Note from the President

The Courage to Change

Pandemic, COVID-19, social distancing, quarantine, masks, and antiseptics are the common buzz words around us these days. New words added to our daily vocabulary as we grapple to cope with the unknown. These are not just words however, they represent experiences to each one of us that evoke emotions; anxiety, fear, frustration, insecurity, self-doubt, uncertainty for the course of humanity. It is true that we are creatures of habit; we seek the familiar, the predictable, the status quo. Change, while intellectually desirable, is scary and unpredictable therefore, we often reject it before we experience its benefits. Only when change is thrust upon us, do our coping mechanisms kick in acutely, instinctively, and without thought. So, while we are creatures of habit, we are also fabulously creative individuals who seek solutions.

We don’t and perhaps never will have all the answers,mainly because the questions form as we move forwardand as the situation develops.

But, what we can do is provide the most optimal conditionsfor each individual’s creative energy to takeform, we can unite with the creative energy of others,build momentum, and eventually move mountains.

When change is thrust upon us, the first reaction is shock, numbness, and denial that this really isn’t happening. This is a coping mechanism that is fueled initially to protect us from ‘too much, too soon’; too much information, too much unknown, too much fear.

As we move away from denial to understanding the seriousness of the situation, people experience a ‘fight or flight’ reaction, a natural reaction that allows us to either run away from danger or to face up and fight. Thus as our brains and bodies take time to adjust to the change, adrenalin helps us develop solution-oriented behaviors. When solutions are not in sight and “fight or flight” mode is not possible, the stress lingers, and the fear resonates within, allowing our creative imagination to run away with the worst possible scenarios.

The more we focus on these scenarios, the more anxiety and fear grow until it all becomes a vicious cycle without relief in sight. Potentially our bodies react with emotional and physical symptoms; headaches, stomach aches, skin problems, sleep disorders, and much worse.

Fear is mostly a limitation, but it can also be amotivator. When we stay within the fear, werepetitively discuss it, dwell on it, find otherswho feel the same, and share our misery; allvery normal human reactions.

Staying with the fear, however, allows thefear to perpetuate, fogging our ability tothink and find solutions, clouding our judgment,and making us “comfortable” withinmiserable situations. Escape from this situationtakes courage.

It takes courage to change the vicious cycle offear and to focus on what works rather thanon what doesn’t, to fixate on pockets of lightrather than on the darkness, to center onsolution-oriented conversations rather thanon what isn’t working.

Finding the courage to break this vicious cyclerequires intentionality. We need to intentionallychange our internal dialogue and the dialoguebetween us. Staying in the fear is easy;it’s a normal but not a natural response to theunknown.

In the end, when fear consumes us, we suffer,and those we love suffer. Intentionally movingout of the fear builds resilience, produces collaborativeintentions, and develops a robust psychologicalimmune system.

Recognizing the necessity, under the circumstances, to pivot and change and nullify the vicious cycle of fear, the entire ACS Athens community moved through losses, successfully navigated the unknowns of the pandemic, and transitioned from face to face teaching/learning to virtual classes.

For many, this would be “good enough” as the expectations in light of the unknown were minimal. Excellence, however, is intentional at ACS Athens, and during the pandemic, there were endless activities, creative energies, and impact-producing strategies taking place in front and behind the scenes. We felt the fear and went on with things anyway, role modeling for our students’ mindsets and reactions that ultimately could become useful in their life experience.

S​o, despite the losses, the COVID-19, the pandemic, challenges with Moodle and the BBB, the uncertainty with canceled exams, the turmoil with IB grading, we were fully present as an institution with stronger academic programs, innovation, partnerships, activities, and events that united us as a community. In fact, coming together as a community is a strength that came to the forefront during these challenging times, and just in case you missed some of the ACS Athens stories, below are some things that took place during this past academic year.

2019-2020- At ACS Athens, when change was thrust upon us, we found the courage to change:

Prior to lockdown:

Our Boys Varsity Soccer team finished 3rd place at the ISST tournament. We got 2nd place at the SCIS Middle School Boys swimming and 3rd place at the SCIS High School Girls Swimming. Our Boys Varsity Basketball got 1st place and our Girls Varsity Basketball got 2nd place in the International Youth Tournament

The Incubator of Students Creative Ideas co-hosted Innovation Summit in the American Farm School in October and hosted the Third Annual Innovation Summit in February.

After the March 6, 2020 lockdown:

The entire school went to online teaching in one night with a well-designed program for synchronous and asynchronous learning (MS & HS)]; Moodle and the BBB became the new classroom as well as student’s rooms; the Elementary School developed four phases of online teaching despite having very limited experience with the modality; Our IB teachers

offered additional online sessions while the Elementary teachers worked hard to engage the little ones; all counseling, guidance & psychological support services became virtual which included the Optimal Learning Program, the Mindfulness initiatives, and other services.

While on lockdown, academic assessments were being conducted online; all meetings of faculty, department, parents, students, administrators went online; the school systematically sought input through weekly surveys from students and faculty and used it to fine-tune daily practices; monthly surveys were sent to parents for their feedback; the President was communicating continuously with the Middle States Association and with other Heads of International Schools; all IB classes continued despite canceled exams by the IBO; the Academy culminating projects reflected and connected learning to COVID-19 and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) that the school has adopted schoolwide.

The ACS Athens Virtual courses (www.acs.gr/virtual) strengthened the learning platforms of the school. Courses included topics in American Studies, English Language & Literature, Art, and Humanities.

Regarding schoolwide Citizenship, attendance was taken daily, citizenship issues were addressed, and there was communication with parents virtually; Service projects that continued included the ΚΟΙΝΩΝΟΣ (Kinonos) solidarity project supporting the homeless of Athens; student-initiated innovative project manufacturing 3D printed face shields for use by the front-line health responders; Youth-to-Youth education program for unattended children refugees continued online, as was the shoe recycling project.

The March lockdown caused the school’s Crisis Management Team to go to overdrive, in order to provide needed guidance to the whole community. The team also created the “Return to School - COVID-19 handbook,” a manual for the restarting of campus-based operations in May. During the lockdown, the school team of psychologists produced the manual for coping with COVID-19 effects on adults and students, addressing issues of mental wellness.

The school capitalized on its collaboration with the US Embassy Regional Security Office, local and international epidemiologists and doctors, and the local chief of Police for necessary consultation and guidance. The Health Office personnel made appropriate preparations for safety and interventions if needed.

During the lockdown, there was ample opportunity to develop and implement innovative initiatives, such as the Artificial Intelligence project and curriculum enrichment that continues since.

Two very successful strategic planning meetings were conducted with over 80 participants from the entire community.

Through productive discussions, ACS Athens man-

aged to secure a first time ever University credit for ACS Athens students through Widener University in its Leadership Studies program and received one scholarship. 14 after school courses kept running for our students, faculty, parents, including AP® and IB® Test Prep sessions.

In the Learning Commons, the ACS Athens Library resources became available online, accessible 24/7, covering all subjects taught in the school and more. The Learning Commons team created a magazine Library comprised of interactive publications; it redesigned the Library Resources Moodle Shell and turned it into a research database with reliable academic sources; in-class collaborations began with senior academic advisory classes in order to prepare students for their research and writing assignments in the IB program; summer programs began IB Prep & Revision courses; non-native English speakers were offered special ELA program for the summer; the collaboration between the Library and the Writing Studio was strengthened; the Library reorganized its printed collection and compiled a Greek book section for the printed as well as the virtual library collections. A number of free subscriptions for international newspapers were made available to our community, and the number of people accessing the Library Moodle shell has dramatically increased. Our Librarian received an invitation as a speaker to the International Follett Workshop, to show the work done by the ACS Library in creating and managing online resources, ebooks, and collections.

A visual arts exhibition was held, and students from the Incubator of Students Creative Ideas participated in a virtual coding summit during the Pandemic lockdown. Finally, the junior and senior advisory classes transitioned smoothly to an online environment.

Media creativity flourished with over 350 media projects produced during the lockdown. We entered two media competitions for the first time. A production portfolio was created to support an applicant for his college application; our News Club produced a Virtual News Broadcast; the Annual Truman Trial was produced online by the 10th graders. Green screen studio techniques were included in an online guide for home use by students and faculty, and a new eBook on animation production methods was created. Finally, media productions included a new “Knowledge Series” with video interviews of experts and VIP’s sharing their experiences and expertise with our community.

Publishing of papers and articles did not cease during the lockdown, on topics including the Leadership of Online Schools (Pelonis/Giampapa); Psychological effects of COVID-19 (Pelonis/Kouyoumtzoglou); Professional Development (Pelonis); Online Teaching (Moros/Avgerinou & Tokatlidou/Avgerinou); Artificial Intelligence (Karampelas); and publishing the International Schools Journal and the Lancers Illustrated athletics magazine.

Finally, our community was involved as presenters

and attendees in a large number of webinars, the preeminent platform for conferences of our time. Among them, Dr. Pelonis presented to Heads of Schools of NESA (Near East South Asia), NAIS (National Association of Independent Schools), AISH (Academy for International School Heads), MAIS (Mediterranean Association for International Schools). She was a speaker and moderator at the IDEAGEN’s EU Global Goals Summit “the 17 Sustainable Goals Summit,” and at the Expert Series on Leadership, while she included on the annual “Who is Who in Women Leadership” publication. Annie Constantinides (Athletic Director) presented a webinar to a worldwide group of Athletic Directors and Dr. Andreas Tsokos (IB/AP Coordinator) presented a webinar on “How to succeed in the IB program.”

Preparing to re-open

A Crisis Response Team was formed by the School Administration, the Health Officers, and the Maintenance crew. The school received a grant from the U.S. State Department for needed products; accepted a large number of masks donated by the Chinese Embassy and pharmaceutical products by AbbVie Pharmaceuticals totaling in value 8,000€.

…And we came back! With a smile!!!

A number of virtual events were held, including the highly anticipated Middle School and Academy Athletics Awards (1000+ views) and the Middle School Graduation and Academy Commencement ceremonies (found in the ACS Athens YouTube channel) with over 3000 views in the first weekend and growing. Celebrations continued with the Elementary School and 5th Grade Step-Up days.

The Institute of ACS Athens has developed 5 Academies with unique and innovative programs intended for the school community and the wider international community. An exclusive partnership was initiated with Widener University of Chester, PA, where four of our faculty will be Adjunct Professors to co-teach in an Educational Leadership Ph.D program. Another partnership has brought to fruition with Chapman University of Orange County, CA, that offers courses at ACS Athens for the University’s graduate students.

Through these trying times, ACS Athens has managed to reach another record enrollment season with integrity, by utilizing online resources for meeting with prospective students and their families, online testing and assessment K thru 12.

Not even COVID-19 could curtail the laughter and joy that we witnessed when children came back to school.

It is so interesting to note how the world has changed; there were times when children wished school would close, even for a day, so that they could enjoy the comfort and freedom of home.

Today, children wear their masks without question, adhere to the social distancing rule, cleanse their hands frequently, all with the silent hope that school remains open lest they experience the isolation of a lockdown again.

How the world is changing… and we? We must change and pivot and turn to meet the demands while developing resilience.

ACS Athens; not the walls and the buildings and the classrooms but the teachers, the staff, the administrators; is alive with laughter, yes laughter, even during these uncertain times because we have the courage to change.