The National Spanish Honor Society (NSHS) held a ceremony to induct new members into its community on Thursday, Jan. 28.

The ceremony began with Sra. Llanos-Gremillion as well as the president of the club and other officers, presenting a speech in Spanish. Afterwards, the official inducting began.

New members received a certificate when their name was called and lit a small hand-held candle before going back to their places. Once  everyone lit their candles, students recited a promise in Spanish before blowing them out. This concluded the ceremony, marking the students as official members of NSHS.

“It’s more real-world because we go to meetings now and the meetings are in Spanish so we learn how to use it better,” newly inducted member Ritik Goyal ‘18 said. “Especially in Texas, there are a lot of people who only speak in Spanish or are mainly in the Spanish culture so being able to engage in that is probably going to be helpful.”

NSHS is an organization that allows students to extend their reaches beyond the classroom. Students have the opportunity to help out by tutoring others and also lend a hand in the local community.

“We enjoyed going to Anderson Mill and Purple Sage, all the elementary schools, and had an event with the students there who are bilingual,” Vice President Priya Ramamoorthy ‘16 said. “One that we did this year was that we made papeles picados. It’s paper and you basically cut out shapes; they’re Spanish snowflakes.”

However, NSHS’s help isn’t confined to the city of Austin.

“We also help internationally because sometimes we will send dental hygiene products for example to Peru,” Sra. Llanos-Gremillion said. “We try to keep it not only local but also international.”

NSHS has not only allowed for students to help serve the global community, but it has also become a home for many students wanting to delve deeper into the Spanish culture.

“It’s just a really fun organization to be a part of, we’re all super nice, and it’s like this community that you get to be a part of inside of Westwood,” President Kavya Ramamoorthy ‘16 said. “It’s the best thing I did all three years.”