Basic questions:
What is la Societa Onoraria?
The "Societa' Onoraria Italica is a nation-wide honor society created specifically for those who study and love the Italian language and literature. It is sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of Italia (AATI). It was established at John Jay in the spring of 2003 and includes new members each year, who remain an active part of the group until graduation
Who can become a member?
Students in the Italian program - beginning in sophomore year- who have maintained an average of 88% or better in Italian are considered eligible candidates.
As they participate in the events sponsored by the organization and show willingness to belong, they earn the necessary credit for formal induction, thus becoming "official" members
Why should I become a member?
1- It is an honor that you have earned for your hard work in your language class
2- It is a nationally recognized honor society and college admissions offices look favorably on such an
involvement
3- You get to meet and work with other students - from sophomores to seniors- who have similar interests
and you make good connections with new friends
4- We always have fun together and each year is a different mix of events, based on the interests of the
group
5- We always have social time and snack time at each meeting :)
What types of things is the group involved in?
Our overall goal is to promote the Italian language and culture in our school, our community and our families, but we take on a variety of tasks and goals each year, based on the group's interests. Some mainstays are our participation at the holidays to sponsor a local family in need - with donations of food or money as needed.
We also usually chose a charity to sponsor and do fundraising activities for this purpose.
Each year we pick one major activity that includes our school population - such as a soccer tournament, a Carneval dance or a Christmas pageant.
What is planned for 2016-17?
- Induction date for this year will be Wednesday, March 22nd - It is our 14th year- and we have a great group of new inductees who will make the event unique
- Main event for this year will be a special edition fundraiser to help with the Earthquake relief effort for the towns in central eastern Italy who were almost destroyed by this summer's strong quake.
- We have settled on the evening of April 21st for our dinner event, but our members will be looking for donations from area organizations to optimize our offering. We hope many will participate!
