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PELHAM, N.Y. Proud parents and teachers packed the Pelham Memorial High School auditorium to honor the 49 students inducted into the New York State Science and Mathematics Honor Societies on Thursday night.
During Principal Jeannine Clarks opening remarks, she commended the students interest, hard work, and devotion to mathematics and science as admirable and awesome. She spoke of the future and noted that these students are ready to solve the challenges that will be presented to them.
I know that each of you will be everything youre capable of being and that everyones future will be better for it, Clark said.
The 20 Science Honor Society nominees were inducted and given their award, followed by the 13 Mathematics Honor Society nominees, and then the 16 students of both societies were honored.
In order to be inducted into the two honor societies, students must maintain an 85 average in that subject and overall, as well as 15 hours of service in that subject. They must also receive recommendations from their teachers and be voted in by the entire department.
The supervisors of both departments were overjoyed with the new inductees and their dedication to the subjects.
This is a huge, big deal, said Jessica Vitale, the mathematics supervisor. A lot of our students this year are sophomores and a couple of juniors. Last year, we actually inducted about 42 and this year, we had 29 inducted. All these students are really up-and-comers, really self-motivated, really driven.
We have a lot to celebrate, said Brian Terry, the science supervisor. Im very, very proud of our department and of course math too.
Terry said the multitude of science and math programs the students are excelling in, such as the robotics club, the Science Olympiad, the math league and the science research program. Vitale stressed how those programs and the Pelham teachers are getting the kids interested in science and math.
Blake Bell, Pelhams historian and a town council member, was there to see his son, Brett, inducted into both societies. Afterwards, he was still smiling with joy.
I was thrilled and proud like every parent in the room tonight, Bell said. To see them excel at this level, its something that just brings a sense of pride to any parent. Every parent in the room was beaming and its wonderful to watch.
Having a first-hand account of how much effort it takes to succeed in both subjects by watching his son, he praised the work ethic of the students.
The amount of work that goes into getting to any level like this is stunning, said the father. You have a short awards ceremony that lasts 15 to 20 minutes, but it really reflects the peak of the hundreds of hours of work by each student in there.
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