Matthew Monday: Società Onoraria Italica

Matthew’s best class year after year in high school has been Italian language.  He consistently gets high 90s as grades.  This year Matthew’s high school, Monsignor Farrell High School, was accepted into the Società Onoraria Italica, in English known as the National Italian Honor Society.  This now allows the schools top students in Italian to become members of this prestigious honor society.  Matthew earned the honor!

The purpose of the Società Onoraria Italica

The National Italian Honor Society is a society formed to acknowledge superior scholastic performance in the field of Italian Studies: language, literature, cinema, and culture. It is open to membership at institutions of higher learning in both the United States and Canada.

Membership criteria is the following:

 

Candidates who are juniors or seniors, are currently completing or have completed their third year of Italian, have achieved an average of 90% or above in their Italian studies and an overall average of 85%, have demonstrated qualities of good character, and have expressed an interest in the study of the Italian language and culture are eligible for membership.

There was a ceremony at the school last week, the 12^th of January, to recognize the honorees and present them with certificates and pins.  I didn’t record the speeches by the language teachers, the president of the school, and the principal but they were funny and moving.  What I recorded was Matthew being called up to the stage and receive his award and then later the boys reciting the honor society oath.  First a couple of pictures.

Here is the video clip of names being called.  There is a gap when the boy’s name is called and when he actually gets to the stage.  You will be able to tell when it’s Matthew because I follow him with the camera all the way to his seat.

 

 

Finally the boys (and it’s an all-boys school, if you are unaware) had to take an oath in Italian.  The oath was the following:

 

Come componente della sezione di “Santa Rosalia,” a Monsignor Farrell High School, prometto di dedicarmi allo studio della lingua Italiana ricordando che una lingua può costituire una forte legame fra persone di varie origini etniche e religiose.

 

Da cittadino della mia patria m’impegno a promuovere l’amicizia e l’armonia fra essa e le altre nazione del mondo.  Questo é il mio giuramento.

Here is the video of the boys taking the pledge.

 

Using Google Translate, the Italian translates into English as:

 

As a member of the "Santa Rosalia" section at Monsignor Farrell High School, I promise to dedicate myself to the study of the Italian language, remembering that a language can constitute a strong bond between people of various ethnic and religious backgrounds.

 

As a citizen of my country, I pledge to promote friendship and harmony between it and other nations of the world. This is my oath.

That looks about right.  Santa Rosalia is some sort of regional identification named after St. Rosalie. 

I framed the award.

And the pin.

We are very proud of him!  And so is his nonna!