ADDRESS BY HEAD OF COLLEGE MRS. STEFANOU HAAG Your Excellency, it is our joy and privilege to welcome you, Mrs. Karamanlis, Mrs. Bakoyiannis and your entire entourage to our College, in the presence of our Primate and President, Archbishop Stylianos of Australia, Bishop Seraphim and all dignitaries. St Spyridon College is one of eight Greek Orthodox Archdiocese schools in Australia.Today, all 7,000 students with their staff and communities celebrate with us this august visit to our country, our Church and our Schools. The Greek Orthodox youth of Australia, have the excellent good fortune to complete their studies in schools that are founded, on Hellenic Ideals and Christian values. Our schools provide for them, a strong sense of belonging and a strong sense of responsibility. We have the ambition to develop young people into dynamic citizens of the global community, who contribute to those issues that affect all humanity. It is a special joy to us that your visit coincides with our Silver Jubilee. St Spyridon College is in its 25th year of operation. Along with all our Orthodox schools, we have a reputation for academic excellence, sporting prowess and student leadership. Our students represent Australian schools in Commonwealth and European Youth Parliaments, in national and international sporting competitions. Around 80% of our senior students are university entrants. As University graduates receive top University honours. Past students hold every conceivable position in society–as technocrats, teachers, lawyers, doctors, architects, academics and business people. In other words, Greek Orthodox Schools are in the fullest sense, a highly credible and dynamic part of the fabric of Australian society. For the students of St Spyidon College there is no tension and no crisis of identity. They are fully Greek and fully Australian. They take strength from their dual heritage. They are to quote, “people of faith, discipline and tradition”. Our greatest challenge us to become better than we are-or in Pindar’s words, “to become what we were meant to be”. We humbly ask that you convey to the Youth of Greece, their parents and their teachers, our warmest greetings as educators and fellow Greeks. Your Excellency, we ask that you tell them that Greek Orthodox Australian Youth shares with them unease and fears about the fate of our planet; the ravages of war; the poverty of children. That with them, they also share a deep desire for peace, for an approach to the environment that reflects reverence for all of God’s creation; for a world that puts children first and the ego mania of world leaders last.
Εξοχώτατε, Σας ευχαριστούµε που είστε ο πρωθυπουργός της Ελληνικής ∆ηµοκρατίας, του οποίου ο οικογενειακός και δηµόσιος βίος µας κάνoυν uπερήφανους που είµαστε Έλληνες. Ελπίζουµε ότι θα χαρείτε την επίσκεψή σας σ’ αυτήν την όµορφη χώρα και σας ευχόµεθα κάθε επιτυχία στον δύσκολο και ιερό αγώνα σας να οδηγήσετε την Ελλάδα σε µια νέα εποχή ειρήνης και προκοπής.