OPELOUSAS, La. — Every year, the Sociedad Hispanica Honoraria sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese, awards three schools from around the nation for involving both quality and quantity in their Spanish activities throughout their communities.
Opelousas High School's National Spanish Honor Society was chosen as one of the chapters.
At the end of this month, club officers and their Spanish teacher Loreto Cerna Cruz will travel to Salamanca, Spain to receive the national award for Chapter of the Year for their outstanding community efforts involving and educating others about the importance of Spanish heritage.
Along with her fellow officers, Treasurer Madison Melancon is excited to go. However, she worries about the high cost of the trip.
"As a school and as a parish we are already low-funded, we are barely getting to go and we are barely making ends meet now," said Melancon. "But for us to be able to go and not have to worry about like financial status would mean a lot. So we can enjoy the trip and get what we can out of it."
According to the honor society, making the first Spanish section in Opelousas High's library and donating bilingual books in schools across Louisiana was one of the reasons Opelousas High School won Chapter of the Year.
"We actually came up with this project to put in books that have both English and Spanish in the books," said Abigail Marks, vice-president of the club. "We brought them to other schools in Louisiana for other kids who speak Spanish or those who don't. to learn more about the Spanish language through those books."
Loreto Cerna Cruz says being awarded for their dedicated involvement in Spanish from inside and outside the classroom is a great honor.
"All the work we do during three or more years now it pays off now because we won Chapter of the Year," Cruz said. "It's amazing that I can bring all my officers and receive the award in Spain it's like a dream come true."
To find out how you can support the trip, click here.
