The Spanish Honor Society welcomes new and returning students upon its return to Algonquin after two years on hiatus. 

Membership is application-based, and students currently enrolled in an honors Spanish class were eligible to join in the fall. In 2020, the Algonquin chapter was discontinued, due to the COVID-19 quarantine.

“When COVID hit, [the chapter] lost its steam,” Spanish teacher and club adviser Evan Greenwald said. 

Greenwald’s current objective is to reward students who excel in Spanish and have the desire to give back to the community.

“It’s kind of a mixture of exceeding expectations academically,” Greenwald said. “You also have to serve or give back to your community in a way that benefits or informs others about the Spanish-speaking community.”

In the past, the honor society has done many different projects lending service to the Spanish-speaking community. 

“[We raise] money for different causes and make bracelets [of] all kinds [for] the Spanish-speaking community,” Greenwald said. 

Meetings are usually held once a month as the chapter reactivates. This year, the club is imposing a new point system similar to the French Honor Society. With this system, each student is required to earn a certain amount of points based on their service to the community. 

“[Members] need the [specific amount] of points each month,” Greenwald said. 

Greenwald wants students to share their passion for the Spanish language and various Hispanic cultures, as well as be able to give back to the community. He believes any students who are in honors-level Spanish and enjoy their class should consider applying next year. 

“Since we are starting up from COVID, we need participants [to join the chapter],” Greenwald said. “We need the ideas.”

Greenwald’s favorite part about the Spanish Honor Society is the students and seeing how excited and passionate they are for the language, culture and the chapter. 

“[Students explain] the language and to learn more about what they can do with the language outside of the classroom,” Greenwald said.