Main Line School Inducts Students into National Spanish Honor Society

PR Log (Press Release) – Jan 14, 2009 – For the first time Devon Preparatory School inducted 28 juniors and seniors into the Spanish National Honor Society (SNHS) during a ceremony attended by parents, relatives and friends. Professor Enrique Sacerio-Gari of Bryn Mawr College serves as the guest speaker.

The induction, which included a candle ceremony and distribution of honor cords for the seniors, was planned and organized by Devon Prep’s SNHS Executive Board Seniors Felix de Rosen, president, Sean McIntyre, vice president, Jeffrey Young, secretary and Mark Rafferty, treasurer, under the supervision of Spanish Teacher Ms. Barbara Medina. The Executive Board named their chapter La Orden de Santiago.

The new inductees include:

Seniors
Felix de Rosen of Wayne
Sean McIntyre of Radnor
Jeffrey Young of Wayne
Mark Rafferty of Devon
Bradley LaBoon of Valley Forge

Juniors
Michael Bevilacqua of West Chester
Robert Bildner of Havertown
Jacob Boehmer of Collegeville
Justin Chiccarine of Collegeville
Zachary Chunglo of Phoenixville
Joseph Donatoni of Malvern
Matthew Gruchacz of Conshocken
Thomas Hallinan of Newtown Square
Mark Hillegass of Paoli
Shane Howard of Folsom
Rahul Joyce of Norristown
Zachary Koehler of Chester Springs
Theodore Lawrence of Collegeville
Alex Lee of Chester Springs
James Meyer of Phoenixville
Samuel Parkinson of Springfield
Kevin Raftery of Phoenixville
Christopher Smith of North Wales
Ian Smith of Newtown Square
Robert Smith of North Wales
Daniel Stack of Broomall
Edward Welsh of Downingtown
F. Quinn White of Havertown

During the induction Senior Felix de Rosen presented Professor Sacerio-Gari with an honorary membership to Devon Prep’s new chapter of the Honor Society.

Professor Sacerio-Gari is the Dorothy Nepper Marshall Professor of Hispanic and Hispanic American Studies at Bryn Mawr College where he has taught since 1977.  He holds a Ph.D. from Yale University and is known for his work on Jorge Luis Borges as well as his poetry. He teaches Latin literature and comparative literature courses on topics such as: Spanish-American short story, contemporary Spanish-American poetry, Borges, Ariel / Caliban, literary analysis and Cuban history, literature and culture.

SNHS is an academic honor society focused on Spanish language excellence in secondary education. The group, which was established in 1953 in the United States, is sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese. At present there are over 2,000 national and international chapters.

The purpose of the society is to recognize high achievement of high school students in the Spanish and Portuguese languages and to promote a continuing interest in Hispanic and Portuguese studies. Any secondary school student who has maintained an honor average in the study of Spanish or Portuguese for a minimum of three semesters and is in the 10th grade or higher is eligible.