Proudly reciting the pledge of the French Honor Society (Société Honoraire de Français, SHF), many voices rang out from the cafeteria. On Wednesday, Feb. 26, SHF inducted this year’s new members at their annual induction ceremony. Inductees are chosen through an application process, which is based on their academic merit in French classes, level three or higher. 

The ceremony was planned by the officer team, who put in a lot of time over the past week to ensure that everything ran smoothly. 

“We started a lot earlier than I expected, just because there was no officer carryover and our sponsor was new this year, [that’s why] a lot of it was kind of like starting from the ground up,” Vice President Sabrina Kim ‘25 said. “We also got help from last year’s sponsor and we were able to find a lot of materials from last year that helped us keep it in line with what’s been happening in previous years.”

The ceremony began with an array of speeches, first from SHF sponsor Mme Sarah Le Pichon, then SHF President Awa Currier ‘25, and finally the Round Rock Independent School District (RRISD) World Language Coordinator Ms. Marie Douglass. All of the speakers touched on the benefits of second language acquisition, and the many doors that organizations like SHF open for members to become more involved in their community.

“I chose to join SHF because I’m not going to get to take a French class next year, but I still want to keep up on my French, and I still want to be a part of Westwood’s French community,” Inductee Saffron Kollodge ‘26 said. “I’m looking forward to general meetings, and getting to speak French more casually.” 

Current SHF members helped volunteer at the ceremony, performing a variety of tasks from taking photos, to setting up decorations, to serving refreshments after the ceremony. 

“[The most rewarding part of volunteering] was getting to see kind of like a younger version of me on that stage,” SHF Member Inaya Seyed Mohammed ‘26 said. “It was really cool, because I did this last year, I’m a junior now, and it was like memories flashing in my mind where I was like, ‘oh, this is different, this is the same’. It was really sweet.”

The crux of the ceremony comes when members recite the SHF pledge while holding a lit candle, which symbolizes the continual passage of knowledge down  generations. 

“I think getting inducted into an honor society like this, it’s kind of one of those first exposures to big officer roles that I think underclassmen see,” Kim said. “I think it’s really valuable to sort of see like planning these big events and having these big roles of responsibility. I think a lot of people decide future plans, or they can kind of see what’s coming for them in the future as they grow up in school and acquire more responsibility.”

After new members recited the pledge and blew out their candles, a group of SHF members and musicians played a rendition of the French national anthem, “La Marseillaise.” The four musicians had to collaborate to figure out how to best blend their different instruments to effectively perform the song. 

“We were planning on playing all together, but then we realized that Radwan [Merhebi ‘25]would have to transpose the music. We worked hard and put in a lot of effort [leading up to the performance],” Lynn Lee ‘26 said. “I think [the most rewarding part is] just playing music, because playing music is fun, always.”

At the end of the ceremony, new inductees and members alike were able to avail themselves of the refreshments provided, and get to know each other as they look forward to their new role in the organization. 

“[I hope new members get] a taste of what SHF is like, honestly,” Seyed Mohammed said. “Société Honoraire de Français is very committed to helping the community, and we’re very proud of, French in Austin, so I hope they take that away, as well as how welcoming SHF has been, and will always be.”