ETHOS Vol. 3 No.2 - Spring 2009

Spring 2009 ñ Volume 3 ñ Issue 2

Special Events Enrich the Middle School Educational Experience Community Connections: A New Section to Highlight Civic Responsibility Mathematics: from JK Touchmath to the Math Olympiads to AP Calculus Learning Through Play: Classroom Simulations, Pi Day Pizzazz, and more…

Alumni Affairs ñ Professional Development ñ Community Connections ñ Special Events ñ Snapshots of Student Life

Undergraduate Programs Graduate Programs Bachelor of Arts in English Language and Literature (BAELL)

Students in English Language and Literature will acquire in-depth knowledge of the English language, including its grammar and syntax, as well as the social and cognitive aspects of language usage.

Bachelor of Music (BM)

A professional music degree, it balances the academic study of music through courses in music theory and music history with rigorous technical training in music performance.

Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (BSBA)

PhD in Applied Linguistics

The Program is intended for a broad range of working professionals in a variety of occupational fields, but is specifically designed for practitioners who work in the Teaching of English to Speakers of other Languages (TESOL), English language testing or translation/ interpretation (with English as the source or target language).

Professional Master of Business Administration (PMBA)

The Professional MBA is designed to address the educational and career needs of individuals with five or more years of business experience. It aims to promote career mobility, flexibility and multi-functionality.

Students in Business Administration will acquire a general understanding of a wide range of information about business and competencies in business practices as well as specialized knowledge about their area of concentration (optional).

0DVWHU RI %XVLQHVV $GPLQLVWUDWLRQ

Bachelor of Science in Information Technology (BSIT)

The Master of Science in Information Technology is a graduate education program designed to develop exceptional IT specialists who are recognized for their high level technological expertise,creative and inventive thinking and professional competencies.

A competency-based program, which provides students with all the necessary credentials to deal with traditional business technologies and evolving multimedia-related technologies and services.

Bachelor of Science in Psychology (BSPsy)

The undergraduate program in Psychology combines perspectives from the social and the natural sciences to gain an understanding of human behavior and provides the option to students to focus on their particular area of interest.

Associate of Science in Enterprise Network Administration (ASENA)

Students in Enterprise Network Administration will acquire the technical skills necessary to install, configure, operate and maintain a network.

The MBA program is designed to address the student’s desire for practical knowledge, a promising career path and personal development.

Master of Science in Information Technology (MSIT)

Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics (MAAL)

The program provides participants who have a professional interest in language with a valuable opportunity to familiarize themselves with the latest developments in the field of Applied Linguistics. It offers them rigorous training in the application of linguistic principles in the areas of ELT pedagogy and translation.

Master of Arts in Translation (MAT)

The program addresses the intellectual, technical, managerial and personal challenges confronting translators. It is the only program in Europe that fully complies with the European Commission’s guidelines.

ZZZ KDX HGX JU HEADQUARTERS: 36 Salmon St., Manchester, NH 03104, USA, Tel.: 603 645 1800 ATHENS CAMPUS: 12 Kaplanon St., 106 80 Athens, (Metro station: Panepistimio), Tel.: +30 210 368 0950 Fax: +30 210 363 3174, e-mail: university@hau.gr Hellenic American University admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, religion, physical disability, or veteran status to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the University. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, religion, physical disability, or veteran status in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic or other school-administered programs.

STUDENT SERVICES • Faculty Mentoring / Academic Advising • Library & Information Resources • Writing Center • Health Services • The Career Development Program • Financial aid

ALUMNI SUPPORT & ASSOCIATION The University supports the Alumni Association efforts. Membership in the Alumni Association provides graduates with a to the Hellenic American University. The Association is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors and maintains an office on the Hellenic American University premises.

Soon, alumni will have their own link, with exclusive access, on the Hellenic American University website. Membership in the Alumni Association gives graduates the opportunity to , to make contacts that will help them professionally, and to participate in special activities and events.

connection

lifelong

exchange ideas and share experiences

Our Mission ACS Athens is an international school, embracing American educational philosophy, principles and values.

ACS Athens provides a student-centered environment where individuals excel academically and develop intellectually, socially and ethically to thrive as healthy, responsible members of global society.

Publisher: ACS Athens. Editor-in-Chief: Marca A. Daley. Production team: John Papadakis, Marianna Savvas, Stacy Filippou.

Contributors: ACS Athens Faculty, Staff, Students, Parents and Alumni. Art Direction, Design & Printing: Multimedia SA. Cover Design & Concept: Dot Repro SA. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine (text or images) may be reproduced without the consent of the publisher.

3

Ethos: n.Greek: ethos: nature, disposition. The characteristic spirit of a culture, era, community, institution, etc., as manifested in its attitudes, aspirations, customs, etc; the character of an individual as represented by his or her values and beliefs; the prevalent tone of a literary work in this respect.

L E T T E R S

Letter from the Editor I am almost finished with the final editing of this issue of the Ethos, and as I review each section and page, it occurs to me that perhaps you, our readers, would like to learn a little of the process involved in putting together this final product.

Process is an educational concept that is second nature to many of us here at ACS, especially those of us who were fortunate enough to have been involved in the Athens Writing Project, an ‘offshoot’ of the National Writing Project out of California, which flourished on our campus in the ‘80’s and ‘90’s. The writing process focuses on writing to learn and not, as one might expect, on learning to write; and it most often includes the basic strategies of brainstorming ideas, getting thoughts down on paper, forming the thoughts into a coherent structure, and then revising and fine-tuning to come up with a polished piece of writing. So it is with the Ethos.

The first challenge for a new issue is to come up with a theme, one that is easily accessible and adaptable for teachers from elementary to high school. I am always on the lookout for themes, and in my day-to-day interactions with colleagues I ‘file away’ for future use any ideas that might arise from our conversations. The theme of this issue, Educational Enrichment, resulted from several conversations with colleagues on the Academy 2nd floor: conversations about the Humanities, MUN, and Forensics trips; about classroom simulations, the Blue and Gold newspaper and the US elections. As we discussed the ways in which we attempt to engage and motivate our students, both within the classroom and without, I realized that all of our activities are an effort to enrich our students’ educational experiences. Yet in our endeavors to enrich their lives, we most often discover that they enrich our own; and this is when I realized that we had our theme.

A Call for Articles went out at the end of January and by mid-February responses from colleagues JK-12 had already provided me with a sense of

the scope of this spring issue. It wasn’t quite what I had imagined or expected, but that is the joy of process learning – as in the writing process, when we never know where the writing will take us; so it is with the Ethos; I never know where the articles will take me, or how they will come together as a whole.

Many of the articles herein focus on enriching experiences for our students, but it just so happens that they also reflect the school-wide commitment to our accreditation goals: namely, improving quantitative reasoning, mathematical problem solving and computational skills; improving student writing; and improving civic responsibility. This is not surprising since our accreditation goals arose directly from our concerns as a community of educators, parents and students; and our concerns as educators are what determine how we approach our teaching. Teachers write about what is significant to their and their students’ learning. Once I had most of the articles, it was quite easy to ‘arrange’ them within sections in a fairly natural progression.

The second major challenge is finding photos to illustrate the ideas presented through the articles. Photographs for print media must be of high quality and must be ‘composed.’ By this I mean that the photos should be focused, but should also have a clear context. Actually, dealing with photos is one of the most time-consuming aspects of the process. Luckily, many of our faculty and students take excellent pictures of the activities they engage in, but if we need further photos, my trusty Olympus always comes in handy.

On my part, it takes a few weeks to finalize the preliminary texts and photos, and they are then passed on to the publishing company where they are transformed into pages of the magazine. Next comes the painstaking attention to detail as each article is scrutinized to insure that it is not only accurately represented but aesthetically pleasing, too. Emails and phone calls fly back and forth as the work of ‘web-proofing’ reaches its culmination with the final placement of regular features, ads, and sections. This week I learned a new Greek word from one of the many emails from our publisher: ÈÂÛÙ‹ÚÈÔ, which I believe translates to press as in, “we are going to press.” It struck me as a particularly appropriate word, since the pressure of producing this magazine always seems to increase exponentially the closer we get to that final approval when we ‘sign off’ on the draft and say, “Yes, it’s now ready for publication.” The process is at an end and the finished product is about to be realized.

Here, then, is the product of our efforts this spring. I hope you enjoy reading the articles, all of which focus on the incredibly rich educational experiences your children enjoy here at ACS; and I am certain that in doing so, your own appreciation of your children’s learning will be enriched as well.

4

Enrichment n. the act of enriching

Marca A. Daley, Editor

Q & A with the President Q: Dr. Gialamas, the theme of this spring issue of the Ethos is 'educational enrichment' and most of the articles in it focus on how we educators try to enrich our students' educational experience, in our classrooms and through our co-curricular activities. My question for you turns the tables, so to speak. In your career, ACS Athens is your first non-university educational experience. Would you please discuss how the past three years here at ACS Athens, a JK-12 institution, have enriched your educational experience? Thank you.

A: In college my educational focus was to the best of my ability to become a mathematician in some specific area of mathematics. Thus, my undergraduate degree was in Mathematics, my first Master’s in Statistics, my second in Applied Mathematics, and my PhD in Topology and in Particular Knot Theory. I would call such a specific educational experience targeted knowledge.

I began my career at a university in Kansas as a professor of mathematics conducting research in Knot Theory who also had to teach a few courses to draw a salary. In fact, I called myself not a mathematician, but a knot theorist. My view of education was well-defined and precise: to become expert in one area regardless of how esoteric that was. I believed that intelligent individuals should focus on a specific discipline and a specific area or concept of this discipline. The ones who could not succeed in this educational approach could become generalists.

When I became the chair, and later the dean, at a college with a focus in Media Communication and Art, my educational philosophy slowly was changing. I started to believe in cross discipline learning, and in multidimensional teaching and learning. I learned that expressing the understanding of difficult concepts could be in a creative way; for example, the understanding of a difficult mathematics concept could be expressed via poetry, a painting, an exam, a song, etc. Being provost of a university further changed my philosophy to embrace differences between

disciplines, as promoting diverse teaching and learning methodologies based on student discipline.

In the past three years at ACS Athens, I have experienced a 180-degree change from my first professional educational experience in 1983. I have witnessed the beauty of shaping not only the minds of young people but also establishing their principles and values which will guide them in life.

I believe that I am "like a small kid in a candy store." Every day I discover the beauty of educating not only young people but also myself. Every day brings a new learning opportunity, whether it is watching a JK student express her love for writing or a high school student her love for dance or mathematics.

ACS Athens has helped me to get in love with the concept of a sustainable holistic, meaningful and harmonious education which the ancient Greeks called ªfiÚʈÛË. Every day I have the privilege to see young faces who are excited about different ideas, committed to a variety of ideas and projects, or who have different talents. I am learning to embrace their dreams and to enjoy their accomplishments in whatever area they choose to devote themselves.

In conclusion, I say that not only my educational experience has been enhanced but my entire life, and now I am enjoying every aspect of universal learning.

Stefanos Gialamas, Ph.D. President 5

Enrich v. to make better, to add greater value or significance to, to enhance, to improve

Table of Contents FEATURE ARTICLES 12th Anti-Drug Awareness Week & Basketball Tournament Reflections on the Anti-Drug Week in the Elementary School Wellness Classroom Simulations - Learning through ‘Play’ Pi Day Pizzazz in the Middle School Enhancing the Curriculum through Technology COVER STORY Special Events Enrich the Middle School Educational Experience OTHER ARTICLES ES Math Olympiads – Beyond the Curriculum Touching the Future: Touchmath AP Revealed Middle School Math Competitions: The AMC 8 & Math Olympiads Collaboration: ACS Athens and Lycee Charles de Gaulle, Paris Mistras: A Reflection Internship in the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Learning Center Help Your Child Learn To Find and Use His Singing Voice Principal’s Page: The Academy The Parent Teacher Organization COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS ACS Athens Middle School supports the Village Project RISCing across the United States Going for the Gold: Adopt an Animal Project at Attika Zoo Dr. Stefanos Gialamas, Commencement Speaker at Mediterranean College: Athens, Greece ACS Athens’ 9th & 10th Graders Honor Special Olympics Athletes Tenth Graders Paint an Art Mural in Support of Youth with Neuromuscular Disorders An Inaugural Celebration SHORT SUBJECTS Unity Has No Color ACS Athens Middle School Students Compete on the Courts The Middle School Math Bowl: A Unique Way to Enjoy Mathematics Library Trash Recycled: Middle School Book Box Sculpture Middle School Radio Production Club Notes from the Music Department What’s New in IT? What’s New in AV? Admiring the Past... Moving Forward to the Future What’s New in PE? Early Childhood Swimming Program PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SPECIAL EVENTS November 2008: On-the-Spot Art Contest December 2008: Good Person of Szechwan January 2009: 13th Annual Golden Wreath Awards Model United Nations: Georgetown, Qatar Model United Nations: The Hague The Obama Letter Project ACS Athens Gala 2009: Celebrating a New Era February 2009: World Debates March 2009: ISST Basketball Champions Pan-Hellenic Forensics Tournament ES Greek Independence Day Celebration Snapshots of Student Life Alumni Section

Annie Constantinides Alessandra Sax-Lane Helen Liakos David Nelson Sue Protopsaltis Helen Sarantes

8 9 10 11 14 15

Rannelle McCoy

16

Colin Levitt Irene Soteres Anastasios Nalmpantis Sue Protopsaltis Tonia Firigou Alexander Klingert Christiana Perakis William Ghormley Brian M. Kelly Marca Daley

19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 29

Rannelle McCoy Stefanos Gialamas & Peggy Pelonis Sue Protopsaltis

30 31 33 36

Ellen Vriniotis

37

Ellen Vriniotis Marca Daley

37 38

Miah Confer, Stavroula Salouros, William Ghormley Monica Madias Sue Protopsaltis Jeff Bear Katerina Chotzoglou Athina Mitsopoulou Mary Manos Jim Koulyras Annie Constantinides

39 40 40 41 41 42 42 44 44 45

Miah Confer Nefeli Tsipouridis Marca Daley Angelique Coulouris Olympia Filippeli Rannelle McCoy Lilly Dimas Steve Medeiros Annie Constantinides Marca Daley Irene Rovoli, Anastasia Papageorgiou, Venie Gaki

47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 60

Marianna Savvas

7

F E AT U R E D

12th Anti-Drug Awareness Week & Basketball Tournament

Elementary School Students Say No to Drugs ACS Athens is a strong advocate of civic responsibility – that is a known fact. The month of February is when it all happens for substance abuse education and awareness – all the students, faculty and pretty much the entire ACS Athens community are involved in an Anti–Drug Awareness week when a number of educational, artistic and athletic events take place.

This year, the week of February 9th-15th began with a series of seminars, lectures and visits from specialists and non-governmental organizations; their audiences included students from the elementary, middle and high schools, faculty members and parents. In particular, representatives from the organization NIFALIOI met with middle school and high school students as well as parents and faculty/staff members, while representatives from the DEA office joined us to speak to our elementary school children and parents as well (see related articles in this issue).

Annie Constantinides Athletic Director

Players and Mascots of the Celebrity Game bilitation) joined our teams in a friendly exhibition game.

The teams that participated in the basketball tournament included: Anatolia College (boys and girls), the under-16 Youth Selection Team from the National Greek Basketball Federation (girls), St. Catherine’s (girls), Tositsio School (boys), Arsakio School (boys) and the ACS Athens boys and girls varsity teams. There was great basketball played through the week-end and all teams showed a great deal of sportsmanship. The final games were very exciting indeed – the girls lost by one point to the Youth Selection Team and after an exciting game, the boys, as well, lost by one point to Anatolia College.

In addition, an art contest with the involvement of some elementary and middle school students took place in an effort to express in an artistic way the message of "Say NO to drugs – make healthy choices."

The highlight of the weekend, once again, was the annual Celebrity Game that took place between the boys and girls final games. In a gymnasium filled with spectators, a number of celebrities joined us to support our message of saying no to drugs! Politicians, ambassadors, TV personalities, professional athletes, journalists, professional team mascots and others played a fun game with one goal – to join the ACS Athens community in celebrating LIFE and making the right choices!

Finally, the "tip-off" game of the Annual Boys and Girls Anti-Drug Basketball tournament took place on Friday afternoon when a team of young adolescents from KETHEA (a state organization center devoted to help youngsters in reha-

Many thanks to all the participants: the students, ACS Athens staff, Booster Parents, PTO, the administration, our guest speakers, all the athletes and coaches, the celebrities, the media and our sponsors for making this event possible every year.

8

Celebrate LIFE - Make the Right Choices!

Reflections on the Anti-Drug Week in the Elementary School After completing another year of teaching the students about being healthy and safe (Say No to Drugs and Yes to Healthy Choices) it has been a wonderful experience to observe through the hands-on sessions with the students, how much knowledge they have gained and internalized from previous years. This is even apparent in the Junior Kindergarten and Kindergarten classes, as the students are able to identify safe from unsafe household and school objects, decide who can give one medicine, and know not to talk to strangers or take food, drinks or candy from them.

After participating in discussions on cigarette smoking and alcohol, the 1st, 2nd and 3rd graders shared personal experiences about loving a close relative who became sick or passed away due to the effects of cigarette smoking.

Students in these grades also experienced a simulation on drunk driving. A student is spun around 10-15 times (in my care) while wearing dark sunglasses smothered with Vaseline (to block-out vision capacities) and is asked to walk in a straight line. Although the students have fun with this activity, the

Alessandra Sax-Lane ES Counselor

follow-up discussion pertains to the effects of alcohol drinking on the central nervous system, and the experience reaches them and stays with them year after year.

Students from the 4th and 5th grades participate in discussions on the five major categories of drugs: stimulants, depressants, hallucinogens, narcotics and inhalants (Englehart). They also ‘experience’ peer pressure through various roleplaying activities. Students are able to experience the roles of the one pressuring, the one being pressured and the one who says "No." Beyond the classroom, individual students worked at home on educational packets with their parents, confirming the active role of the parent throughout the learning process. Lastly, all students created individual declarations or pledges on being safe and making healthy choices in life. These declarations / pledges were created by dipping their small but wise hands into an assortment of colored paints and then by placing them on a white sheet with their fellow classmates and teachers. The students really enjoyed this activity, as it was not only an individual experience for the student, but shared by each grade level and one that in the end, connected the entire elementary school. Our school shined with bright beautiful colors of the students’ healthy pledges!

In closing, my optimal goal for all students in the Elementary School (JK-5) during the anti-drug week, is to pass on real life knowledge and experiences from a holistic point of view. What do I mean by this? I mean that every child, through the interactions he/she has in his/her social environment, gains an understanding that he/she is developing and becoming his/her own person by integrating the fundamental aspects of health. Being healthy includes: physical health, intellectual health, emotional health and social health (Telljohann et al). By being able to integrate these aspects of health, children (our students) are able to function effectively and productively in a variety of personal and social situations, as members of a global society. I am truly proud of each and every elementary school student’s growth and progress. Keep up the good work!

References

The healthy pledges of student hands

Englehart, D. Health, Hygiene and Nutrition. Grand Rapids, MI: Frank Schaffer Publications, 2005.

Telljohann, S.K., C.W. Symons, and B. Pateman. Health Education. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2007.

9

Being healthy includes physical, intellectual, emotional and social health.

F E AT U R E D

Wellness

Helen Liakos JK-12 Counseling Psychologist

Since 1995, ACS Athens has developed and refined an Anti-Drug Substance Awareness Program, alongside the basic ACS curriculum. The message is clear: We do not need Drugs.

People are exposed to powerful influences throughout their lives, so it is with our youth. Are there ways to motivate a person to make healthy choices? Again this year a variety of developmentally appropriate experiences were presented to the entire ACS Athens community. As the week Feb.9-15 developed, all constituents were exposed to vital information, activities, instructive discussions and personal accounts that encourage the responsible decision to be healthy. A highlight this year was eternalizing every student’s handprint on a banner as a visual declaration to be healthy.

In the Elementary School our own counselor, Alessandra Sax-Lane, was the key speaker for students in JK-5. A poster contest, classroom activities and ACS Lancer bracelets bound students to the central idea of uniting for a healthy life and against unhealthy practices. A professional athlete talked about the life of an athlete and leading a healthy life.

In the Middle School, the Drug Enforcement Agency and Nifalioi (Sobriety) speakers mesmerized their audience with two sides of the Awareness program. On the one hand, they provided information and resources; and on the other they explained the consequences of making the choice to use drugs. The Pin-wheels for Inner Peace activity gave students a chance to join hands to send the message to promote inner peace and well-being. These pinwheels will be shared across the world next September 21 st, International Day of Peace.

Updated research information, activities and brochures were provided by our library services. Student Services set up stations in the libraries, and main offices of each school building and web classes created sites for students to find current information about substance abuse.

The High School experienced DEA and Nifalioi personal accounts of their experiences and informative discussions as a background for discussions in classes, and as well, received answers to their many questions about the dangers of drugs and drug abuse.

Finally the Basketball Tournament, which is actually the first and earliest form of our Drug awareness program, was held over that weekend with students playing with enthusiasm for the cause which was to remind people of the beauties of being healthy and athletic.

Parents had a very informative meeting with the DEA in which they had time to ask the myriad questions that parents have in the 21st century about the dangers of substance abuse in our lives and about how to keep their children safe.

Teachers dealt with the themes in their classrooms according to their teaching subject. They also had the opportunity to talk with the DEA about their work to ensure safety against drugs.

Ms. Sax-Lane with JK students

An assembly was held on March 11th to bring all constituents together for an appreciation of their efforts. A photograph album is available as a legacy to the day; along with a tape of the melodic middle school voices with their guitar singing, Yes, I say no to Drugs.

10

Yes, I Say No to Drugs.

Classroom Simulations - Learning through ‘Play’

David Nelson Social Studies & Arts Department Chair

With nineteen years of high school teaching experience, I have devised many ways for students to simulate key concepts of study through role-playing simulations.

Take for example the American political system and the process by which a Bill becomes a Law. Involving students directly in the process, they role play key leaders from one of the three American branches of government. After careful preparation, the students create legislation and debate its implications based on the roles they have been assigned. The classroom transforms into the Senate Chambers, the Halls of Justice, and the White House, all carefully arranged in a triangle so that students experience the "checks and balances" as their own proposals go through the legislative process. When students role-play, they lose themselves within the activity, they challenge their minds to create, they learn to work with one another, and all the time, they learn through the process.

Simulations enhance the units of my American Studies classes and are carefully placed to assist students in building a better understanding of the themes therein. These game simulations are far from "play time," but rather are carefully planned activities. My personal rules to lesson planning apply, each grounded in pedagogical research: students must be presented with essential background knowledge, they must follow clearly defined parameters for each simulation, and they must be guided through a debriefing to explore further what they have experienced. I borrow a definition from the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory that I was introduced to when working in the Hillsboro School District, in Oregon in the 1990s: "In simulations, no one "wins" and participants role-play experiences that result in their character suffering or bene-

Assembly Line Simulation and Beach Ball Mapping fiting from decisions and actions. Simulations are multi-modal and non-linear, branching into scenarios based on user choices. Finally, simulations are structured by authentic rules and mirror actual results." 1 By applying these teaching strategies, I see the benefits that have also been confirmed in educational research. Providing students the opportunity to visualize and model, teachers improve understanding. "Simulations enhance this potential by making modeling dynamic. Games and modeling activities can elicit curiosity, create a demand for knowledge, and enable students to discover knowledge through exploration."2 Perhaps one of the most popular simulations of the year is the Truman Trial, during which students examine key decisions that ended World War II, but also plunged the world into the atomic age. The honors Combo class is divided into the prosecution team and the defense team, with each student taking a specific role in this mock trial of President Truman for crimes against humanity. As they approach the witness stand, the characters carefully present their evidence that they recovered through primary sources from the 1930s and 1940s. The attorneys of the opposing side skillfully work to put holes in the witnesses’ testimonies by crafting a case that presents reasonable doubt. By the end of the five-hour trial, the student jury deliberates and decides Truman’s fate. Over the past six years, he has been found guilty an equal number of times as innocent; each jury persuaded by different characters, the lawyers’ overall case, or the persuasive use of the evidence that was uncovered. My teaching partner Mr. Papatassos, a specialist in American Literature, and I are facilitators of the process, witnessing higher order thinking, problem solving, and team-work. All the while, students are 11

Simulations are multi-modal and non-linear, branching into scenarios based on user choices.

▼

As a child who grew up when Atari maxed out at 16 kilobytes of memory and cell phones had not yet been perfected in something less than a 5-pound model, I remember most what it truly felt like to play. I was reminded a few months ago when watching my sixyear old niece devour the same bag of Legos I had also used at her age. Lost in the activity of building, she assembled once imaginary figures before our eyes. Her creations surely weren’t art in and of themselves, but for me, the process through which she created constituted the art of teaching at one of its most basic levels. When students are invited to "play" through carefully crafted simulations, they inductively discover the themes and concepts that are integral to their studies. In my American Studies classes at all levels, I utilize this fundamental concept of learning by using games and simulations in each unit in order to diversify instruction, increase interest, and amplify understanding.

F E AT U R E D

A view of the Truman Trial from the audience motivated by the role playing, the competition, and an outcome that is not predetermined by history.

In our study of the economic boom of the Roaring 20s in America, I have used several simulations as well. This year, students in my standard American Studies class produced simple origami designs: half of the class produced them independently, while the other half used an assembly line model similar to one created by Henry Ford at the turn of the century. After only fifteen minutes of "building," students quickly saw the benefits of the Ford’s new model: efficiency, profit, ease of training, interchangeable parts, and mass production. When each side of the class received its "pay" and extrapolated the long term profits, the lesson’s implications were immediately clear and students understood the transformational designs that America had created.

I also use simulations when we contrast the materialistic benefits of the 1920s with the realities of the 1930’s Great Depression. When it comes to explaining the complex and abstract economic causes of the Great Depression, teachers are often confronted by blank stares from their students. Instead, I begin by organizing the class into separate families from different economic levels, who lived in the 1920s. In the simulation the families are confronted with decisions to buy a new home and car. They borrow money from the "Bank of Combo" to fund their mortgage and to buy stocks in Ford Motor Company, hoping to make enough profit to pay-off the margin. Over the two-day simulation, students buy and sell stocks, dodge incidents that make them mimic the computer as it shouts "oh no!" and decide when to buy and sell stocks. As a mirror of American history, many of the families fall victim to "Black Monday" and lose everything that they had valued. The wealthier family is sheltered from the incident, while the other students are confronted with survival. Tenth grader Katarina Richter-Lunn 12

commented after this year’s simulation: "It really opened my eyes to the process of the stock market. It got me so interested that now I go online to find out the news on the stock market." Alexander "TH" Thomopulos wrote that the game showed him "the addictiveness of the stock market…and how much perception and belief of value can change things so drastically." For Jason Mantzouranis’ family, the simulation turned out better: "I was motivated by the possibility of making money … After this simulation, I understood more about the stock market and why it has fallen to such a great extent recently, as well as how people can be destroyed if they make a mistake." The stock market presents many possibilities for teachers, but for me it sets the stage for a deeper understanding of the multicausational factors that led to the Great Depression. The simulation, when combined with other economic simulations in my class, reminds me that when students are directly involved with their learning, through active decision making, they are able to internalize the concepts and able to gain a deeper understanding. In turn, the students are better able to apply their understanding, whether it is in the context of the Great Depression of the 1930s, or in the context of the current global economic crisis.

As one element of a diverse learning environment, the use of simulations shows students that serious learning does not only have to take place beneath a stern lectern. Learning is about building understanding and not just delivering it. By beginning with a theme, connecting that theme to the students’ lives and by using American history as my backdrop, I help students to explore history, culture and their own ideas. Simulations provide one strategy that helps make this possible.

As ACS expands its infrastructure of technology, and as I branch out through the use of Interactive Student-Response Systems, aka "clickers," the future possibilities into the use of game simulations abounds. Just as our students are not confined to building with only legos, we teachers continually create innovative ways to help our students learn.

Other simulations used in American Studies, some created by David Nelson and others modified for class: Chispas & Pandyas Culture Simulation, Prisoner’s Dilemma Foreign Policy Simulation, World War Simulation, Cold War Incidents Game, Cooperation vs. Competition Games, and Beach Ball Maps. Further information of these activities is available on Mr. Nelson’s personal classroom website: www.classcoffee.com.

David Nelson, Social Studies Department Chair. A secondary teacher since 1990 from Hillsboro, Oregon, and an academy teacher at ACS Athens since 2000.

1"Research based strategies: Simulations & Games." Focus on Effectiveness. 2005.

Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, Portland, Oregon. March & April 2009 <http://www.netc.org/focus/>.

2Edelson, Daniel C. Matching the Design of Activities to the Affordances of Software to Support Inquiry-Based Learning. Rep. Dec. 1998. School of Education & Social Policy and Institute for the Learning Sciences, Northwestern University. March & April 2009 <http://www.worldwatcher.northwestern.edu/userdownloads/pdf/Edelson_icls98.pdf>.

F E AT U R E D

Pi Day Pizzaz in the Middle School The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious.

It is the source of all true art and science.

Albert Einstein Probably no symbol in mathematics has evoked as much mystery, romanticism, misconception, and human interest as the number pi.

William Schaaf How can I make mathematics more exciting and meaningful for my students? How can I get them to love the subject and to experience the beauty and wonder in mathematics as I do? These are questions that constantly motivate me to experiment with new ideas in my teaching.

I have always felt that the Middle School years provide a rich opportunity for teachers to influence the way students feel about their respective subjects. It is not enough simply to cover the topics in the curriculum - we must reach beyond that to provide enrichment and enhancement whenever possible.

The celebration of Pi Day in my Middle School classes is one occasion that gives me the opportunity to make mathematics "come alive." Pi Day is traditionally celebrated by millions of mathematics enthusiasts around the world on March 14, because the digits in the date correspond with the first three approximated digits of

Sue Protopsaltis MS Mathematics Teacher

pi (3.14). The day is dedicated to that wonderful irrational number, pi, as well as all things round!

Pi Day is filled with a variety of activities, containing both individual as well as group components. Students work in groups on activities that include: dividing the circumference by the diameter of different circles to see how the results approach the digits of pi, exploring some of the ratios that have been used throughout history for pi, and making lists of things that contain circles. Eighth graders work in groups on pi trivia questions.

There are two contests for individuals: the Archimedes contest to see who can draw the best free-hand circle (in honor of this outstanding mathematician) and the Pi Digit contest to see who can recite the most digits of pi by heart. The record so far in our Middle School was set in 2008 by Nasso Abuel Basal at 431 digits.

In preparation for Pi Day, eighth grade students prepare pi posters highlighting information about the discovery of pi digits throughout history, as well as interesting facts about pi. These are hung up for decoration in our classroom.

I try to stimulate my students in as many ways as possible, entertaining them with some pi rap music as well as other pi songs both before as well as during Pi Day. A Pi Art contest is held for any students who wish to portray the power and mystique of pi in a piece of artwork. The winners are displayed in the hallway of the Middle School. Taste buds are not forgotten. Students are asked to bring in circular treats on that day to share during the activities.

Afterwards, students are asked to reflect about the dayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s experiences. Judging from their responses over the years, I have been encouraged to continue this tradition because it is well worth the effort!

"Pi Day was fun and educational at the same time."

"Everything made me feel a part of pi."

"I had a lot of fun doing the activities, especially the ones that were with teamwork."

"Pi Day was one of the most fun math classes that I have ever had."

"The thing I enjoyed most about Pi Day was the spirit of the day and that everyone participated and had fun."

Pi Day definitely promotes the collective enjoyment of mathematics and the timeless, multicultural interest in pi. It provides experiences that foster positive attitudes toward mathematics.

14

"Everything made me feel a part of pi."

Enhancing the Curriculum through Technology

Helen Sarantes ES Computers Teacher

There is a multitude of challenging ideas and activities that teachers use to enhance the curriculum. Curriculum enhancement is intended to be stimulating and inspiring and one venue used to accomplish this is technology.

quizzes. This was an excellent technique to keep the attention of and test their audienceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ability to retain the information that was presented and simultaneously the students learned from their peers.

One example of how technology is used is through the use of WebQuests. A WebQuest is an inquiry oriented lesson in which most of the information that students work with comes from the web. The "task" of the WebQuest is the most important part of the WebQuest. This tells the learner what the expectations or goals are in order to complete the WebQuest.

Virtual Fieldtrips are another way to enhance the curriculum by providing opportunities for new discoveries in the classroom. On a virtual fieldtrip, students can go just about anywhere on Earth.

Grade three students worked on a Solar System WebQuest. Their task was to answer questions about the solar system, which would give them a better understanding of the wonders of space. Some questions included were: "How much of the Earth is covered by water?" and "What is one reason a human might not survive on planet Venus?" This WebQuest sparked their interest and curiosity about space, which finally led to an incredible "Space" exhibit.

Grade five students use a WebQuest about Colonial life. Students are transformed back in time and their task is to decide whether or not they would like to live in the 21st century or if they would prefer living during the Colonial time period. While learning about families and everyday life in a colony they are exposed to the hardships that people endured during this time period and most students concluded that they prefer living in the 21st century.

Grade three students went on a virtual fieldtrip to visit different types of caves.

They saw up close what Solution, Erosion and Sea caves looked like. They were amazed to see the magnificent shapes found inside these caves. A week later, after visiting a real cave in Athens, their experiences and knowledge of rocks and minerals and the formations of caves were more complete.

First graders went on a Virtual Dinosaur Dig from the National Museum of Natural History. First, the students found a "virtual fossil." They learned how paleontologists excavate the specimen with special tools. Finally, they learned about the anatomy of their findings and general information about where the dinosaur lived, what it ate, and how large it was. This activity generated enthusiasm and curiosity about prehistoric life forms and how we explore the past.

Activities such as these enhance the regular lesson and provide relevant and challenging experiences to encourage life-long learning.

Another application that students work with is Microsoft PowerPoint. PowerPoint is used for students to report on and retell what they have learned. PowerPoint is used as persuasive technology.

Grade four students created PowerPoint presentations on the animals of the rainforest. The students collected information from various web sites and books including information on habitat, diet, reproduction and predators. Each student had to present his/her PowerPoint in front of an audience. Not only were they exposed to many different types of rare animals but also learned the skills of speaking in front of an audience, projecting and pronouncing words clearly and transferring bulleted information into complete sentences or paragraphs.

Grade five students produced PowerPoint presentations in connection with their geology unit. Students used the inquiry based format to generate their own questions for a storyboard on topics such as weathering, earthquakes, caves, glaciers, tsunamis, plate tectonics, and fossils. Some presentations even included small

4th grade students at work in the Computer Lab 15

PowerPoint is used as persuasive technology.

C O V E R STORY

Special Events Enrich the Middle School Educational Experience Rannelle McCoy MS Humanities Teacher

Introduction While students can be enriched academically through traditional classroom tasks, it is often the unique activities outside of the restrictions required by curriculum, the rigors of block scheduling, and constraints of classroom rules where students grow and thrive. At the middle school level, four events were offered this year as educational enrichment to students through the Social Studies and Arts department: United Nations Day, Geography Bowl, the 6th Grade Walk of Athens, and the 7th Grade Freedom Project. Special events such as these contribute to a student’s intellectual, ethical and social development.

United Nations Day Students are used to going to school and learning disciplines separately.

However, one exciting way to enhance the learning of students is to make connections among the disciplines. In the Middle School, Social Studies and

Science joined forces once again to sponsor United Nations Day, an all-day event for students. [Science’s Department Chair, Christina Bakoyannis, and Rannelle McCoy, designed this year’s activities.]

Traditionally held on October 24th, it is a day aimed at commemorating the establishment of the United Nations on October 24th 1945. Schools across the world observe this day in various ways, including having serious debates about issues addressed by the UN and making suggestions about how to tackle the world’s problems as a global community. At ACS Athens, students are also invited to relate these problems to their everyday lives. The Middle School first started participating in UN Day in the 1970s through the initiative of retired Social Studies teacher Mary Pazartzis.

This year, the theme was the environment. This activity is designed in a

Student Presentations on UN Day 16

One exciting way to enhance the learning of students is to make connections among the disciplines.

way that combines students grades 6 to 8 in groups that are mixed grade level and of different cultural backgrounds, interests, strengths, and sexes.

The idea is that students put their minds together to work towards a common goal.

Each group was given special sub-topic highlighting the environment and related to UN Millennium Development goal 7: Environmental Sustainability.

Sub-topics researched include reducing the loss of biodiversity; protecting land, marine, and air endangered species; reduction of the carbon footprint; and improving access to safe drinking water and safe sanitation.

To promote personal responsibility, students were invited to bring a waste-free lunch to school on UN day. Waste-free lunches contain as many items as possible that can be eaten, reused, recycled, or composted and as few items as possible that must be thrown away. For instance, students can pack food in a reusable container and eat their food with silverware. While making a waste-free lunch adds a bit more effort to a studentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s routine of getting ready for school each day, it does offset oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s carbon footprint.

Students were asked to bring in recyclable items from home so that in their groups, they could design a coat of arms from these materials that would represent what environmental sustainability means to them. Half of the group worked on this while the other half worked on creating an awareness message about their specific sub-topic. This awareness message could be in the form of a theatrical performance, infomercial, song, dance or drawing. The result of this awareness campaign was presented at the end of UN day in the theater, before their peers, faculty, staff, and administrators.

Geography Bowl The Geography Bowl is an annual tradition in the middle school and this year it took place on March 24th for a half day. About one-third of the middle school participated in this bowl, while the others were placed in either the Math or Language Arts bowls.

Students were charged with designing an ideal town to live in that is friendly to the environment and generally, a healthy and wonderful place to live. As a group, they had to use atlases to choose a place on earth to place their city while considering natural hazards, climate, vegetation, land forms and bodies of water. Once a place was chosen, students had to plan a town and include: homes; parks; government structures such as police, fire stations, schools and hospitals; food, water and power sources; a transportation network; and entertainment and shopping. Finally, a name of the town was chosen.

Groups competed against each other based on the following criteria: creativity, group work ethic, neatness, thought, and sensitivity to the environment.

Each group contained 4-6 students of mixed grade level, sex, and ability. Every attempt was made to place a good artist in each group. Students brainstormed what qualities they wanted in their town, what they wanted the town to look like, and to divide the tasks amongst themselves. It was rewarding to see the students, outside the confines of curriculum, block scheduling, and classroom rules, thrive and take their task very seriously.

Walk of Athens Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve all been to a museum or archaeological site and experienced a tour guide with encyclopedic knowledge delivered in a lifeless monotone. This is

Students design their 'ideal towns' during the annual Geography Bowl 17

C O V E R story

Teo Ananiadis takes notes at the "Tower of the Winds” in the Roman Agora during the annual 6th Grade Walk of Athens

the nightmare of any average 6th grade student, who cringes at the idea of going on a field trip to an historic site. The solution crafted by a creative and energetic group of my predecessors was the 6th Grade Walk of Athens.

Annually, the 6th graders experience the Walk of Athens with their brave teachers, walking around the archaeological sites around the slopes of the Acropolis. Students are placed into groups with classmates that they usually do not work with and charged with acting as tour guides to their peers and teachers. In preparation for the field trip, each group must research a particular building or monument in the Greek and Roman agora and serve as the resident expert. This year, the monuments include: Hadrian’s Library near the Monastiraki metro station; the Roman agora’s Gate of Athena and Tower of the Winds; and the Greek agora’s Stoa of Attalos, Temple of Hephaestus, and Sacred Way. The remaining two groups are charged with an overview of the Roman agora and the Parthenon, which is viewed from the Thiseio exit of the Greek agora while standing under the welcome shade of trees after a long day.

As one group presents, the other students open their field notebooks, sketch pictures of the place described, and take notes on the information each group provides. Field study is an important part of intellectual development because it ensures that the field trip is not a passive learning activity, but an active one. Students engage their senses and record their experiences in their notebooks.

Freedom Project In celebration of the Inauguration of Barack Obama as the United States President, all 7th grade Humanities students were asked participate in the Freedom Project which lasted only one 80 minute block. This project consisted of

Students work on their posters for The Freedom Project

two parts, a descriptive essay, which had to be completed in 40 minutes and a drawing that had to be designed in the remaining 40 minutes. The descriptive essay assignment was to write a short essay defining what they believe the concept of freedom means, give three examples that epitomize freedom, reflect on whether they experience enough freedom in their lives, and finally, explain whether or not there should be limits on freedom and why. Once students wrote their essays, they had to create visual representations of their concept of freedom with few or no words.

After reading these essays, I chose several quotations from them to include in the PowerPoint presentation for the Inauguration party in January 2009 (see related article in this issue) and included students were photographed. As for the visual aspect of this project, the best representations (22 out of 60 students) of freedom were displayed at the Inauguration Party in the cafeteria area, near the entrance of the theater atrium. The runners-up were displayed in the upstairs hallway of the middle school.

Student reaction to this project was very positive and constructive. While the last week of school before the Christmas break is usually one of low concentration and interest from students, I found that they enthusiastically worked on this essay, demonstrating higher-level thinking, and producing high quality conceptual art. During the project, some of the students commented that they had never been asked before what the concept of freedom meant to them nor how much freedom each person should have. It created lively debate in the classroom, particularly since the project happened during the time of riots and demonstrations in downtown Athens sparked by the police shooting of a 15-year old teenager. Students realized that freedom is not just an abstract idea but a real issue that directly affects their lives.

18

Freedom is not just an abstract idea but a real issue that directly affects their lives.

ES Math Olympiads – Beyond the Curriculum Colin Levitt ES Mathematics Teacher The Math Olympiad program Math Olympiads for Elementary and Middle Schools (MOEMS) recognizes the importance of (and teaches the art of) problem solving. Monthly competitions from November to March feature five problems that typically increase in difficulty. In the elementary school, students in 4th and 5th grades compete at their particular level against others worldwide. Certificates of participation and trophies are given to top students in the spring.

Logistics Based on a student inventory test at the beginning of the year and on teacher observations, students are placed into two groups. These groups are flexible and are based on achievement and interest. Students in the Math Masters group work on grade-level appropriate problem solving techniques and review concepts covered in their ‘regular’ math classes. Students in the Math Olympiad program practice problem solving techniques based on the MOEMS program and meet every Tuesday during math.

Mr. Levitt helps a small group

tackle a problem

Benefits Not only do students make remarkable progress in problem solving abilities, but they also experience new concepts they typically would not have encountered in the standard curriculum. Because of this exposure, Math Olympiad students will be able to use prior knowledge to help them learn many topics in sixth and seventh grades. In addition to becoming better at math, students increase their confidence. Numerous students shed their fear of difficult math problems. This benefit is immeasurable.

Student Thoughts Stelio: I like Math Olympiads because it has challenges and prepares me for next year and makes me better at word problems. Now I’m less nervous when I take tests.

Soo Ho: It is more challenging than the regular math. I like challenging myself.

Olivia: It is interesting because we learn different problem solving strategies. We can use them on math tests. And it’s fun!

Kosta: I feel like I’ve changed as a math student. I’m better at math now. Mr. Levitt did not want us to worry about getting the questions right or wrong. I really believe I’ve gotten better.

Teamwork is enco uraged

Teacher Thoughts At the beginning of the school year, I was very skeptical. There were days when students would not know how to begin to solve a problem that was presented. I questioned whether fourth or fifth graders were mathematically or emotionally prepared for the challenge. (This level of mathematics is considered advanced even for sixth grade.) During class, I consistently emphasized the importance of the process and students’ ideas. Answers were never a focus. Despite daily pep talks, morale was low. As time went on however, students began demonstrating their problem solving strategies with more precision and confidence. They were not only figuring out how to approach new problems, they were also finding the correct answers. It was evident that students were progressing and Math Olympiads was helping them move beyond the curriculum.

ng the Starboard Students explain problems usi

Special thanks to Ms. Pappas, Mr. Parakatis, Ms. Andrikopoulos and Ms. Protopsaltis for their support.

19

We learn different problem solving strategies.

OTHERarticles

Touching the Future: Touchmath Irene Soteres ES JK Teacher Enhanced learning in the Junior Kindergarten means learning through play.

Learning at this level is translated into games, laughing and fun.

This year the Junior Kindergarten has been fortunate to pilot the Touchmath program. It is a program that balances play with education in such a way that students are adding and subtracting as easily and fluently as they are drawing in the art center!

The program at this level is designed to correspond to the developmental and motor abilities of children between ages 3 and 5. The bright and interesting colors draw students to the numbers as they easily pick up the concept of touching and counting.

One of the programâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s strong points is the ability to integrate other media to reinforce the Touchmath philosophy. The program achieves this by associating numbers in other activities. This enhances and refines studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; number sense and builds foundations for strong mathematical thinking. Students then get a holistic understanding of the numbers by counting, placing cubes on the proper points, reading stories or reciting poems.

For example, the Fairy Tale Unit was enhanced with the character of Goldi in the Touchmath program. Students were able to connect the number 3 with the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. The poem of 3 from the program reads: Three bowls, three chairs, three beds, three bears.

Goldi goes to sleep upstairs.

Oh, me! Oh, my! The bears return!

When will Goldi ever learn!

In class, whether we work in a whole group, small groups or individually, students learn to count with the aid of touchpoints. These touchpoints are strategically placed on the numbers so that students count from top to bottom therefore placing a value on them for example, 2 has two touchpoints: 1, 2. By doing this, students are drawn to the proper movement once writing starts. Students proudly count the points and eagerly move from one number to the next. For these students, numbers represent a specific unit and have meaning to which they can identify as opposed to students who see numbers as abstract concepts that have no clear meaning.

The Touchmath program enables students to establish a positive attitude towards counting and number recognition, and emphasizes objectives and concepts from the ACS Athens scope and sequence. The programâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s concrete materials give students the understanding they need to last a lifetime. Students love using the Touchmath numbers and activity sheets, and they remember and enjoy learning math as they develop their number sense with endless potential for creativity.

Practicing with the Touchmath cards

Touchmath encourages students to interact with the numbers

20

Students easily pick up the concept of touching and counting.

AP Revealed Anastasios Nalmpantis Academy Mathematics Teacher

High School Academic life is replete with acronyms: IB, SAT, PSAT, HL, SL, CPT, GPA. Well, here is another: AP. The AP (Advanced Placement) is a program that offers college level courses in high school. There are currently 37 AP courses and exams across 22 subject areas. College Board (http://www.collegeboard.com/), which is a non-profit organization, has been running, developing and maintaining guidelines for the AP for more than 50 years.

Although it is true that virtually all US colleges and universities accept the AP program, there are presently universities from 60 other countries accepting it as well.

The main purpose of AP is to help high school students earn credits for college courses. This is done by taking an exam in May in the desired subject area.

Students can take more than one AP exam to earn as many college credits as they wish. The tests are mostly multiple-choice (with a free response section) and are graded on a 1-5 scale. Most universities will give college credit if the grade is equal or greater than 3, but parents and students should first check with the university of their interest since policies may vary.

Typically, if a student has a satisfactory grade, the college will "exempt" the student from taking the course. However, for several colleges and universities, a grade of 5 may even earn the student an A, without ever actually having to take the course. It is obvious that this has financial benefits since it is very likely that a student can earn a Bachelorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s degree sooner than the anticipated length of time. More important, however, are the academic advantages involved: when in college, students will not have to attend classes the subject material of which is already known to them from high school!

The AP and IB programs share some important similarities but they are very different from one another. They are both highly respected by universities around the globe and neither is "better" or more challenging than the other. The AP Calculus course offered at ACS Athens is a rigorous mathematics course that is up to par with the equivalent Higher IB Math courses in every respect.

Unlike the IB Diploma Program, the AP is not a collection of courses that will eventually lead to a certificate or a diploma. It is more individualized according to each subject area. Furthermore, in AP classes, students are not required to complete any other assessments other than prepare for the AP exam,

which is really the only determining factor of earning college credit. However, IB and AP need not be separate entities. IB certificate students may also take AP classes, while earning their IB certificate. This provides them with a window through which they can view the best of both worlds.

For those who think that only American universities know about the AP classes, here is a list of over 70 Colleges in England alone that acknowledge qualifying AP Exam grades in the admissions process: http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/intad/intad_uk.html On the same page, you can pick the country of your choice for further information.

The list of American universities is obviously very large but you can see it alphabetically here: http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/apcreditpolicy/index.jsp Note: There are several pages of information for each letter of the alphabet located at the bottom of the page. One thing is certain: When planning a college or university education, AP courses should merit serious consideration.

21

OTHERarticles

Middle School Math Competitions: The AMC 8 & Math Olympiads Each year the Middle School advanced mathematics classes participate in the American Mathematics Contest (AMC 8), and this year the eighth grade pre-algebra class also participated. We are proud of the fact that that we have been taking part in this contest for 24 years.

The AMC 8 is for students from grade six through eight. It is a 40-minute contest containing 25 multiple-choice questions. The purpose is to promote the development and enhancement of problem solving skills. Concepts that are taught in Middle School are applied to problems ranging from easy to difficult.

One purpose of the AMC 8 is to demonstrate the broad range of topics that are available in the curriculum. Other purposes are to promote excitement, enthusiasm, and positive attitudes toward mathematics and to stimulate interest in continuing the study of mathematics.

This year ACS Athens received a special Certificate of Merit award because the sum of our top 3 studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; scores was in the range of 50 to 65. One sixth grade student, Kaito Seo, put ACS on a school honor roll list because of his outstanding performance of 20 correct out of 25 questions; and merit certificates were awarded to 2 sixth grade students: Kaito Seo and Georgia Siorokos.

The top 15 scorers at ACS this year were: Kaito Seo, Anna Petrakos, George Cremos, Eleni Alafouzos, Jin Yong Lee, Michael Economopoulos, George Gulino, Danielle Ross, Jonathan Shir, Andriana Skalkos, Kerem Dodurga, Robert Drummond, Guanyi Ji, Courtney Newman and Georgia Siorokos.

Sue Protopsaltis MS Mathematics Teacher

The Middle School advanced math classes have been participating successfully in the Math Olympiads program for many years. This program begins in the Elementary School and continues through grade 8.

The goals of this program are to: stimulate enthusiasm and a love for mathematics, introduce important mathematical concepts, teach major strategies for problem solving, develop mathematical flexibility in solving problems, strengthen mathematical intuition, foster mathematical creativity and ingenuity, and provide the satisfaction, joy, and thrill of meeting challenges.

There are more than 5,000 teams worldwide, including in all 50 states and in 25 countries. There are 5 contests during the school year, each containing 5 non-routine problems. Each problem has a time limit, and requires careful mathematical thinking. Each problem is worth 1 point, so a student can earn up to 25 points. No calculators are allowed.

The outstanding student on each team is awarded a special trophy and runnersup are recognized with honorable mention trophies.

This yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s trophy winners are: Sixth grade team:

Winner trophies (tie) - Christina Maxouris and Ioanna Rigas Runners-up (tie) - Maria Louisa Pelides and Georgia Siorokos Seventh grade team: Winner trophy - Kaito Seo Runners-up (tie) - Guanyi Ji and Demetri Kakaris Eighth grade team: Winner trophies (4-way tie) - Nicolas Kalantzakis, Joanna Morgan, Tex Pardue, and Sifis Xiradakis Runner-up trophy - Robbie Amarin

The middle school's budding mathematicians with their teachers 22

...promoting excitement, enthusiasm and positive attitudes toward mathematics...

Collaboration: ACS Athens and Lycee Charles de Gaulle, Paris Tonia Firigou Modern Languages Department Chair I am very pleased to announce some great news, both for my department and for the ACS Athens community. In working with the French Embassy in Greece and Mr. Pascal Moulard, we were able to establish an enriching collaboration with a school in Paris. The collaboration with Mr. Jerome Lagouanere, Head of the Modern Languages Department of the school in Paris, was also part of the European Comenius Program.

With this achievement, French students at our school have been able to establish enhanced French communication skills through cultural interactions with students from Longperrier. On my trip to Charles de Gaulle, Longperrier last spring, I was warmly welcomed by all the members of their school community. On the first day, I had the opportunity to visit classes, observe different approaches to learning, as well as innovative strategies, and discuss ways to meet students’ educational needs. I also had various meetings to discuss their school’s concerns, and strategies they had already implemented.

Students enjoy a breakfast meeting in the Conference Center

I also attended a faculty meeting which included all the teachers of the different departments and presented ACS’s school profile, results and goals. All were very impressed by the quality we offer our students. These meetings were very productive and creative and there was an exciting interest for our school, our vision and our philosophy. In the afternoon a reception was held to honor my visit and the collaboration between the two schools which was attended by many school and local dignitaries.

A journalist from one of the biggest newspapers in Paris, Mrs Virginie Maillard, interviewed me and Mr. Lagouanere about this collaboration and I had the chance not only to talk about the program that I had prepared with regard to this partnership but also to promote our school’s mission as an international school embracing the American educational philosophy, principles and values.

This year, ACS Athens had the pleasure of hosting Charles de Gaulle students and two teachers, Mr Lagouanere and Mrs. Nicole Reboul on April 1st and 2nd. We met in the Conference Center and began our time with them by welcoming them in French and in English while enjoying a nice breakfast. We introduced them to our school, our traditions, and student life at ACS. ACS students presented the school’s profile and introduced themselves to the French students. Daniel Speckhard and Rene Schemschat demonstrated their strength in the French language by preparing and presenting PowerPoint presentations in French. Then, ACS students took the French students on a tour around the campus.

They were really impressed by our facilities. We followed this with an open discussion

Students relax on the backfield at lunch on cultural exchange. We also introduced them to Greek cuisine. They loved the pastitsio! During lunch, our students and the students from Charles de Gaulle, Longperrier, spent time together, sharing their knowledge and experiences. Our students also introduced them to Greek dancing, and students from different nationalities spoke about the advantages of being in an international American school.

It was an educational and cultural experience for both schools. On the second day, our French visitors attended different classes with our students, sharing more experiences still. At noon, we organized another meeting with teachers and students to discuss the results of this educational and cultural exchange, and at 2:00 pm they left to go to their hotel. I strongly believe that this was a very successful and well-organized educational experience, and I believe that this partnership has been very much appreciated by both the students and parents in our community. I feel pleased in fulfilling my goals regarding this collaboration.

23

It was an educational and cultural experience for both schools.

OTHERarticles

Mistras: A Reflection (Written for the Academy Humanities Course)

Alexander Klingert 10th Grade Student

Where would we be now, if those who had opposed the worship of icons had won? Without knowing or being able to imagine how the people in the past lived, we cannot see ourselves, the future, or maybe even more thought-provoking, the presentâ&#x20AC;Ś Mistra might be able to answer these questions for us. Mistra tells us the story of a medieval city, a despot, a cultural center with leading philosophers and artists, and tied to the Byzantine Empire, to its very downfall.

What has been preserved is its art. How can one not admire its magnificent and well-preserved floor mosaics, or the frescoes, as beautiful although not as well preserved? All these works of art tell us how people thought, the ideals and values that they held. The Byzantines strongly believed in a powerful God which we can feel when we look at the mosaics such as "Christ Pantocrator" in the Daphni Monastery. He looks down with a very stern look, like a judge, upon the worshippers from heaven (the picture is made on a dome which represents heaven).

Byzantine art evolved very slowly, in contrast with the Western art that constantly evolved. In any case, near the end of the Byzantine Empire one could start to believe that a Byzantine Renaissance was happening. We can see that in frescoes such as "The Raising of Lazarus" at the Pantanassa in Mistra made in 1428. Traditional Byzantine art does not seem alive. I think this picture does. It looks like there is a lot of movement. However, a Byzantine Renaissance never really occurred. It was too late for it to start. The Ottomans were coming. The fall of Constantinople in 1453 only meant that sooner or later Mistra would also have to surrender. They surrendered in 1460, bringing an end to the flowering Byzantine culture there.

A Byzantine Renaissance is in any case, only a theory. And if we put our "quest" in a bit bigger perspective, we would never have had such a thought of a Byzantine Renaissance if we had not been able to see its art. (I might not have been able to analyze the way I do, if I had not been to Mistra.)

The fall of the Byzantine Empire meant that the Western powers would lead the development and progress of a powerful Europe. It would also be Austria later on that would stop the Ottoman Empireâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s further progress in Europe, conquering many lands. It should be noted that Roman law is the law that is in the background for most of European law which affects us.

Mistra has left its legacy as a thriving city, which had experienced a rise and a fall. It has today been declared a world heritage. We can thank its art for this her-

Alex Klingert and some of the student projects from the "Mistras Exhibition" itage. Art that has been preserved such as "The Navity" in Perivleptos, "Angel of Judgement" in the Metropolis or even "Theodore Palaeologus" in the Hodeghetria and its architecture, Saint Sophia and Perivleptos. We should give all its art justice.

To conclude, I believe that we have a lot to thank for the art and the arts of the time. If those who had opposed the making of icons had succeeded, then the Italian renaissance would never have found a place which changed European history and art. Without being able to see the ideas of the past, I do not believe we would have been able to have made certain decisions in history (leading to such as the happening of the Italian Renaissance) that guided us to become the people we are today, and hopefully, will guide the people to come for the future.

24

...these works of art tell us how people thought, the ideals and values that they held.

Internship in the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Learning Center Christiana Perakis Director, Stavros Niarchos Foundation Learning Center The ACS Athens Internship Program provides college students with a dynamic, hands-on learning and work experience that complements their traditional academic studies. It is ideal for students who are excited about psychology and working with students with learning differences who are ready to participate in a structured learning environment.

The Internship Program requires a significant commitment of time and energy from its interns, but participation has many rewards. Interns become a valued part of the ACS Athens community and are involved in our educational programs, including the Optimal Match support program and counseling services.

At the elementary school level, interns have the opportunity to work with students on specific skills and to play educational learning games on the starboard with them. At the middle school level, interns connect with students in a way that allows these students to open up and become more willing to ask for help. The interns assist the OM specialist in providing individualized and small group instruction to students who need assistance in specific areas. They contribute and bring positive ideas to group discussions. At the high school level, interns come prepared with ideas for helping the students and have the opportunity to work independently and take initiative. Their experiences include establishing rapport with the students and helping them with their academic, social and emotional needs.

Our interns generally apply what they learn here at ACS Athens towards their future careers and use this internship background as a strong reference. This year our interns appear to have no limits as to how much time they spend at ACS Athens, taking full advantage of the opportunity to expand their knowledge in their fields of interest.

Two of our interns, Eleni Zakas and Louise Johansen shared their thoughts on their experiences: Eleni Zaka, Academy OM Intern: "Working at the Optimal Match Program gave me the opportunity to observe and become more aware of adolescent behavior. It also taught me a number of techniques that are used to assist students with learning challenges. Through this program I realized that every individual is unique and requires a different approach. I learned to focus on the positive aspects of every student, and in return each student supplied me with motivation to improve my skills as a counselor and furthermore become a better person. I appreciate the rapport that was established with the students as well as with my supervisor who is in constant search of discovering new

Louise Johansen and Anna Makris, interns for the Optimal Match program, are both ACS alumnae. ways to assist the students in the Optimal Match Program. I feel lucky to have been given the opportunity to work in such a friendly environment that provides the tools needed to support students in accomplishing their goals."

Louise Johansen, Elementary and Middle School OM Intern: "As an ACS alumna, I am extremely satisfied with the education I received at ACS. It has been a pleasure returning, not only to enrich my education but also to explore my professional direction. My internship at ACS has allowed me to gain hands-on, practical experience in my future field, as I hope to pursue a career in educational psychology. Being a part of the OM program has allowed me to experience what it is to work with children who have various learning differences and it has taught me how to approach each challenge differently. Getting to know the children, watching them succeed, and being able to observe growth in almost every child I have worked with has been truly rewarding."

An internship at ACS Athens provides a mutually rewarding and beneficial experience for both the school and the intern. The school is enriched with the new perspectives and enthusiasm of a young intern and the intern gains invaluable insight as s/he makes the journey from school to career with confidence.

25

My internship at ACS has allowed me to gain hands-on, practical experience in my future field...

OTHERarticles

Help Your Child Learn To Find and Use His Singing Voice There is nothing sweeter than a young angelic voice singing a song. Some children seem to find their singing voices without problem, while others struggle throughout primary school and may often give up by the time they reach Grade 4 or Grade 5.

That is tragic because every child can learn to sing, and learn to sing reasonably well.

The child who gives up singing denies himself a lifetime of joy of music via his primary musical instrument, the voice. In music class it is important to work with young voices in a healthy and developmentally appropriate way.

Why do some children find their voices while others do not? What can be done to help? Modeling is the number one factor.

Modeling is the number one factor affecting how children find and use their singing voices. If you sing to and with your child, chances are your child will sing with you. If you don’t, chances are good your child won’t either. It is not dissimilar to the imprint that a mother duck makes upon a duckling! Even if you think you don’t have a good voice, or haven’t much experience, just sing lightly, or use a soft high speaking voice. Dads, even you can do this. Research shows a high correlation between parents who sing to their children, and children who choose to enjoy singing opportunities throughout their lives. If singing is seen as an everyday sort of thing at your house, such as while doing chores, riding in the car, taking walks, family parties, etc., your child will experience vocal music as the most natural and normal thing in the world.

Choose high quality children’s recordings, ones that have children singing lightly, not at ‘full throttle.’ One of the better choral models for young voices is the group Treblemakers. Treblemakers director Mary Ellen Junda, a music education professor, states:

William Ghormley ES Music Teacher

ter is established, it becomes easier for most children to sing in-tune and then move downward to include the lower ‘chest’ register. Children who only use the deep or ‘chest’ register end up having pitch and range problems. Lower register pitches once in a while are okay for very young singers, but not a steady diet of them.

Range is the best spread of pitches for a child to use when singing. Go to a piano, find the group of two black keys nearest the middle of the keyboard. The first white key directly to the left of these two black keys is Middle C. That is the lowest pitch a young child should be regularly expected to sing. Go up 8 white keys to the next white key just left to a pair of black keys. That is High C. One or two steps (white keys) above High C are the upper limit most young children should be expected to sing. Care should be taken when singing songs this high to use a very light ‘hooty’ sound, NOT a belting ‘chesty’ sort of sound. The best singing range for children tends to be in a narrow range from almost halfway between the two "Cs" (F) to just above High C. Zoltan Kodaly, the Hungarian composer and music educator, claimed that by age 8 all children can and should be singing in tune. This was found to be true in the schools he established in Hungary after the Second World War. This, of course, presumes children are allowed proper instruction and support. Singing alone and with others is one of the benchmarks of music instruction at ACS Athens. If you support and encourage your children’s singing, you are giving them the confidence to play their first musical instrument, their voice…alone, and with others.

"A lot of children's music is what we think they want to hear. It's childish, not childlike. It's also not done with a real sensitivity to the music itself. Most of the recordings use children singing in a lower than normal range, using chest or lower voices. This type of singing is commonplace in popular music. Children who sing in the lower register produce a harsher vocal quality, have a limited vocal range and lack accurate intonation.

This kind of singing over long periods of time typically results in vocal damage."

Register means where the focal placement of the voice is, from high to low. We humans have a very wide potential speaking and singing range. Most of us use a variety of vocal registers when we speak and sing. Two common registers are the higher register, or ‘Head’ voice, and the lower register, or ‘Chest’ Voice. It is very helpful for a child’s healthy vocal development to explore all registers of his voice, especially the upper register or ‘head’ voice. Research shows that the most successful young singers, those that have the widest ranges and best in-tune singing, have done most of their singing in their ‘Head’ voices, using a hooty sound. When that singing regis-

JK students try out their singing voices at the Holiday Concert

26

If you sing to and with your child, chances are your child will sing with you.

The Principal’s Page: The Academy Educational Enrichment: An Extra Program or Essential Method of Instruction?

What is troublesome about enrichment programs in many schools is the idea that enrichment is something extra or something that only a special few are entitled to. Funding restraints and an increasing economic downturn have put many schools in crisis, and undoubtedly this will distress enrichment programs in schools across the world. So what are we supposed to do? Are we to put our students’ education on auto-pilot and hope for the best? Absolutely not.

In the Academy at ACS Athens, we have a different philosophy on how to

enrich our students. To describe this, think of the words of American scholar and author, William Arthur Ward. "Learn and grow all you can; serve and befriend all you can; enrich and inspire all you can."

Enrichment, both academic and co-curricular, is something we strive to deliver to all students. It is imperative that students are academically enriched in the classroom, and not doused with extra activities that are detached from the everyday curriculum. Walking through the classrooms in the Academy, one can see a variety of teachers using vivid techniques to produce high levels of learning. Enrichment is used to reinforce content learning and to give students meaningful instructional activities.

One example of this in the Academy is the 10th grade American Studies and English "Combo" class. The course is designed to be interdisciplinary in nature, is team taught and challenges the students to excel in reading, writing,

▼

Enrichment is a word commonly used in the world of education. By definition, to enrich means to supply with abundance anything that is valuable. In education, it also means to add greater worth and to make finer in quality. It makes perfect sense for schools to link themselves to such a prevailing word and it is obvious why students and parents clamor for more.

Brian M. Kelly, Academy Principal

ACS student Rene Schemschat addresses visiting French students during their visit.

27

"Learn and grow all you can; serve and befriend all you can; enrich and inspire all you can." William Arthur Ward

OTHERarticles speaking and listening. Walking into this class, one can see students thoroughly engaged in the learning process, yet the approach in not conventional. The instructors of this course have designed units where the content is covered using enrichment strategies such as simulations, drama, debate and humor. When I visited this classroom during the US Presidential Elections, it was clear these students understood more than just the election process. They understood the issues and were challenged to see these issues from more than their own perspectives. The pedagogical approach, assessments and physical learning environment in this classroom inspire the students to meet their full learning potential.

In addition to academic enrichment, the Academy also has several co-curricular enrichment opportunities. Again, these are not activities that are extra; they are connected to what the students are learning in their classes. Newscoop, for example, is a co-curricular activity open to all high school students, particularly those interested in journalism. Newscoop was founded out of Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and gives Academy students the opportunity to write, edit and produce news pieces in connection with other students throughout the world. The goal is to create a trusted news source on the web and for students around the world to inform each other. As the students prepare to produce their first piece, they are required to pull from what they have learned in their classes.

The "Combo" class is not alone in the use of academic enrichment as an essenNewscoop students during a lunch meeting tial method of instruction. In our Science The Model United Nations (MUN) Department, the Environmental Science club at ACS Athens is another strong exclasses went to the municipality of Keratea. Due to fire, vast deforestation had occurred in this area, and students pre- ample of co-curricular enrichment. In March, some of our younger MUN team pared seeds that were subsequently planted in a massive community effort. members (mostly in grade 9) participated in the Athens MUN. It is at these These same students also visited a zoo in Spata where the curriculum was en- types of events where one can truly see the difference in ACS Athens sturiched by a first hand study of ecosystems, kingdoms of organisms, biomes, dents. Even though our team was interacting with 11th and 12th graders from adaptations, food webs, behavior and reproductive patterns in captivity, preser- other schools, the poise, maturity and presentation of our students was impressive. They were the stars of the conference. Unquestionably, the enrichvation of endangered species, and predation. ment opportunities provided for ACS Athens students have helped them Another example is in our Modern Language Department, where students blossom in forums such as MUN. in French classes had the opportunity to collaborate and communicate with There are many other examples that could be listed. Forensics, the Blue French students from a school in Paris. In early April, these French students came to ACS Athens to work with our students for two school days. Through and Gold, language clubs, university visits, talent shows, student council, leadthis collaboration students had the chance to interact with one another and ex- ership institutes, the Village Project and athletics…all are exceptional co-curricular enrichment opportunities for students at ACS Athens. All of these acchange knowledge, experience, language and culture. tivities connect powerfully with the learning targets being taught in the classStudents in our Humanities course are given extensive field study experi- room and give our students the broadest and richest experiences possible. ences to reinforce content learning. Our Math Department promotes two The examples above are the shining models of where we are headed and math competitions–one of which was created and developed by our very own faculty. In the Arts, students can participate in an Art Show or perform in one what we achieve when we all have a common goal. It is crucial that we conof our school concerts. How many high school students get the chance to vis- tinue to push for increased student effort and the integration of high-level it a rock climbing center? Students in our PE Department get that experience. learning experiences and thinking skills into each and every classroom. The We could highlight several other examples of academic enrichment in the greatest asset at ACS Athens is our student body. As educators, we all recGreek, Arabic, German and Spanish classes. The point is, all of these experi- ognize they deserve creative, dynamic instruction that motivates them to purences exemplify how it is possible to change the classroom from a place for sue whatever educational endeavor or lofty dream they desire. The future is the acquisition of information, to an outlet for developing the talents of all stu- bright in the Academy, and at ACS Athens as a whole…a Lighthouse in International Education surrounded by a sea of enrichment opportunities. dents.

28

The ACS Athens Parent Teacher Organization Marca A. Daley Editor, ACS Athens Ethos As this issue of the magazine went to press, the members of our PTO were gearing up for another fantastic event: the annual International Spring Fair held on May 16th.

These moms and dads, together with ACS faculty, staff and alumni, work ceaselessly throughout the year for the betterment of our school and the enrichment of our students. As a matter of fact, many of our PTO members are ACS alumni themselves, and when I meet them on campus as parents, I am reminded that it was only a ‘few’ years ago that they sat in my classroom as students. But whether the parents have been here for a long while or are relative newcomers to Athens, what they all have in common is a loving commitment to their children and by extension a caring commitment to our community.

Following are just a few of the many ways in which the PTO actively contributes to campus life: ✔ The PTO puts together a Calendar of Events that includes major dates of school activities throughout the year and features the artwork of ACS students. ✔ The PTO sponsors several large community events, among them the Back-to-School BBQ, the Holiday Bazaar, and International Spring Fair. ✔ The PTO engages in major (and minor) fundraising events for the school and this year raised enough funds to donate a Computer Lab. They are also raising funds for a Locker Project and Science Labs. ✔ The PTO supports our Athletic teams and other Academic clubs and activities, including the Music program and the Drug Awareness Program. ✔ The PTO shows its gratitude of teachers and staff through the annual Teacher Appreciation Week in March, as well as through their on-going support. ✔ The PTO was instrumental in the Gala Fundraising Event at the Hotel Grande Bretagne and at the Inaugural Celebration in January. ✔ The PTO meets regularly as ‘school’ groups and has representatives keep the lines of communication between principals and parents open.

The French Club table at the PTO Holiday Bazaar

For further information on this vital school organization, please see the Fall 2008 issue of Ethos or contact any of the following members:

PTO Board Members: 2008-2009 Patty Dimitriadis – Chair Georgia Alvertos – Vice Chair Kristal Alley – Treasurer Lilly Dimas – Secretary Stephanie Kutson – Elementary Representative Jennifer Ananiadis – Middle School Representative Elaine Seremetis – Academy and IB Representative Jody Manthos – U.S. Embassy Representative 29

COMMUNITYconnections

ACS Athens Middle School supports the Village Project Rannelle McCoy MS Humanities Teacher

ACS Athens has adopted the village of Lepreo near the town of Zaharo, in the Peloponnese, which was ravaged by forest fires in the summer of 2007. This initiative is called the Village Project and is organized by Ellen Vriniotis, ACS counselor.

Our school has pledged to help raise money for the village of Lepreo and aid in reconstruction and renovation projects there. To support these efforts, it was important to find a way to educate middle school students about what happened there, particularly for students who are new to Greece.

This way presented itself in the form of a DVD, which includes a slide show of pictures taken by professional photographer Tony Wenman. Mr Wenman is part of the ACS family, as his wife, Patty Green, teaches both middle and high school ESL (English as a Second Language) classes. Since the slide show focused on the environment, the viewing of the DVD was scheduled to be shown as the kick-off event of the middle schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s United Nations Day (see related article in this issue). However, due to unforeseen technical difficulties, the viewing of the DVD had to be postponed. It was shown later in the school year through the middle school Humanities classes and various activities took place around it.

Photographer Tony Wenman, currently a resident of Athens, is at heart a naturelover. He grew up near the Thames River and spent much of his early childhood canoeing out to a small island on the river, camping, fishing, and bird watching. These

boyhood activities taught him to observe nature. His love for nature was cultivated, as well as a healthy respect for its power and mystery. When he heard about the forest fires two summers ago, he experienced shock and grief over how quickly nature was ravaged and altered. However, he also felt compelled to visit the areas around Artemida and Zaharo, both located in the Peloponnese, and spent months photographing these areas as a way to document the changes to the place. His photographs depict not only the suffering of people, but the fate of living creatures and plants. His work was shown twice on SKAI television in the spring of 2008.

The slideshow lasts a total of eight minutes, does not contain any music, and concludes with the words "The End?" Students watched the DVD in their Humanities classes and were invited to discuss and analyze it, as well as make personal or curricular connections to it. Many of our students have relatives in places assaulted by forest fires or live in neighborhoods in the Athens area that have been affected.

The goal is not only to build awareness of the problem through these images, but to get students involved in the schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Village Project and other community activities aimed at protecting the environment. Reaction to the DVD has been positive and the Middle School Greek club plans to donate part of the money raised this year to a sixth grade student named Thodoris who lives in Lepreo. This way, our middle school students can form a bond with someone of their own age in Lepreo and keep future contact with him.

Photos of the Devastation

by Photographer, Tony Wenman 30

RISCing across the United States Moving out of the comfort zone toward experiencing HMH education Stefanos Gialamas, President Peggy Pelonis, Director of Student Services

The Holistic Meaningful Harmonious approach to education (HMH) is a concept integrated within the ACS Athens philosophy. In order for education to be sustainable and able to create successful students capable of coping with the vast amount of information and changes in a global society, this institution must incorporate education beyond the classroom; education that allows students to move anywhere in the world with the comfort, curiosity and respect worthy of a global citizen.

A journey across the United States began with the idea of creating further possibilities for ACS students to receive education at multiple levels, as well as to provide opportunities for networking and thus offer students and faculty choices.

Nothing less would be expected of a premier international school, whose representatives were received by higher level institutions with respect and with a keen interest in "what’s cooking" at this end of the globe.

The RISC factors in our approach refer to educational opportunities that are Relevant, Inspiring, Significant and Current. Opportunities from which students will not only obtain knowledge but also make connections that will ultimately lead to the best fit choices in higher education, in careers and (we hope) in all aspects of their lives.

The university visits to NYU, Pratt, Parson’s, Chapman University, Pepperdine College, UCLA, Occidental College, University of California Riverside, Drexel, UPenn, Haverford, Tufts, Northwestern, Georgetown and American, were the continuation of an idea to enhance our relationships with such institutions, informing them about ACS Athens and the ACS student, and opening doors that will strengthen best fit choices and ultimate success.

Bringing higher education to the high school level to allow our students to get a taste of what lies beyond their present horizon, was cultivated through such programs as:

Peggy Pelonis, Director of Student Services ✓ The Academic Leadership course Agreements were finalized at the university of Richmond campus for a collaboration that will take ACS Athens students across the globe physically, intellectually and socially. The University of Richmond is the only university with its very own leadership school (the Jepson School), where leadership is taught as a major or minor. This summer ACS students will be able to take advantage of a university curriculum in leadership taught in Athens, Richmond, VA and Washington, DC. Three days will take place on our very campus, followed by five days at the Jepson School at the U. of Richmond. The course will culminate with four days in Washington, DC where students will have the opportunity to meet with professionals (ACS Alumni) who work on Capitol Hill and in surrounding businesses and institutions. ✓ University campus visits in the USA The legwork which began earlier in the year and continued during the past month, paved the path for students to visit first and second choice universities in April. This pilot program included universities in the Boston area where students not only toured the campuses but had the opportunity to pair up with a univer31

▼

Suggestions for collaboration through a variety of innovative programs were met with curiosity, eagerness and excitement, and opened doors that will connect educational approaches, innovative ideas for the betterment of society, students, teachers and administrators across the globe. It was indeed a risk taken with the hope that the alchemy performed would transform the very heart of our programs and ultimately reach the hearts of students.

COMMUNITYconnections sity student and attend classes of their choosing for a day. What better way to get a taste of campus life, academic rigor and school atmosphere in order to make the best fit choice. ✓ University of Indianapolis collaboration This developing relationship involves initiatives for the university to offer scholarships for outstanding ACS Athens students. The university will also provide opportunities for student athletes to continue playing their chosen sports at the higher educational level. Moreover, it offers the unique opportunity to students to take advantage of the 3+2 program. For students interested in studying engineering, Indianapolis has an agreement with Purdue University whereby students can receive a dual degree; doing 3 years at Indianapolis and 2 years at Purdue and culminating in degrees from both institutions. ✓ The Global Leadership Institute – Tufts university This institute engages in numerous initiatives to provide leadership training to college students. An invitation has been extended to ACS students to participate as well. This collaboration, while in the beginning stages, will prove to be very promising to our students. ✓ Newscoop Newscoop is an independent organization comprised of students and teachers from Tufts University and Harvard. It has developed leading edge student journalists, who write and report on issues worldwide from a student perspective. These students are very active in the media and make it their job to have student voices heard loud and clear. Also in the beginning stages of development, this initiative calls for ACS students to be mentored and trained by Newscoop students and to participate in similar activities. ✓ Ionnian Village Initiative The ACS Athens summer camp is a unique program which has captured the interest of the Greek Orthodox Church in the USA. The combination of both extracurricular activities and academic programs is a unique combination and the desire to replicate it has evolved. Thus, a plan for similar type programs offered to the Greek American population who are interested in sending their children to Greece just for the summer, is underway. Such programs will take place at the Ionnian Village, currently operated by the Greek Orthodox Church of the USA. Discussions for the use of such facilities to expand their summer programs according to our paradigm are in progress and collaborations are being ironed out. ✓ Hellenext This relatively new and interesting organization brings college students of Greek descent to Greece during the summer months in order for them to connect with their country of origin. In addition, its goal is to connect Greek Americans, as well as to provide educational opportunities with leaders, both on Capital Hill as well

Students walking the Freedom Trail in Boston during the university visits in April as in the Greek parliament. Discussions have begun about bringing students from Hellenext together with ACS students in order to create a larger network and provide further opportunities for our youth.

Faculty and administrator initiatives are also being discussed in an effort to provide opportunities for professional development and networking. ✓ The Chapin School A state of the art preparatory all girls school in the heart of Manhattan received us and provided demonstrations of best practices in the classroom. The idea of exchange programs between Chapin and ACS Athens for both faculty and administrators is a strong possibility in the near future. ✓ Hybrid Courses for Faculty and Administrators Hybrid educational degrees are now available to ACS faculty and administrators through the University of Indianapolis, USA. Hybrid degrees refer to the combination of taught and on-line degrees.

This month-long journey across the United States would be incomplete without meetings with Trustees and Alumni, who applaud the programs at ACS and extend their efforts in securing the future of ACS Athens. RISCing across the United States was a venture undertaken with one goal in mind: to create further opportunities to promote Holistic, Meaningful and Harmonious learning for the ACS student. In asking ourselves, are these opportunities Relevant, Inspiring, Significant and Current? The answer is quite obvious. But then again education should be nothing less for the Premier American International School of Athens, Greece.

32

Promoting holistic, meaningful and harmonious learning for the ACS student

Going for the Gold: Eighth Grade Adopt-an-Animal Project at Attika Zoo Sue Protopsaltis MS Mathematics Teacher Eighth graders have a long tradition of helping the Hatzipaterion Center in their Community and Service initiatives. This year, for the very first time, they decided to expand their effort to include participation in the Adopt an Animal Program at the Attika Zoological Park. The program encourages students to contribute money that is used for taking care of the many animals that they have at the zoo, as well as for enclosure enrichment. There are a number of Adopt an Animal programs, depending on the monetary contribution. The highest level is called "Gold Friends of the Zoo," which requires a contribution of 500 euros, and entitles your school to get recognition through a plaque that is hung on the cage of the adopted animals. Eighth graders decided to go for the gold and adopt the tigers, Bianca and Niourka, for one year. They knew that if they put their minds to it, they could achieve their goal. Fundraising ideas from the Student Council throughout the year included bake sales, candy sales, as well as booths at the Halloween and Mardi Gras carnivals. In April we were very proud to visit the Zoo, present them with the money, and have our picture taken. Mission accomplished!

COMMUNITYconnections

Dr. Stefanos Gialamas, Commencement Speaker Mediterranean College: Athens, Greece The 2008-2009 Commencement ceremony for the Mediterranean College took place with great success on March 13, 2009. More than 200 undergraduates and graduate students attending the college received their degrees.

Dr. Stefanos Gialamas, the Commencement Speaker, was also honored by the President of Mediterranean College, Mr. Sofoklis Xinis for his contributions and accomplishments in the area of education, leadership, and ethos.

In his remarks to the new graduates, Dr. Gialamas highlighted the challenges they face; challenges that arise from demographic changes and globalization to development in technology and demands for a better life. He stressed that education, creativity, entrepreneurship and civic responsibility are the necessary ingredients for a productive society which should provide a better place to live for all citizens of the world.

the individual or groups or communities is disappearing. Dr. Gialamas called on the new graduates to take responsibility and reiterated that everyone, individually and collectively has the responsibility to CHANGE THE WORLD to become a better place for our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. Young people must become authentic and principled, and act with humility. They must become FUTURE LEADERS in their work environment, as well as in their communities. Each person is well-equipped to dream and have a vision. The most important thing is to accomplish this vision.

Dr. Gialamas concluded his speech by exhorting the young people to go after the dreams of their vision, but added that when this was accomplished, not to forget to give back something to their families, communities and world.

A key question raised by Dr. Gialamas was how one prepares for such a complex, challenging and demanding society. The answer, he said, lies in higher educational institutions that provide a holistic, meaningful and harmonious educational experience, what the ancient Greeks define as ªfiÚʈÛË.

Dr. Gialamas went on to explain the key components of this educational experience. Holistic involves cultivating the academic, emotional, physical, intellectual and ethical elements to ensure a healthy and balanced individual; an individual who will successfully cope with the change that life brings. Meaningful implies that the learner must view education as part of life and not as isolated knowledge. In addition, education must be meaningful in relation to the student’s strengths, talents, desires and dreams. A meaningful educational experience includes discovering and internalizing the feeling of being "in love with life and learning," and results in a personal interest in making "living desirable and enjoyable." Harmonious refers to the idea that all dimensions of a human being must be in harmony. Similar to an orchestra, each musician plays his own part working with the conductor to create a beautiful and harmonious melody. In the same way each learner must be the architect of his/her life, placing feelings, knowledge, emotions and decision-making in harmony.

In his closing remarks, Dr. Gialamas reminded the audience of a global phenomenon in which individuals with no principles and values have not only brought the world to an economic crisis, but also to a "Principles and Values Crisis" in which integrity, honesty, fairness, justice, respect and humility are forgotten, and dignity for 36

Dr. Stefanos Gialamas and Mr. Sofoklis Xinis

ACS Athens Ninth & Tenth Graders Honor Special Olympics Athletes

Tenth Graders Paint an Art Mural in Support of Youth with Neuromuscular Disorders

Ellen Vriniotis Academy Counselor Grades 9 & 10

Ellen Vriniotis Academy Counselor, Grades 9 & 10

ACS Athens was one of three schools invited to participate in the Athens Special Olympics Torch Lighting Ceremony for the 2009 Winter Special Olympic Games that took place this past February in Idaho, USA. In a ceremony held at the Zappeion Megaron on November 12th, the Flame of Hope was spectacularly lit in a cauldron by the sun’s rays, a tradition that dates back to the Ancient Olympic Games. The ceremony was attended by the Greek Special Olympics team, members of Parliament, journalists and dignitaries from around the world.

A small number of ACS Athens 10th graders were invited to participate in an international Art Mural Project with teens from the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Special athletes, students and law enforcement cadets led the Torch Run from Zappeion to the American Embassy courtyard where the Flame of Hope was passed on to Kirk Grogan, member of the 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games Board of Directors. Messages of hope, courage, equality and acceptance for individuals with physical and intellectual challenges also were delivered

by US Ambassador Daniel V. Speckhard and Timothy Shriver, Chairman of the Special Olympics Committee.

Students collaborated for nearly four hours with Greek artist, Pavlos Samios, using their energy, creativity and imagination to transform a five meter blank canvas into, A Party In the Sun–life-size teenagers, in all shapes, color and sizes doing what they do best–expressing their jubilant charisma and vitality!

The Flame of Hope traveled more than 60,000 kilometers across the globe before arriving in Idaho where 3,000 athletes from more than 100 countries, including 50 from Greece, competed in seven winter sport events.

ACS Athens ninth and tenth graders were proud to be a part of such an inspirational and meaningful event!

The art project, hosted by CoCoMat and sponsored by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation in cooperation with Johns Hopkins University, will span eight countries worldwide to raise awareness for pediatric neuromuscular disorders.

The mural will be flown to the US for the MDA international art mural competition before returning to Athens to be displayed at the Megaron Mousikis in a fundraising evening for MDA & the Johns Hopkins University Hospital Pediatric Unit.

37

ACS students regularly participate in community service activities.

COMMUNITYconnections

Renewing America’s Promise A Community Celebration Marca A. Daley Editor, ACS Athens Ethos ACS Athens was the venue for an historic event in January: an event that was broadcast not only on the ‘big screens’ set up on our Halandri campus, but throughout the world. On the evening of January 20th, ACS Athens and Democrats Abroad Greece hosted a Community Celebration honoring the Inauguration of the 44th President of the United States of America, Barack Obama.

The mood was electric and anticipation in the air tangible as scores of volunteers prepared for an influx of visitors, all wishing to be a part of this historic occasion. The program was set; the campus was spotless – and transformed by red, white and blue balloon sculptures, streamers and posters for the festivities.

The library, cafeteria, gymnasium, theater, lobby, atrium, press rooms, and dignitaries’ lounges reflected the excitement of the participants and guests, and as I wandered through the various spaces, the evening took on a kaleidoscopic quality: images and sounds mixed in ever-changing patterns to create an atmosphere that mirrored the ideas and ideals of the president elect: hope, change, peace, optimism.

Following are some memorable thoughts the evening’s program: “…celebrate as an American, a Greek American and an International Community,” “President Obama’s story is uniquely American… America is a place where all things are possible.” Beth Hondros, President, Democrats Abroad Greece

Members of the ReCover Band set up in the gym 38

“The oldest democracy in the world (Greece) celebrates the largest democracy in the world (USA) in the inauguration of Barack Obama.” “…reestablish America’s standing as a beacon of hope around the world…” Stefanos Gialamas, President of ACS Athens “…trying to instill the values embodied by Barack Obama in our students.” Constantine Stergides, Chairman, ACS Athens Board of Trustees “We are living history and what better place to do that than Greece?” “[if our] emphasis is on inclusiveness and responsibility... unity and common effort...working together we can overcome any obstacle.” “Thank you to our Greek friends for the gift of democracy.” Daniel V. Speckhard, US Ambassador to the Hellenic Republic As I sat in the audience of the packed theater among the hundreds of thousands who packed the Washington Mall, I was struck by the notion that the optimism, excitement and emotion we witnessed was truly an indication of what a small world we live in, and what common hopes and dreams we all share. The many millions around the world who participated in this celebration, were, in truth, as Ambassador Speckhard said, “a measure of how interconnected we are today,” and reflected an “abiding commitment to our [common] principals and values.” Everyone who attended our community celebration can attest to the fact that renewing America’s promise is a promise to us all.

Part of the Art Exhibit

Some of the ACS Athens Volunteers ready to receive visitors on campus

SHORTsubjects

Unity has No Color

Miah Confer, ES Art Teacher Stavroula Salouros, ES PE Teacher William Ghormley, ES Music Teacher

Elementary School students joined hands in unity for UN Day

Ms. Birbil’s First Graders singing a folk song about Canada

This past fall, the ACS Athens Elementary School, under the direction of the Specials teachers, put on a spectacular exhibition of culture. Each class selected a country that it wanted to represent and learned either a folk song or dance from that particular country. The students researched the country’s traditional apparel and made items to wear during their showcase that featured that country’s colors or motifs.

After several weeks of preparation, practice, and team teaching, the show and students were ready. Our parents contributed by making a huge buffet of treats from around the world to offer guests at the reception before the show began. During the show, each class from JK through 5th grade had its turn to shine on stage as students showed off all of their hard work. All of the songs and dances were performed to traditional music. A slide show of pictures, many contributed by students and their families from these particular countries, showed the audience the beauty of our world.

Ms. River’s Fourth Grade Class representing Thailand

Our main purpose for putting on this show was to showcase the unity and cultural appreciation we all demonstrate on a daily basis in our classrooms. We could think of no better way to showcase this behavior and attitude than to unite through folk songs and dances. We truly believe that the hand of friendship has no color, and this United Nations show was truly a spectacular showcase of unity!

39

The Hand of Friendship has No Color

SHORTsubjects ACS Athens Middle School Students Compete on the Courts

The Middle School Math Bowl: A Unique Way to Enjoy Mathematics

Monica Madias (80) ACS Parent

Sue Protopsaltis, MS Mathematics Teacher

The 2009 Greek Pan-Hellenic Tennis Championship has nine tournaments scheduled for the year, with venues all over Greece, plus the Greek Nationals, which will take place in Athens in July.

This year, three ACS Athens 7th graders are participating in the Championship: Lefteris Theodorou, Chris Microvas and Sotiris Tsioumas. These young athletes will travel to Rhodes, Crete, Larissa, Kalamata, Thessaloniki, Igoumenitsa, Thrace, and Central Greece to compete in the tournaments.

Depending on their results, the players collect points from each tournament, and at the end of the year are ranked accordingly.

The season finale is the Masters, which is played at the end of the year, featuring the best eight players who compete against each other to determine the champion.

We wish our boys the best of luck in their endeavors!

Lefteris Theodorou

Chris Microvas

The thirteenth annual Middle School Math Bowl was held on March 24th.

The Math Bowl tradition first began with the idea of giving students an opportunity to investigate a rich variety of problems in a setting that is different from the classroom. It provides a chance for sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students to work cooperatively to solve problems on mixed grade teams and to discover how much fun they can have in the process. It promotes mathematics in a very unique way.

Students work in pairs as well as in groups on numerous activities that are especially designed for enjoying mathematics. There are logic problems to ponder, along with mazes, coordinate graphing, tangrams, many types of puzzles, coloring, arithmetic, codes, searching for patterns, geometry, measurement, and much more. There are hands-on exercises as well as paper and pencil problems. Students must help each other as they tackle the problems one by one.

The problems range in difficulty from easy to very hard. There is evidence of real team effort, especially in the culminating construction problem where they must build something. Opportunities are also given for team members to try their hand at estimating how many items are contained in jars.

Spotlight on Lefteris Lefteris Theodorou is a 7th grader, who has been playing tennis since he was 5 years old. He has participated in many tournaments, and has had to sacrifice a lot of his time in order to dedicate himself to his sport. But practice and hard work have paid off, and in 2008 Lefteris finished in 1st place overall in the Athens Regional Championship, 1 st place in the Athens Regional Masters, and 4 th place overall in Greece!

Tennis Society Magazine has rated Lefteris as one of the best junior players in 2008.

Points accumulate for the groups throughout the bowl, and certificates are awarded to the top three team winners. It is a fun-filled, exciting event, with something for everyone!

Sotiris Tsioumas

This year, in addition to participating in the National Tournaments, Lefteris will compete in the European Tennis Association Tournaments in Europe, and he also represents ACS Athens on the middle school tennis team.

40

Library Trash Recycled: Middle School Book Box Sculpture Jeff Bear, MS Art Teacher

Middle School Radio Production Club Katerina Chotzoglou MS French Teacher & Radio Production Club Advisor

Transformed library discards demonstrate that Middle School students can create art out of anything, even trash. Student artists show that they can make group sculpture out of old wooden vertical file containers destined for the refuse pile.

When I first proposed the Radio Production Club I never believed that it would be accepted! But only a "fresh young" idea would find its fruition in a very fresh environment such as ACS Athens Middle School. Our middle school students signed up for this club, and even though in the beginning they did not know what all was about, they made it happen with the production of our first CD just before Christmas. Kids really enjoyed the whole production process: song search, lyrics to link the songs, emotions expression, testing in front of the microphone, and recording!

Instructions to Students:

Based on different subjects, Radio Production Club members prepare their shows. We hope that these projects will lead us to our new goal: the production of two more CDs by the end of the school year.

Your box will become part of a large sculpture made from contributions from many students. You will create artwork to decorate your box before it becomes part of the whole. ✓ Decorate one side of the box with a carefully done, well-designed textural collage. ✓ Use the texture items you have collected and other textured items you might find (like cardboard or wood) to do this. ✓ If you wish, you may make your collage separate from the box on an appropriate size card or paper and then glue it to the box when finished. If you work directly on the box and don’t like what you’ve done it could be difficult to remove it once the glue is dry. ✓ Strive for contrasts in textures, color or shades of black and white and work neatly. Your design should use the design elements of unity and variety.

Use white glue only Almost a hundred plywood containers were individually decorated by 6th 7th and 8th grade art students with collage, paint, and ink and then combined to make two large sculptural assemblages which were placed on display in their former home, the library.

After the exhibition students will reclaim their boxes and presumably use them at home, perhaps as vertical file boxes which will also display their own use of the creative process.

Since our school is "green" oriented, we plan to record a CD on this aspect. Of course we have a long way to go towards reaching our goal because apart from the music and song selection, we learn some rules, such as what to say or to avoid in front of the microphone, how to link songs by their style, title, artist or idea, what vowel combinations we should accept or avoid, etc.

By late spring we hope that every two weeks we will have the opportunity to upload podcasts on different Members subjects prepared and recorded by Delphine Vlastos Filippos Minaretzis our students on the Ileana Exaras Nicolas Kalantzakis ACS Athens InterMelissa Vavaletskou Christina Kapatou net site.

Danae Panagopoulou Dimitra Kalogirou School Radio is Alexia Alexopoulos Christina Bariamai a great way to encourage student collaboration and increase student engagement and participation. We hope that our listeners enjoy this experience as much as we do and we look forward to continuing our work next year.

The Holiday CD produced by the Radio Production Club

41

SHORTsubjects

Notes from the Music Department

Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s New in IT?

Athina Mitsopoulou. Fine Arts Coordinator

Mary Manos, Administrative Computer Services Coordinator

Network News

Since our last Ethos publication, recent Music Department events have included Campus Caroling, the Middle School Talent Show and a performance at the Grande Bretagne.

The Middle School Choir class was busy during the months of December and January with performances that included spreading holiday cheer by caroling in the classrooms, halls and offices of our ACS Athens campus on the last day of classes before Holiday Break. On January 10th they also had the privilege of performing at the Hotel Grande Bretagne for the International Propeller Club of Athens Awards Luncheon.

Holiday Caroling

On March 4th Middle School students showed off their talent at the Middle School Talent Show that took place from 2:15-3:30 p.m. in the ACS Athens Theater Arts Center. The Middle School student body enjoyed performances from singers, dancers, musicians and magicians!

The final Spring Music Night concert that features all Music Department classes and co-curricular ensembles took place on Thursday, May 14 at 7:30 p.m. in the ACS Athens Theater Arts Center.

Jim Koulyras and Joe Potak behind the scenes at the Inaugural Celebration We are in the final phases of upgrading the schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s network LAN (local area network) connectivity. Specifically, we have installed all new network equipment and single mode fiber backbone throughout the campus.

We have Juniper Switches installed in all of the main buildings aggregated back to a new Cisco Switch in our computer center.

This new network is considered to be state of the art and the extraordinary available bandwidth (10Gbps) is considered an emerging technology and as of yet not frequently found in similar institutions in Greece or even in the United States. This, in combination with our new internet connectivity will provide a vastly improved user experience on our campus.

Through the implementation of the new network, many new technological opportunities have presented themselves.

Video Streaming

Middle School Choir members perform at the Propeller Club of Athens Awards Luncheon 42

In January, as part of the Inauguration celebration for President Barack Obama, we were able to "live stream" the event to various locations throughout the campus. The results were acceptable and we received much positive feedback. However, due to the time constraint we used the

new network equipment connecting over the original ACS network backbone.

With the new ACS backbone in place, many new educational opportunities will be made available. For example, a live event can be captured for an unlimited number of re-broadcasts and can be simultaneously streamed to multiple classrooms or viewing areas such as, the library or conference area.

Middle and High School Computer Labs Upgraded and Renovated The PTO gave a gracious donation towards the purchase of computers for the middle school computer lab. This was combined with a school purchase bringing the total to 56 new computer stations distributed between the middle and high school labs located in the library. The labs include color laser printers and because of the new network infrastructure we are able to have 1Gbps connectivity to the desktop. In addition, new drop ceilings, lighting and paint gave these labs a pleasant facelift.

Network Laser Printer in Library

dents, parents, staff and alumni, the Department of Computer Services has recently upgraded our Email / Messaging system. This messaging platform has been built in response to the needs of the ACS Athens community at large and our focus is on accessibility for all, ease-of-use, availability and reliability.

Skyward Family Access After a brief trial period, the Skyward Family Access is now continuously available for parents and students. To access Skyward and Blackboard please visit our ACS website (www.acs.gr) and follow the links on the left hand side of the screen.

NESA Virtual School â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Blackboard Like Skyward, this is a web based system which enhances teaching and learning. Teachers build their blackboard course using course materials such as documents, web links and more creating a powerful learning content using a variety of Web-based tools for students to engage in an interactive way. Using these tools has brought our institution to a new technological phase.

All of the second floor library computers have been redirected to a new network laser printer at the main library front desk. This location optimizes the printing experience and reduces waste.

Upgrade of Our Email System As part of our ongoing efforts to improve communication between ACS stu-

43

SHORTsubjects What’s New in AV? Admiring the past….moving forward to the future

What’s New in PE? EARLY CHILDHOOD SWIMMING PROGRAM – SPRING Annie Constantinides, Athletic Director

Jim Koulyras, Audio Visual Specialist The first audiovisual museum is a reality. Equipment used at ACS Athens since the 1960’s is displayed in a glass cabinet in the audiovisual department. The first Kodak slide projector from 1963 is displayed. The reel-to-reel tape recorder, used in the 1970’s played tapes on large reels and was the means of recording through a microphone. The Record player was popular in the 1970’s and played vinyl records. Today this would be equivalent to a CD player playing CD’s. The movie projector played 16mm educational films which were projected on a white screen during the 1970’s and 80’s. It was the DVD player of its time. The video camera used in 1980 was huge and needed to be attached to a bulky video player to record.

Today, technology has taken us forward to the age of the Interactive white board and LCD projector in conjunction with a computer where all audiovisual applications can be performed.

The AV department in collaboration with the IT department has been working on a new type of technology called "video streaming." Video streaming is a sequence of moving images that are sent in compressed form over the internet or network and displayed by the viewer as they arrive. Simply speaking, streaming media is streaming video with sound. Our first successful attempt at streaming was during US President Obama’s inauguration on January 20. Live camera coverage of the ACS program in the theater was streamed to 9 different locations throughout the school campus. Later, the inauguration ceremony was streamed to these locations over the school’s network. This technology opens up new horizons for our students: live video, previous captured video or even DVD’s can be "pumped" into all classrooms simultaneously.

The Audio-Visual Exhibit in the AV Office.

44

The Early Childhood Swimming Program is a new after school activity that was introduced during the present academic year. Catering to the very young students of ACS Athens (4-5 years old), this program’s purpose is to familiarize the children with the water and the pool. The fall program consisted of 24 participants while the spring program has a record number of 30 eager and young students!

Our experienced Aquatics staff members work diligently to make the little ones feel comfortable and learn the basics of swimming. The spring program began in late March and will finish at the end of the school year with a final celebration day when medals and recognition will be awarded to all the participants.

PROFESSIONALdevelopment Conferences / Workshops / Presentations Christiana Perakis, Director of the Stavros Niarchos Learning Center, attended the NESA Fall Educators Conference Planning Workshop (ECPW) which took place September 26-27, 2008 in Cairo, Egypt. Ms. Perakis is the ACS Athens NESA Representative.

Dr. Likourgos Hristakos, Academy Physics teacher, attended an IB conference for experienced Diploma Program Physics teachers in Kuwait City from March 5 – 8, 2009.

Peggy Pelonis, Director of Student Services, taught several courses and presented at workshops including: ✓ A course, Therapeutic Interventions: Lifestyle and Beyond, sponsored by the Greek Adlerian Society, Athens in November 2008 ✓ A workshop, Addictions and Change (∞ÏÏ·Á˜ & ∂Í·ÚÙËÛË), for professionals and lay people sponsored by ¡ÈÊ·ÏÈÔÈ, Athens in January 2009 ✓ A course, Dream Interpretation (Adlerian Perspective), for professional counselors and psychologists sponsored by the Greek Counseling Association, Athens in March 2009 ✓ A course in Basic Hypnosis for counselors sponsored by the Greek Adlerian Society, Athens in March 2009

Other Professional Development Several ACS Athens Administrators are taking MBA courses in a special cooperative program with the University of Indianapolis. Marla Coklas, Annie Constantinides, John Papadakis, Dina Pappas, Peggy Pelonis and Julia Tokatlidou have all ‘returned to the classroom’ to enrich their own academic experiences with courses in Organization Management, Information Technology, and others.

Mary-Ann Augoustatos, Middle School Principal, co-chaired an accreditation visit for ICSB (The International Christian School in Budapest, Hungary) as the Middle States Association Representative, along with ACSI another accrediting agency, March 21-26 2009. Ms. Augoustatos has also signed up for two courses at the Principal's Training Center this summer.

Nia Donas, Elementary School teacher on leave, has a temporary full time position in second grade at a public school in Australian. She writes that Australians and Americans have much in common when it comes to education! She is also attending accelerated literacy, a big movement in Australia which promotes strategies for teaching English effectively.

Tonia Firigou, Academy French teacher and Modern Languages Department Chair, is working an her PHD in the History of French Civilization at the National Capodistrian University of Athens.

Peggy Pelonis, Director of Student Services, continued her doctoral work with a course, Educational Policy, at the University of Bath, UK in July 2008. Ms. Pelonis was also appointed to the Academic Leadership Journal Editorial Board, Fort Hays State University in December 2008.

Irini Rovoli, Elementary School Greek teacher, taught a series of Survival Greek classes for ACS faculty and staff through the ACS Athens ICCT.

Dr. Gialamas addresses participants at the 4th Annual Conference on Learning Differences

Alessandra Sax-Lane, Elementary School Counselor JK-5, is currently 1/3 through her Doctoral Coursework, in Counseling Psychology and Supervision in Education at Argosy University, Chicago, IL. To date, she has completed coursework in: Cognitive Behavioral Theories in Counseling, Clinical Models of Supervision, Ethics in Practice, Methods and Analysis of Quantitative Research and is currently working on Methods and Analysis of Qualitative Research. With the turn of the New Year 2009, Argosy University requested a student profile from Alessandra to represent the University, for maintaining excellence in her doctoral studies.

45

PROFESSIONALdevelopment Publications Dr. Stefanos Gialamas, President of ACS Athens, co-authored the following articles/papers: 1. International School Magazine - issue Spring 2009, Volume II, Issue 2 - "Connecting with College Education: A Holistic Approach" by Peggy Pelonis and Stefanos Gialamas.

2. The Department Chair, Winter 2009, Vol. 19,No. 3 "Leadership Inspired by Civic Responsibility" by Ellen Froustis Vriniotis and Stefanos Gialamas.

3. The Academic Leadership Journal, Spring 2009, Volume 2, Issue 2 - "Authentic Leadership" by Peggy Pelonis and Stefanos Gialamas.

Dr. Georgina Spyres, Academy Science teacher, co-authored and presented the following papers: 1. Dissolved Organic Carbon and Nitrogen (DOM) Distributions, Ultrafiltered DOM Chemical Composition and Heterotrophic Diversity in the Mesopelagic & Bathypelagic Zones of the Mediterranean Sea at the IMBER-IMBIZO (Integrated Marine Biogeochemistry & Ecosystem Research in a Changing Ocean) Workshop in Miami, Florida, USA, November 9-13, 2008.

2. Toward integrating a Historical Dataset (1986-2005) for Nutrient Trends in the East Mediterranean at the EurOceans (European Network of Excellence for Ocean Ecosystem Analysis) Global Change and Marine Ecosystems Conference in Rome Italy, November 25-27, 2008.

3. Trends of Nutrients and Nutrient Ratios in the Deep Water of Eastern Mediterranean Sea from 1986-2006 at the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography Aquatic Sciences Meeting in Nice, France, January 2530, 2009.

46

Dr. Gialamas Accepts Invitation by the Middle States Association ACS Athens President Dr. Stefanos Gialamas has accepted an invitation to join the International Schools Advisory Committee (ISAC) of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (CIWA-MSA). In his letter, the Associate Director of the Committee for Institution-Wide Accreditation, Mr. Steve Heft, remarks: "Dear Stefanos: Thank you for accepting our invitation to serve on the International Schools Advisory Committee. This group serves an important function in our accreditation process, and our members count on us to have qualified professionals involved on the committee." The letter continues to outline the tasks and responsibilities of the ISAC members, who meet twice a year with "the primary purpose of making recommendations on the accreditation action of schools that have hosted team visits in the prior semester." Mr. Heft's letter concludes: "We are delighted that you will be joining this group. It is certainly a lively and collegial group of over a dozen educators with a true passion for the improvement of our member schools. We think you will fit in nicely!"

The Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools is one of the agencies that set the accreditation standards for the Overseas Schools and oversee their operation,

goals and status. Accreditation, according to the MSA is "the affirmation that a school or educational service agency provides a quality of education that the community has a right to expect and the education world endorses. Accreditation is a means of showing confidence in the institution's performance. When the Commission on Elementary Schools and the Commission on Secondary Schools act to accredit, it certifies that the organization has met the prescribed standards of the Middle States Association within the terms of the institution's own stated philosophy and objectives. The chief purpose of the whole accreditation process is the improvement of education by evaluating the degree to which an educational organization has attained worthwhile outcomes set by its own staff and community. This is accomplished by periodically conducting a comprehensive self-evaluation of the total institution.

Through the accreditation process, the school, district, or service agency seeks the validation of its self-evaluation by obtaining professional judgment from impartial outsiders on the effectiveness of the total operation. The intent throughout the process is more than to focus on shortcomings; the chief goal is to seek remedies for inadequacies and to identify and nurture good practices."

SPECIALevents November 2008

On-The-Spot Art Contest

Miah Confer, ES Art Teacher

Since 2005 the Embassy of India has organized a children’s drawing and painting competition on Children’s Day in honor of Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first prime minister. This year’s competition was held at the International School of Athens (ISA), and schools from around Athens were invited to participate.

This On-The-Spot Art Competition gathered children from 5-16 years old for several hours on a Saturday morning to create art together. Each child was asked to bring his/her favorite art supplies simply to create. The school’s hallways and classrooms were lined with tables covered in paper, and soft music played on the intercom.

Around the tables there was a frenzy of activity as over 150 children painted, drew, colored, and glued. ACS Athens Elementary was proudly represented by 16 students from kindergarten to fifth grade, and they all did an incredible job of creating and having fun watching everyone around them get into making art.

Winner: Fifth Grader Alexi A. working on his Abstract Tree

After two hours of hard work, all of the artwork was collected and presented to the judges, members of the ISA art department. The artwork was divided into four age categories, and the three top pieces from each category were chosen for prizes.

Two weeks later, at the annual Christmas Bazaar, the winners were announced, and we were proud to find out that, of all of the schools represented and the number of students participating, one of our very own not only placed, but also won first prize in his age category. Congratulations to Alexi Alvertos for his great job creating an abstract tree.

This contest was a wonderful opportunity for the students, the art teachers and parents who accompanied them, to see the power of the imagination and creativity as table after table was full of students all working with different media and with very different objectives in mind and yet all creating their unique masterpieces. I hope that in the following years this is an opportunity that even more students will be able to participate in as it was such a wonderful way to enrich their educational experience in the arts.

Watch the color appear with some of these finished products, including the sunset by Second Grader MyKenzie H.

47

SPECIALevents December 2009

The Good Person of Szechwan by Bertolt Brecht Nefeli Tsipouridi, 12th Grade Student This year the IB Theatre Arts (year 2) Production was Bertolt Brecht’s The Good Person of Szechwan. The playwright is known for wanting his audience to think rather than feel and he used various techniques to alienate the audience’s feelings. Based on this view, the play was directed by IB Theater Arts teacher Sophia Thanopoulou with the intention of following Brecht’s style.

The class struggled through the process of preparation: too many lines and a variety of challenging scenes. After numerous rehearsals, the group managed to communicate and cooperate. Tension and conflicts were always present but the inner need to "pull this off" always assisted in defeating all obstacles. Each and every member was eager for the performance to succeed. A budget was not available so all students provided the costumes and props that belonged to them.

Posters and program were handmade by group members.

The cooperative bond that was created among the actors was broken after riots in Athens forced the postponement of the performance. As Stanislavsky said: "To arouse a desire to create is difficult; to kill that desire is extremely easy." To explain the emotional state that we experienced an example of physics can be used: if someone is trying to push a gigantic metallic ball on the top of a mountain it is going to be extremely hard to push it up and ridiculously easy to push it down.

Similarly, the group was ready to be creative and perform but the events of early December affected us negatively. In general, the social environment prohibits the expression of creativeness. We live in a world where everyday routine and obligations suppress our creativity. For one person it is hard to experience a moment of pure creativity. Given that, it is even more difficult for a group of people to coordinate and to feel the desire of creation simultaneously. Finally, when the "big day came" the group had managed to overcome all setbacks and with collective effort, the show was better than ever expected–round of applause!

48

Scenes from the Performance

January 2009

13th Annual Golden Wreath Awards Marca A. Daley Academy Activities Coordinator On Friday, January 16th, an audience of more than two hundred was privileged to watch the 13th annual ACS Academy talent show, otherwise known as the Golden Wreath Awards.

Twenty-five Academy students worked on the production which featured talented students singing, dancing, juggling, and acting, as well as playing piano, guitar, and drums. "Behind the scenes" students acted as stage crew, technical crew, and cameramen, while others worked the "front of house" with programs and refreshments. Holding the show together were the Mistresses of Ceremonies, seniors Christina Mitropoulos and Lydia Makariades.

The evening began with a Faculty Act of Pink Floyd's Another Brick in the Wall and then moved on to the real talent of the evening: the students. Rami Mehio and Artemis Kakaris played original compositions on Piano, and Joo Yeon Kim performed Chopin's Scherzo #2. Vocalists for the evening were Agnes Toth singing Vermilion Pt. 2, Alaina Boukedes with Fever, and Angelique Coulouris with Gravity. Dancers were Zacharo Gialamas (No Air) and Katerina Chaida & Nefeli Tsiouti who performed to a mix of 5 hip hop songs. Ioanna Kyrtatou and Venetia Molin performed a Duet Act entitled Random and Luis Maly wowed us with his juggling skill - even on a unicycle! Peter Hovenier performed a drum solo, and seniors Stefan Cocorelis, Johannes Husten and Rene Schemschat showed us what their band, Flashback, is all about with vocal harmonies as well as acrobatics!

Johannes sings and plays for Flashback

The evening ended with presentations to the winners: 3rd Place â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Flashback (Stefan, Johannes and Rene) 2nd Place - Angelique Coulouris 1st Place - Katerina and Nefeli with their amazing hip hop Faculty and Staff who helped with the production: Marca Daley, Athina Mitsopoulou, Sofia Thanopoulou, Margarita Gournaris, Brian Kelly, Jim Koulyras, and of course, our faculty performers!

Nefeli and Katerina with their winning hip hop dance

Thank you to all who helped to make it such an enjoyable evening!

49

SPECIALevents January 2009

Model United Nations: Georgetown Qatar

Angelique Coulouris, 11th Grade Student

This year, the Georgetown Qatar MUN team was one that impressed all. All six delegates had never been to a Model United Nations conference before, and were nervous but eager to learn all they could from this once-in-a-lifetime learning and cultural experience.

Seniors Dimitris Sardellis and Stefan Cocorelis, both representing Uganda, showed outstanding leadership in their committees. Dimitriâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s resolution passed through the African Union and Stefan Cocorelis was proud that he, along with his fellow delegates in the United Nations Security Council, successfully ended the Third World War that had been created. Junior Angelique Coulouris faced the challenge of representing the US as Secretary of State in the United States Security Council, and impressed all with her ability to think on the spot when briefing President Obama and other dignitaries during a time of crisis. Sophomore Zacharo Gialamas did an amazing job as a part of the BBC World Press and her talents were recognized with the award of Best Delegate for her committee. Freshmen Katalina Holland and Alex Apostolides both represented Eritrea in the Arab League and the African Union and took part in the signing of resolutions and played an active role in their committees.

For the entire team this trip was also an invaluable cultural experience. Through visiting the Islamic art museum and the Souq Waqif, the delegation had a better understanding and new-found appreciation for the Islamic culture. This was reinforced at the cultural night, an event filled with cultural singing and dancing, where all delegations showcased their heritage.

The ACS Athens delegation brought both talent and spirit to the conference. The team is very grateful to their advisor, Mrs. Gournaris, who stayed up helping us write resolutions, encouraged the team to be assertive, and offered everything she knew from her many yearsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; experience in MUN. Throughout the entire conference, the delegation gained invaluable experiences that they will never forget.

50

January 2009

Model United Nations: THIMUN

Olympia Filippeli, 11th Grade Student

"Ipsa scientia potestas est" Francis Bacon Knowledge itself is power. During the last week of January 2009, a delegation of 13 students had the privilege of participating in the 41st annual conference of The Hague International Model United Nations (THIMUN), the largest of its kind. Our delegation had been selected to represent the country of Germany. We all got to step into the shoes (high heels for girls) of diplomats and wear the suits of delegates and ambassadors to observe as well as experience the vivid colors of a multicultural atmosphere. We abandoned all heritage and cultural identities at the checkout counter of the Athens airport and picked up, along with our bags, our new personas and identity cards and we transformed ourselves into "esteemed honorable German delegates."

The conferences were held at the World Forum at the centre of The Hague and it is there that we were able to create solutions to world issues revolving around this year’s topic Limits to Growth. Through this learning experience we were able to hone our communication skills and acquaint ourselves with the eloquent use of diplomatic jargon in our speeches and the creation of our collateral resolutions. Some delegates from other schools, however, failed to familiarize themselves with the use of diplomacy by describing some resolutions as Swiss cheese, which basically tastes good but has many holes in it.

However, despite the enlightening of our diplomatic skills, our navigational skills remained in the dark. This was proven by our astonishing ability to create the longest route possible to the tram station in the freezing cold weather on a daily basis. However it all seemed bearable with our escort’s constant empathetic comments such as "If we hadn’t taken this root we would never have seen this beautiful fortress" or "we are not lost; we are just changing scenery." In the formality and seriousness however of the whole atmosphere we were still able to remain in touch with our active side by participating in an ice skating adventures as well as climbing on the letters spelling AMSTERDAM. Special congratulations to Ioannis Kremitsas for being selected as a co-chair of the Disarmament Committee and to

all the following delegates for their outstanding performances: Stephanie Gournaris, Nassos Abuel Basal, Joon Seok Oh, Jackie Cremos, Natalie Amarin, Olympia Filippeli, Artemis Kakaris, Joey Hunt, Louise Norring, Chris Monopolis, Jason Hu, and Daniel Speckhard. Thanks too, to our teachers, Mr. Nelson and Ms. Rocha.

51

SPECIALevents January 2009

The Obama Letter Project

Rannelle McCoy, MS Humanities Teacher

The Social Studies and Arts department sponsored two exceptional events that enhanced the education of our students school-wide: the Mock US Presidential Election in November 2008 (see the Fall 2008 issue of Ethos) and the Obama Letter Project in January 2009.

Real-life mirrored ACSâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mock election result and Barack Obama was scheduled to be sworn in on January 20th. ACS agreed to allow the Democrats Abroad organization to use our campus to host an Inauguration party. In preparation for this event, the Social Studies and Arts Department decided to design a special activity called the Obama Letter Project.

The world was caught up in Obama-mania and our students were no exception. Thus, all students grades 3 to 12 were asked to write a letter to President Obama about what they hoped he would do to create change in the world. Students wrote on a multitude of topics, including global warming, poverty, hunger, and war. Excerpts of these student letters were gleaned by their teachers and included in a 30 minute PowerPoint presentation that was showcased at the Inauguration party.

The PowerPoint presentation, designed by Chair David Nelson, included a quotation and a picture of each student whose letter was chosen for the presentation. Inspiring songs, on the topic of change and global citizenship, were also added to the presentation and the more than 800 guests of the party had an opportunity to enjoy the thoughts and aspirations of our students. A copy of the PowerPoint presentation was also sent to President Obama on behalf of our school.

It is the collaboration of Social Studies and Arts teachers, administrators, and students that added to the success of these two wonderful events and the enrichment of our student body.

52

Students wrote on a multitude of topics ...

January 2009

ACS ATHENS Gala 2009 Celebrating a New Era – an Amazing Success!

On January 30, 2009 at the Hotel Grande Bretagne, ACS Athens was indeed Celebrating a New Era! Well over 200 parents, friends, alumni, staff, and faculty gathered for an enjoyable evening of dining, dancing, bidding and winning!

Fundraising was the main goal of the Gala, and over ú20,000 was raised for the ACS Athens Science Initiative. This project includes plans to design and build three new safe and environmentally friendly science labs, which will invite all ACS Athens Academy students to learn and enjoy science. As a result of the generosity of those who donated and participated in the silent auction, student raffle and ‘test tube drink’ prizes, it is off to a great start!

U.S. Ambassador Daniel Speckhard and his wife, Anne, were among the attendees. In his remarks, the Ambassador praised ACS Athens and thanked the community for making his family feel so welcome.

Certainly, one of the best aspects of the event was the wonderful warmth

Lilly Dimas, PTO Secretary & Gala Committee Member

generated among all who attended from the ACS ‘family,’ as characterized by the Master of Ceremonies, Simos C. Dimas, who serves as the Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees. Additional speakers included Constantine Stergides, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, and the President of ACS Athens – Dr. Stefanos Gialamas, who was praised for his leadership, energy and vision.

Many thanks go out to the individuals, families and companies who made this event possible through hours of hard work creativity, and both in-kind and monetary donations. A special thank you to Jennifer Ananiadis, the Chairperson of the Gala, whose tireless efforts helped to orchestrate such an amazing result!

This was the first Gala Event and Auction since the 60th Anniversary Celebration of ACS Athens held in February 2006. Judging by the overwhelmingly positive response, the Gala is on its way to becoming an annual ACS Athens community event.

Ambassador Speckhard, Mr. & Mrs. Constantine Stergides and Mrs. Dimas

Master of Ceremonies, Simon C. Dimas listens to Dr. Stefanos Gialamas

Bidding at the “silent aucion”

Students help at the “test tube” prize table 53

SPECIALevents February 2009

World Debate Tournament On February 11, ACS Athens was host to eight national teams (and their coachers and well-wishers) for the first round of the World Schools Debate Championships, held this year in Athens, under the auspices of the President of the Hellenic Republic. In all, we hosted over 70 guests for the day. Members of the ACS Debate Team and the Forensics team served as room chairpersons and timekeepers during the two rounds of debates, held in the morning and afternoon in the Arts Center and the newly renovated library. ACS Athens students and teachers had the opportunity to attend both rounds of debates. It was a great experience to watch world-class competitors in action.

Scotland debates Romania 54

Steven W. Medeiros, Director of Academics and Innovative Programs

The Netherlands debated Indonesia

During a preparation round, our debate team had the opportunity to participate in a training workshop led by the coaches of two of the visiting national teams. ACS Athens was proud to be one of the Athens-area schools and cultural organizations that contributed to the organization of this week-long championship event. We received a highly complimentary message from the Organizing Committee, commending the school's organization of the event and the quality of the hospitality that was offered to our visitors.

Visiting National Teams: Germany, Mexico, Netherlands, Indonesia, Romania, Scotland, Israel, Philippines

The Training Workshop was well-attended by ACS students.

March 2009

ISST BASKETBALL CHAMPIONS

Annie Constantinides, Athletic Director

A GREAT YEAR FOR THE ACS ATHENS BASKETBALLERS!!

Boys and Girls Varsity teams crowned SCIS Champions and ISST Division 1 Champions for the second year in a row!!

What a year for the ACS Athens boys and girls varsity basketball teams! The winter season started in mid-November and the goal for both teams was one – to defend their championship titles. Off to a slow start (mainly due to injuries), both the girls and boys teams struggled to gain a rhythm at the beginning of the competitive season. After Christmas and particularly after the January exam period, both teams started to gain momentum as they knew that their major tournament was only six weeks away.

The first major tournament for both teams was the SCIS event over the last week-end of January. The girls team travelled to Zurich while the boys team went off to Vienna. Both teams were dominant with the girls team beating the American International School of Vienna in the final with a score of 76-34;. The boys team reached the final as well, and won the first place trophy by beating the American School of Budapest 62-27.

The ISST tournament was the ultimate challenge for the ACS Athens athletes. From March 13th -15th the girls travelled to Vienna and the boys to St. John’s to defend their titles. Both teams played 5 games in two and a half days, and both teams earned the gold with 50 records! The girls team faced the American School of the Hague, the American School of Paris, the International School of Geneva, and Cairo American College; and in the final game they beat TASIS with the score of 55-34. Four of our athletes were named to the All Star Team: Vasiliki Makou, Manto Peppa-Niniou, Zenta Melnika and Marialena Grispou.

The boys team had a more difficult mission against schools like the British School of Netherlands, Cairo American College, Vienna International School, and the American School of London. In the final, ACS Athens beat the host school, St. John’s by only a four point margin!

John Stoukas was named to the All Star Tournament Team.

The basketball season is over, but one thing for sure: the returning players are ready for the next season!

55

SPECIALevents March 2009

2009 Pan-Hellenic Forensics Tournament

Marca A. Daley, Academy Teacher & Forensics Coach

Thirty-one students represented ACS Athens at the annual Pan-Hellenics Forensics Tournament, held at Anatolia College in Thessaloniki March 19-22, 2009.

They were accompanied by seven coaches for Debate, Duet Acting, Oral Interpretation of Literature, Impromptu Speaking and Original Oratory. More than 300 competitors from 15 schools took part in the tournament.

The following ACS Athens students were recognized for outstanding performances: Stephanie Gournaris – finalist in Impromptu Speaking Alaina Boukedes – honorable mention in Impromptu Speaking Sean Hurley – honorable mention in Comic Oral Interpretation Christina Bailan and Sevi Rose – honorable mention in Comic Duet Acting Sparta Nicholoudis - honorable mention in Original Oratory Forensics Coordinator and Head Coach: Ms. Jasonides Debate Teams (Coaches: Mr. Confer and Mr. Dedemadis) Cremos, Jackie, Hunt, Joey, Speckhard, Daniel Avgoustopoulos, Con, Oh, Joon Seok, Tsokos, Alkeos Amarin, Natalie, Hurley, Sean, Winstead, Emma Oratory Team (Coach: Ms. Pittas) Efstathiadi, Katerina Gavridis, Stavroula Koumpis, Remos Nicholoudis, Sparta

Impromptu Team (Coach: Ms. Daley) Al-Sourani, Rawda Avgoustis, Maria Boukedes, Alaina Cremos, Jackie Gournaris, Stephanie Norring, Julie Oral Interpretation Team (Coach: Mr. Resnick) Al-Sourani, Rawda Argitakos, Gianna Boukedes, Alaina Cremos, Jackie Hovenier, Megan Hurley, Sean Kourembanas, Natalie Potak, Claire Duet Acting Team (Coaches: Ms. Thanapoulou and Mr. Medeiros) Bailan, Christina & Rose, Sevi Das, Sudipta & DiCrescentis, Gracy Davison, Caio & Kampouridis, Christos Filippeli, Olympia & Efstathiadi, Katerina Mamalis, Alex & Tsipouridi, Nefeli

56

March 2009

Greek Independence Day Celebration ACS Elementary in Blue and White

Irini Rovoli, Anastasia Papageorgiou, Venie Gaki ES Greek Language Teachers

such a small number of people set their minds to fight against the Ottoman Turks, who in fact outnumbered the Greeks, let alone the fact that this small number won the war and their country back! Their interest in Greek history of those times is immense, their queries are for the most part well-aimed and their more objective perspective sets the background for further discussion. There were students who bombarded us with questions such as, "So, Miss, what took them so long to revolt?" or "What inspired the Greeks to take the risk?"

It is truly amazing to see children from all over the world be a team and cooperate towards a common goal, the Greek Independence Day performance. This is a celebration of color as our students are dressed in blue and white (the Greek flag colors) or in colorful Greek ethnic costumes. It is also a celebration of multiple intelligences as students participate in various activities:

On March 24, 2009, many had the chance to attend the ACS Athens Elementary School celebration of Greek Independence Day at the ACS Theater. It was the 188th commemoration of the declaration of Greek Independence Day. It was on the 25th of March, 1821 that Greeks swore that they would fight to the end to win their freedom back after almost 400 years of slavery to the Ottoman Turks.

Eleftheria e thanatos is what they said, meaning "Freedom or Death."

The Greek ethnic celebration of March 25th is a unique way of celebrating Greece as host country and homeland in an international setting with 100% student participation. What does this celebration offer our students? Native speakers of the Greek classes JK-5 do not just rehearse for the stage performance. The Greek Independence Day is part of the Greek Language curriculum. Therefore, depending on their level, a month prior to the celebration, students are given the opportunity to connect with their past through various texts, poems and songs. Through different activities and research projects, they "travel in time" and meet their ancestors as they learn about the history of that time-period. Students are also invited to ask questions, reflect and express their opinions, and they learn to appreciate the importance of today’s freedom and peace.

Students who are not native Greek speakers are fascinated by the idea that

ñ Greek dancing ñ Singing traditional songs ñ Dramatization ñ Reciting ñ Narrating ñ Projecting their own drawings on the stage screen ñ Holding Greek flags and synchronizing steps and movement ñ Working in teams and in pairs Our students’ comments are indicative of the impact this celebration has on them: "I liked that we learned everything by heart and we were not reading our lines on stage."

"The songs and poems we learned showed us a lot about the difficult times the Greeks had to go through."

"Would we be as brave as they were?"

"I felt nervous on stage but very proud I made it!"

"On stage I felt proud of my country."

"I was holding a Greek flag on stage and the next day I went with my parents to see the big parade in Syntagma square for the first time."

And one among the many parent commented: "My son is half-Greek and we’ve lived everywhere. This celebration gives him roots and identity. A sense of belonging…"

57

SnapshotsofStudentLife

58

59

ALUMNIaffairs

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT: Dr. Paul LaViolette, Class of 1966 How does one explain what science means? There are many examples that help us to understand what science means, but each individual may have a different perspective on what science is all about and what it means to him.

For alumnus Dr. Paul LaViolette, class of ’66, science came into his life at an early age through the influence of his mother, a chemist who had formerly worked at DuPont and his father, a physicist and electrical engineer, specializing in nuclear reactor engineering at the General Electric Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory (KAPL). Both parents showed great enthusiasm and passion for their work, but his father’s mentorship was a great stimulus for Paul. As a young child, Paul traveled with his father to Chicago in March 1958 to attend an Atom Fair where both attended lectures that introduced the latest developments in nuclear power engineering. The fair helped Paul to learn about rare earth elements that he had previously never heard of through displays and models. Paul’s early guidance from his parents provided him with a better understanding of chemical processes as well as nuclear processes. "During my early years, I learned from my father the process of abstract thinking, and of thinking clearly and conceptually about physical phenomena. We both shared the trait of being curious about nature, of wanting to explore the unknown. My mother was also an important influence. From her I learned to be an independent thinker, not to be afraid to stick to my ideas even if they were challenging mainstream thinking. My uncle also had an influence on me in my early years. He was an aerospace engineer who, in his early career, was involved in designing rockets and missiles. He also did pioneering research on ultrasound and developed the first twisted ribbon FM accelerometer, a version of which was later used to accurately measure the force of gravity on the Moon, an accomplishment duly noted on a plaque in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC." Dr. LaViolette earned his Bachelor’s degree in Physics from Johns Hopkins University, his Master’s degree in Organizational Administration from the University of Chicago and his Doctoral degree in Systems Science from Portland

60

Marianna Savvas Alumni Affairs

State University. His passion and the influences he had received throughout his childhood years led him to be who he is today, shaping his professional accomplishments to date and any future discoveries.

Some of Dr. LaViolettes’s professional accomplishments include 5 books which he has authored: Secrets of Antigravity Propulsion, which has been selling very well, having gone through its second printing after just 4 months. He also wrote Decoding the Message of the Pulsars, Earth Under Fire, Genesis of the Cosmos, and Subquantum Kinetics, and has served as the editor of a sixth book entitled A Systems View of Man. His findings have been published in several academic journals such as Earth, Moon, Planets, Meteoritics and Eos, the Astrophysical Journal, the International Journal of General Systems, and Physics Essays.

Paul LaViolette has been recognized as the first astronomer to disprove the expanding universe theory by showing its inability to fit observational data in a consistent manner. He is also the first to discover high concentrations of cosmic dust and gold in ice age polar ice. In this particular discovery, he made predictions about the entry of interstellar dust into the solar system ten years before its confirmation in 1993 by data from the Ulysses spacecraft and by radar observations from New Zealand.

He was the first US scientist to receive polar ice samples from the former Soviet Union, thereby initiating the current US-Russian ice core exchange program. He has been the president of the Starburst Foundation since 1984, for which he has conducted interdisciplinary research in physics, astronomy, geology, climatology, systems theory, psychology and ancient mythology.

The translation of one of his books, Genesis of the Cosmos, from English to Greek brought him to Greece three years ago and he is currently still living in Greece as his second book, Earth Under Fire, is also being translated into Greek.

Both books cover topics such as cosmology, astronomy and ancient mythology.

While in Greece, Dr. LaViolette is writing a paper that will present convincing evidence for the cause of the mass extinction at the end of the ice age, showing that the legendary conflagration was actually due to a super-sized solar storm.

To receive more information on Dr. LaViolette’s career accomplishments, theories and predictions please visit his website at www.etheric.com.

A word of advice that Dr. LaViolette would like to share with our ACS

Athens students who are thinking of entering the field of Science: "If you’re going into science just as a way to make money and basically to be a data collector, play their game and accept their theories, "they" being the guardians of the established science catechism, you will be one of the sheep, probably well fed.

If you’re going into science to make a real difference that will result in an increase of our understanding of the world around us, don’t swallow everything you are taught. Question authority. Realize that most theories that are currently accepted by academia and the media are wrong and have been disproven. Be aware of what Thomas Kuhn talks about in his book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions and realize that the conservative "science priesthood" will

In Memoriam: Farewell to George Pisanias One of the most difficult "farewells" this community has had to say was to our dear former Greek teacher and colleague Mr. George Pisanias. On November 4th 2008, students, former and current faculty and family gathered at the Aghia Triada Church in Ekali to say their final goodbyes to a man who will be remembered by all as a top notch educator, but most of all, a man who loved and cared for his students as if they were his own children.

"30 years later I still remember the fun we had in Mr. Pisanias' class while at the same time learning to appreciate the beauty of Hellenic literature. He was a perfect example of a cultured man who had manners, an unbelievable sense of humor and who truly loved teaching. I consider myself lucky to have known him." Lilika Tsoumba, ’82 "To me he was always teacher, father, mentor, and friend all in one.....and now a legend."

Jim Zikos, ’78 "A teacher of extreme tolerance and patience with his students who educated his students by arranging many field trips all over Greece. He was also very forgiving with my mischief. I can think of at least a couple dozen instances where he cut me slack.... and a hell of a tavli player. He was a legend!" Alex Stathis, ’79 "A very fun guy with a great sense of humor and a high tolerance for youths’ stupidity which made him a great teacher and role model -- will fondly remember him always" Artie Gyftopoulos, ’81

oppose you and try to maintain the hold over its dominion like the eye in the Lord of the Rings. You will have many battle scars. You will be branded as a rebel. You may be shunned by those who may fear that association with you could bring disfavor upon themselves. You may even lose your job, like Halton Arp (discoverer of the quasar redshift anomaly), or Eugene Podkletnov (discoverer of the gravity shield and gravity impulse beam), or Pons and Fleischman (discoverers of cold fusion-which incidentally has now been shown to be a real reproducible physical phenomenon). This is a difficult path which, if you are prepared to follow, will bring immense inner satisfaction, and if you persist, substantial recognition later in life."

Belina Korovessis ’78 George Pisanias was born in Suez, Egypt in 1937 and his parents were from Kalymnos and Kassos. During his childhood he lived in various places including Jerusalem and Cyprus. He studied Modern and Classical Greek at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and spoke five languages. Mr. Pisanias began his teaching career in Cyprus, and then moved to Cairo, Egypt where he met his wife Christina. They moved to Athens in the 1960s and he began teaching at ACS Athens in 1966 as a Greek Teacher, and eventually became IB Coordinator.

He was man of culture and quality, with an incredible approach towards teaching that created a strong bond between him and his students. Teaching was his life. After his retirement from ACS Athens in 1995, he continued to teach, and spend time on his beloved island of Leros, where he enjoyed fishing, cycling, swimming and spending time with friends. However, his heart and pride was with his family; it was evident from his eyes when he would talk about his wife Christina, his children, Katerina and Nicolas, and his grandchildren.

George Pisanias' legacy lives on at ACS Athens through his daughter, Katerina Pisanias, who has been teaching Greek since 1995. Students of Katerina (Ms. Pisanias) will talk about her devotion to her students, her calm and gentleness and love of teaching. For Katerina, her father was "not only a loving and caring father but also my mentor."

Farewell dearest George Pisanias. Our comfort lies in the hope that members of the former Foreign Language Department: Monsieur Angelonides, Madame Manglivera, Ms. Lorandou, Mr. Voudouris, have welcomed you to join them to a game of tavli as good ol' Madame is waving her cane at you with a "Bien Venue!"

Editor’s note: The family of George Pisanias would like to thank everyone for their heartfelt thoughts and condolences.

61

ALUMNIaffairs

Louis Selzer (77) attended ACS between 1971-72 (7 th grade-middle school), and from 1974-1977 (10 th-12th grades-Academy). I attended the University of Maryland, College Park, where I received a BA in Government and Politics (Political Science) in 1981. While at UM, my roommate and close friend was another graduate of ACS (class of 77) Mike Innella. I also kept in contact with my closest childhood friend, Nick Prentzas, who passed away last year.

Grapevine Dear Alumni, Welcome to the Alumni section of the fifth issue of the ACS Athens Ethos. To submit your information in the next issue, please email alumni@acs.gr. Please visit our website at www.acs.gr, under Alumni, so that you, too, can be updated on news and events.

Marianna Savvas (98) Alumni Affairs

What are we doing NOW? Jim Lynch (79) writes: I have had the unique opportunity to be part of building a new university while serving as a Dean of Enrollment Management at Florida Gulf Coast University.

Following graduation, I applied for a position with the US Naval Criminal Investigative Service-NCIS (then known as NIS), and after two years was accepted and received training as a Special Agent in 1983. I had four assignments in Italy, one in Greece, and several in the Washington, DC area. My last posting was at the US embassy in Rome, as the senior representative agent. I concluded my career with the NCIS in December 2005 after almost 23 years of service. During my career with NCIS, I came into contact with other ACS alumni, many of whom were either USMC or USN officers.

I moved to Athens in January 2006. I am now working with my partner, Christine Lentzos at her menswear company as VP and senior board member.

Christine was my high school sweetheart and first true loveâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;she is my date in the above prom and graduation photos. Christine and I got back together after 27 years.

I have three sons from my first marriage: David, Andrea and Luca, who reside with their mother in Rome, Italy.

Ariel Topsikiotis White (2000) while actually based in London as a lawyer, is currently on secondment in New York, and has found it really fantastic to be able to re-connect with her American heritage. She plans to visit ACS this summer, when she returns to Greece for summer vacation.

Ariel keeps in touch through Ms. Perakis.

Tom Gibson (left) and Bob Pasco (right), former Academy Counselors in the early 80's visited campus last May. They are seen here with Ms. Daley and Mr. Pelidis.

62

David and Richard Lemon (84) visited campus in early April, their first visit back since they graduated.

Eleni Bitouni, GALA EVENT Class of 91 ...through the eyes of a parent and alumna

ACS Athens Annual Holiday Bazaar: Alumni Table

The Gala event at the Grande Bretagne was a great event for all who attended. I had the pleasure to attend both as a parent and as an alumna.

Throughout the evening, as I listened to the speakers talk about the school, the faculty, their goals and achievements, I could not help but feel like a youngster who becomes enthusiastic about upcoming events and wish I could turn back time and enjoy the many benefits the school has to offer.

The ACS Athens PTOâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s annual Holiday Bazaar, held on Friday, December 5, 2008 in the school gymnasium, was yet another successful event. ACS Athens parents, friends, students, colleagues, alumni and the outside community had the opportunity to browse the various vendor tables present that day, including ACS Athens school clubs and the ACS Athens Alumni Association.

But that is when I thought . . . when I attended ACS, the school did offer the best at that moment in time. Back then it was still considered the most advanced school; and this is why I also felt content and proud to have made the right decision with my husband to send our child to a school that has proven it can grow and blossom constructively over the years.

The Alumni table was visited by many shoppers who bought items such as coasters, frames, crystal glasses, vases, ornaments, paintings, magnets and key chains provided by the Alumni Association of ACS Athens.

Once again, we would like to thank all those who have shown their continuous support to the Alumni Alumni Association of ACS Athens.

I also saw a few of my teachers who still teach! Their loyalty, their positive attitude, their great spirit and enthusiasm to work as a team reminded me that loyalty, persistence and patience eventually pay off in the fulfillment of aspirations. Last, if I can add a few words about the organization of the event: I thought it was very well presented, the meal served was quite delicious and the dessert was more that I could taste in regards to the chocolate!

Evan Sharp, Class of 85

Eleni Bitouni and husband Panos Simonetos 63

ALUMNIaffairs Stateside News

ALUMNI LETTERS Many of our ACS Athens alumni enjoy sharing memories of former ACS teachers and friends they met and had along the way. Owen Cramer (58) and Cindy Econopouly (73) both responded to the tribute to Mr. Harold Lynn, former ACS Athens teacher, written by teacher and alumna Ms Patty Green-Wenman in the Fall 2008 issue of the Ethos Magazine.

sia in 1958, ending a one-year stay in Greece made possible by my father’s Fulbright professorship at the University of Athens. I got a lot out of the teachings and the friendships of Amin Banani, Helen Tucker, Harry Hionides, John Dorbis, George Pimenides and the Headmaster David King. My classmates–people like Margaret Hopwood, Rigas Hacisavas, Lycourgos Papayanopoulos, Saliha Parer, John Alexander and George Scarpalezos–were wonderfully accepting.

Dear Ms. Savvas, I was touched by the note about Harold Lynn in a recent alumni magazine. I had known that he taught for ACS, but I knew him when he was in Colorado after the Iranian revolution of 1979, which had closed the school in Tehran where he was teaching, or at least driven out the Americans living there.

His mother lived in Colorado Springs, and I think he had grown up here. He was a man of wide Cramer Owen culture, and when I met him he I went on to build an academwas singing in the chorus of a local summer opera festival–perhaps Boris Godunov. He ic career on the Greek I learned. I’ve been a profeswas a joy to be around–witty, informed, upbeat, and sor of Classics in the states now for 43 years, and I I can see the teacher described by my fellow alumni continue to be grateful for my years at ACS Athens. in your story.

Owen Cramer, Class of 1958 Professor of Classics, Colorado College I graduated from the American Academy in Kifis-

Email to Patty Green-Wenman Thu, Jan 15, 2009 Today in the mail I received ACS Athens Ethos, and had some conflicting thoughts: My first thought was: "I hope that today's ACS ethos is to wrap their magazine in a sheet composed of a biodegradable corn product rather than a petroleumbased plastic that will remain in the town landfill for 400 thousand years!"

My next two thoughts followed my views of two

64

pages: On page 47 I saw the cutest-looking young man named AJ that looks just like my old-time ACS friend Jeannie! And on page 54, I saw a picture of my old teacher, Mr. Harold Lynn, above a tribute to him written by my old-time ACS friend Patty!

My final thought was, "Man, I'm going back to Greece next September so I can see Jeannie and Patty and ACS!" Love, Cindy

Ann Lappas-Stiles, Class of 66 Stateside Representative

Here we are–2009–amazing!

The Alumni Affairs office of ACS Athens just mailed its Ethos Magazine to its alumni community abroad. What interesting articles written by students, teachers, staff, parents and alumni. Be sure to send articles/news to Marianna Savvas at alumni@acs.gr if you would like to have it included in the next issue.

I am currently working on plans for an all classes/all school 2010 Stateside Reunion in Philadelphia. Start Saving now–since I’m just getting information in. The only thing I can report is that it will take place in Philadelphia. I will be visiting the area in June to take a look at some hotels and meet with sales people at that time. In the past our reunions were in May or October and that seems to be the best time of year for the group. However, I am always open to other ideas. Please reply with your suggestions on time of year and/or places you’d like to take tours. What Say You? I would also like to get an idea of how many might come to this event. Please reply to Marianna Savvas, Alumni Affairs at alumni@acs.gr if you might be interested.

I am still hearing from people who attended the Athens Reunion of October 2007.

All have said what a wonderful time they had.

A big thank you to Marianna Savvas, Melina Vassiliadis and to the school personnel. I hope to plan another group trip to Greece for 2011.

Please remember to pass on to other alumni you are in contact with information regarding the 2010 Stateside Reunion.

Alumni Volunteer

Who is Dusty Stardusty?

Meet the author and illustrator, Margaret Matsumoto Artinos Alumna Margaret Matsumoto Artinos attended ACS Athens from 1996 and graduated in 1999. She is also an alumna of Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Melbourne, Australia where she majored in Audio Recording. She has an Arts degree from Houston Community College System in Houston, Texas where she lives with her parents and continues her creative endeavors.

Margaret published and illustrated her first children’s book entitled Dusty Stardusty in 2008.

Visitors who attended the October 2008 Annual Alumni Art Exhibition had the opportunity to read and view the illustrations from this book. Currently Margaret is working on new projects, but Dusty Stardusty will always be her favorite book, not because it is her first published children’s book, but because she has always had an image, born out of her sheer imagination, of someone cleaning the stars in the sky, ever since she was a small child.

"Basically, Dusty is a cleaner. So whether it is a dusty star that could use some polishing in the dark night or an ugly idea that belongs to a mean politician or simply a dirty floor, I thought up someone who could clean all that. I’ve always wanted to write about him, a wonderful someone who could fix anything."

Dusty Stardusty will be among the participants at the 2009 Frankfurt International Book Fair in Germany in October. Margaret hopes that her book will reach as many people as possible to trigger in them the question "What is the right thinking?" which was her goal when she started writing it.

Her advice to our young ACS Athens students who aspire to be artists, whether writers, painters

Marianna Savvas Alumni Affairs Marianna Savvas Alumni Affairs

or songwriters is "try to be very original and imaginative in creating and presenting new ideas and visions which always gets the attention of both children and grown-ups." She strongly recommends that "if you want to create something, WRITE DOWN every impression you get to ponder, to make them come together, to make them your own, or to reassure your beliefs. As you live, keep your mind like a radar that identifies things you like in the world, so that you will begin to establish your own style in expressing your thoughts and your creations."

Margaret reminisces on some of her fondest memories as a student here at ACS Athens. "I remember my English teacher Mrs. Tsonis cheering me every chance she got on my writing (I especially remember being commended for my Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn comparison paper, and also being asked to have one of my poems printed in a school publication), and my art teacher Mrs. Thomakos telling me that not many people can both write and illustrate. I always wanted to know everything and do my best in all of my studies. I remember being very happy when I was nominated by my math teacher Mrs. Delinikos for the National Honor Society, and also when my history teacher Dr. Davidson gave me the Student of the Course award at the end of the year. I don’t remember a single teacher at my old school that wasn’t encouraging. They were always there for us students and they truly cared about us and our personal growth as human beings. I will always be proud of being an ACS Athens alumna."

If you are interested in reading about Dusty Stardusty, please contact Marianna Savvas, Alumni Affairs alumni@acs.gr

Dimitri Paraskevas and Students For ACS Athens Alumni, returning to their alma mater to attend reunions, conferences, presentations or school and alumni events is exciting.

Dimitri Paraskevas, Class of 2007, currently in his third year of Clinical Psychology and maintaining his scholarship at Richmond University in London, came to Greece from March 6 14, 2009 to speak to students and adults about his upcoming volunteer work in Uganda.

Aside from his studies, Dimitri works for a charity organization called HOPE (Handicapped Orphaned Poor and Exploited) which aims to provide help for the most impoverished and neglected children all over the world. This summer he has volunteered to work for two months in Uganda on the outskirts of the capital Kampala in the slum area, to help children who are in need of both psychological and physical help.

His presentation on Wednesday, March 11th to our ACS Athens high school study seminar students included a power point presentation providing a brief history of the organization and informing students about the living and health conditions and issues taking place right now in Uganda, as well as of the responsibilities he will have to help these young children in need.

Dimitri concluded his presentation by giving students examples and ideas on how to organize events and be involved in world matters, how to use services to transmit any non-profit programmes and how to use diversity for reaching more people from different cultures for their cause.

65

C O N TA C T S

How to Contact Us Office of the President Office of Enrollment Management & Community Relations Admissions Office Reception Office of Alumni Affairs Human Resources Office Business Office Office of Academic Affairs & Innovative Programs Office of Student Services Cashier Bookstore Transportation Office Health Office Cafeteria Academy Office Middle School Office Elementary School Office IB / Academy Discipline Office Stavros Niarchos Learning Center HS/MS Media Center / Library ES Library Publications Office Athletic Office Theater Office Security Night Entrance Security

ext. 201 ext. 263 ext. 263, 251 ext. 206, 233 ext. 207 ext. 204 ext. 202, 207 ext. 402, 409 ext. 226 ext. 208 ext. 214 ext. 239 ext. 217 ext. 236 ext. 222 ext. 261 ext. 229 ext. 247, 244 ext. 237, 265 ext. 219, 220 ext. 293 ext. 271 ext. 327, 401 ext. 331, 302 ext. 240 210-6393555

American Community Schools of Athens 129 Aghias Paraskevis ∞Á›·˜ ¶·Ú·Û΢‹˜ 129 Tel.: 210-639-3200-3 GR 152 34 Halandri 152 34 ÷ϿӉÚÈ 210-601-6152 Athens, Greece ∞ı‹Ó·, ∂ÏÏ¿‰· Fax: 210-639-0051 E-mail: acs@acs.gr http://www.acs.gr

66

Ethos: n.Greek: ethos: nature, disposition. The characteristic spirit of a culture, era, community, institution, etc., as manifested in its attitudes, aspirations, customs, etc; the character of an individual as represented by his or her values and beliefs; the prevalent tone of a literary work in this respect.

A WORLD - CLASS Teaching and Research American University in Europe ADVANCE YOUR CAREER through one of our Bachelor’s, Master’s, Ph.D degree programs.

EFFECTIVE

AFFORDABLE

INNOVATIVE

Business Administration: Accounting, General Business, International Business, Economics, Finance, Human Resource Management, Management, Marketing, Shipping Management, Hotel Management, Travel and Tourism Management Computer Sciences: Computer Science, Computer Information Systems, Computer Hardware, Digital Electronics, Graphic and Computer-Aided Design Engineering: Electrical, Mechanical, Manufacturing, General Engineering, Architectural, Civil Natural Sciences: Biology, Biochemistry, Chemistry, (Pre-medical), Physics, Mathematics, Pharmacy Legal Studies: 4-year academic and professional programs in cooperation with the Institute of Legal Executives Information Technology: Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Computer Hardware, Digital Electronics, Computer-Aided Design Liberal Arts: Art History, Classical Archaeology, English Literature, European Studies, Fashion Design, History, Journalism, Public Relations, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology

Promoting research and professional skills with MASTER'S and DOCTORATE DEGREES u MS BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES MBA u MS COMPUTER SCIENCES u MA BUSINESS COMMUNICATIONS u MS ENGINEERING AND APPLIED SCIENCES u MA POLITICS AND POLICY-MAKING u MS SYSTEMS ENGINEERING u MS TELECOMMUNICATIONS

MAIN BUILDING: 4, Sochou Str. and Kifissias Av. - Neo Psychico - 115 25 GREECE LIBRARY and RESEARCH CENTER BUILDING: 19, Aggelopoulou Str. - Neo Psychiko - 115 25 GREECE Tel: (+30) 210 7259301-3 / 6785100-29 Fax: (+30) 210 7259304 e-mail: info@aua.edu www.aua.edu