Spanish Honor Society

The Spanish Honor Society, la Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica (SHH), recognizes the outstanding academic achievements of high school students in Spanish and Portuguese. The Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica has a long history dating back to 1953. The American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese sponsors the Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica. 

There are over 3,500 national and international chapters of the Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica. Mrs. Cuyar is the State Director for South Carolina of the Spanish Honor Society. She has been the State Director of the Spanish Honor Society for South Carolina since 2013. 

Our chapter at Hillcrest High School was established by Mrs. Anna Cuyar in 2012 with the support of Mrs. Georgia Brown, department chairperson at the time, and Mr. Stephen A. Chamness, Hillcrest High School principal at the time. Dr. G. Bryan Skipper, Hillcrest High School principal from 2014 to 2021, and Dr. Patrick Jarrett, Hillcrest High School principal from 2021 to 2025, along with Mrs. April Reese, Hillcrest High School Interim Principal, have continued to support the Hillcrest High School chapter of the Spanish Honor Society, and their support is greatly appreciated. Two hundred and nineteen current and former Hillcrest High School students are members of the HHS chapter of the Spanish Honor Society. 

Our SHH chapter is named the Jaime Escalante Chapter, Capítulo Jaime Escalante, in honor of this winner of the Presidential Medal for Excellence and member of the National Teachers Hall of Fame, who said, “We are all concerned about the future of American education. But as I tell my students, you do not enter the future- you create the future. The future is created through hard work.” 

The requirements to apply to be a member of the Jaime Escalante chapter of the Spanish Honor Society are as follows: 

• Successful completion of Spanish  3 

• Enrollment in Spanish 4 Honors or AP Spanish Language and Culture 

• A cumulative GPA of 3.0 (80%) in all Spanish courses in high school 

• A high school GPA of 3.0 (80%) 

• Character attributes of excellence in all areas

Invitations to apply for membership in the Hillcrest High School chapter of the Spanish Honor Society are sent to all eligible students via school email or Google Classroom. Hillcrest High School students who have met the criteria for membership will be notified of their acceptance into the Spanish Honor Society. Our chapter's seventeenth induction ceremony, for the 2025-2026 academic year, will be held on Monday, September 29, 2025, from 9:15 to 10:15 a.m. in the Hillcrest High School Auditorium.