Bob Jones offers, all four taught in-person have an honor society: Latin, German, French, and Spanish. Not to be confused with their clubs, the Foreign Language Honor Societies are their own, separate entities.

On November 9th, 46 students were inducted into the various foreign language honor societies at our school. Some inductees had already become official members but didn’t get to have their formal induction, this year’s being the first since the 2018-2019 school year due to COVID-19.

Senora Castañeda, Spanish Honor Society’s sponsor, hopes that this year they’ll be able to “get back to some of [their] previous activities and reestablish the Society.”

One of those activities was a Patriot Path held at the start of the month where honor society members put together the Giving Tree display in the world language hallway, complete with a giant paper tree, a snowman, and gorgeous snowflakes! The display is adorned with sticky notes that are labeled with items most commonly requested by those in need (blankets, hats, socks, underwear, etc). If you want to donate, pick up a sticky note and return it with the item listed to one of your teachers!

German Honor Society’s sponsor, Frau Bruni, expressed the members’ hopes to make our school more eco-friendly next semester, wanting to clean the campus and (fingers crossed!) reintroduce recycling. One of her honor society members, Quin Goins, said: “the extra work is fun because you are working in an awesome community for the greater good.”

The alluringly “awesome” community mentioned by Quin was a common response from honor society members when asked why they’d joined. Juniors Tatiann Mikel and Noah Little both responded in kind; Noah emphasized that the society was not only a great place to keep up with friends but with your target language too.

Madame Mooney, French Honor Society’s sponsor, said she aimed to “maintain and promote [her students’] love of the French language and culture.”

Latin Honor Society’s sponsor, Magister Congo, highlighted the importance of culture’s study, in addition to language’s. He mentioned that many of his members are also active members in the Alabama Junior Classical League (AJCL), an organization promoting the study of Latin and the civilizations of Greece and Rome; several of his former members have received scholarships through the AJCL. Many of these former honor society members have gone on to continue their studies in college, some working now for multinational corporations! He hopes the “exposure to ancient Roman culture encouraged them to study other cultures.”

The network offered to members of these honor societies is just one side of a dual-edged resource. Non-members enrolled in any level of foreign language classes at Bob Jones have access to free peer tutoring from honor society members.

Incredible community, service, and educational opportunities aside: Senior Joe William, a member of the Latin Honor Society, pointed out that free food is often doled out at society functions. November’s induction had, in addition to assorted snacks, a full cake for each society.

Sophomore and fellow Latin Honor Society member Gianna Dieselberg said the purple and gold cords given to members at graduation played a role in her decision to join.

If you’re in a foreign language class and are interested in joining, speak with your teacher about membership for the 2022-2023 school year.

Lastly, a massive congratulations to the 46 inductees who’ve joined these lovely societies! Their names, alongside society officers’, are on the yellow program in the image slideshow.