Stylus Volume No.8

The voice of St. Spyridon College

| JULY 2009 | NUMBER 8 |

It’s all about building young lives.

Photography - Mike Flokis

stylus Upcoming

Events The term Stylus is used to describe a myriad of different devices used in computing, science, medicine, art and technology. In ancient times, a stylus was the bone or ivory

Term 3 – 2009 Staff Development Day Students return Parent Teacher Interviews Years 10 & 11 Junior School Athletics Carnival HSC Trials Begin

Mo – 27th Jul Tu – 28th Jul Mo – 3rd Aug Tu – 4th Aug Mo – 10th Aug

NSW State Futsal Championships

Th – 13th Aug

Parent Forum Year 9 2010

Tu – 18th Aug

HSC Trials End Laying of Foundation Stone for Multipurpose Hall

Mo – 24th Aug Tu – 25th Aug

pen used to write on wax or

HICES Athletics Carnival Junior School

We – 26th Aug

ASISSA Athletics Carnival Junior School

Th – 27th Aug

clay tablets. Stylus is also the

ISA Athletics Carnival

Greek word for pillar, denoting strength and grace.

Year 11 Preliminary Course Final Assessment Begins

Tu – 8th Sep Mo - 21st Sep

P & F Trivia Night

Sat - 26th Sep

K – 12 Doxology

Th - 1st Oct

House Gala Day Senior School

Th - 1st Oct

Open Day Junior School

Th - 1st Oct

Term ends for students

Th – 1st Oct

Year 12 Farewell Vespers & Dinner

Th - 1st Oct

Staff Development Day

Fri - 2nd Oct

Year 12 Formal

Tu - 6th Oct

term 4 – 2009 Staff and students return

Mo – 19th Oct

Year 10 Final Assessment Week

Mo - 19th Oct

HSC Begins OHI Day Celebrations Church Yrs 7 – 9

Tu - 20th Oct Sun - 25th Oct

Spring Fair Junior School Campus

Sun - 25th Oct

Years 7 – 9 Final Exams Begin

Mon - 2nd Nov

School Certificate

Mon - 9th Nov

School Certificate

Tue - 10th Nov

Parent Forum Year 7 2010

Tue - 10th Nov

School Certificate Preparing for the Preliminaries Course Begins

Wed - 11th Nov Th 12th Nov

Orientation Day Year 7 2010

Mon - 16th Nov

Year 4, 5 & 6 Camps begin

Wed - 18th Nov

Year 4, 5 & 6 Camps end

Fri - 20th Nov

ESSA Year 8

Tu - 24th Nov

Term ends for students

Th – 10th Dec

Staff Development Day

Fr – 11th Dec

St Spyridon Vespers

Fri - 11th Dec

St Spyridon Day

Sa - 12th Dec

Year 10 Dinner

Th - 26th Nov

Last Day for Year 10 Parent Teacher Yearly Interviews Junior School K – 6 Awards Presentation Morning Year 6 Graduation Speech & Prize Giving Afternoon 12.30pm

n Internal Event

Fr - 27th Nov Tu - Wed – 1st - 2nd Dec Tu – 8th Dec Tu – 8th Dec Th – 10th Dec

n Public Event

‘‘

Address from Head of College As many parents would be aware, St Spyridon College was granted $2.5 million towards our new Multipurpose Hall by the Federal Government as part of its P21 Building Education Revolution Initiative. As part of the same initiative, and within the National Schools Pride category, a grant of $200,000 was given to the College for the upgrade of covered walkways at the Senior Campus.

We invite all parents, friends and well wishers to the Blessing Ceremony to be held on the 25th of August at the Senior Campus at 9.30 AM. We are honoured that His Eminence Archbishop Stylianos will be conducting the Blessing and presiding over this momentous event.

All students K to 12 will be present and at the closing of the proceedings we will share morning tea.

On behalf of Father Steven Scoutas, Parish President – Dr Savoulis and Chairman of the Board – Mr James Phillips, I wish to express our gratitude to the Commonwealth Government for its vision for Australian schools generally and its material support to St Spyridon College in particular.

At the same time, the Parish is working with the College on the construction of a new facility at the Junior School’s campus, on the Doran Street site. This will house new classrooms as well as a multipurpose room.

We anticipate minimal disruption to students’ routines at either campus, as the building sites in both places may easily be cordoned off from the rest of the school. We will keep parents informed of progress on works and development.

Whilst we welcome progress on building works, our focus remains on students’ learning.

I hope that you enjoy this edition of the Stylus which provides some characteristic snapshots of College life. I commend our teachers’ tireless efforts to maximise students’ learning by providing challenging and rewarding experiences in the classroom and in the broader community context.

Of course our teachers’ efforts are enhanced by our strong partnership with parents. This is exemplified by the dynamic work of our Parents and Friends Committee which has already raised over $18, 000 towards the installation of interactive whiteboards for our Infants School classrooms. I invite all parents and community members to continue to give our P & F their wholehearted support.

Mrs E. Stefanou-Haag Head of College

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Student leaderships Address by College Captain Leadership Redefined – Students and Scholarships Assembly Speech 2009 Many people associate the word ‘leadership’ with certain types of people who they perceive to be visionaries in their field. People believe that there is a segment of society who are born leaders – and a position of leadership is their exclusive status. And there is an element of truth behind that which one could attest to. But on a deeper, more introspective and personal level leadership is so much more. More than wearing a badge, more than flamboyance, more than charisma, more than just simply acting responsibly. Leadership is acting with sound judgement, with conscience and in a moral fashion.

Today, I tell you that these altruistic and moral ideals that St. Spyridon instils in us – are the inner potential of all of us, waiting to be harnessed – and today we applaud all the scholarships winners, and sportsmen and women, and newly elected SRC on their exceptional efforts as they have in one way or another, taken advantage of this potential.

On January 8th 2008 in New Hampshire, United States, a then-presidential candidate with a funny name, and distinctive appearance, named Barack Obama stood tall and brave behind a podium. With eloquence, command and a flourish of oratorical flair, he declared to a nation ‘Yes, we can’. On this inspirational and collaborative mantra he went on to secure the Presidency – becoming the first African-American President and at the same time making him arguably the most powerful man on the planet.

I stand here before you today, and furnish you with Barack

Obama’s example because I feel it necessary that everyone recognises the importance in realising your dreams, staying true to your cause, and passionate in your efforts. These are all the makings of a true leader. It is about the tenacity to work hard, to take risks and to stand in the face of your fears and conquer fear itself – that allow us to progress in life. If we are all to harness this potential, to reach deep into our caprice of talents, then we must not be battered by the apathy of conformist thought, and stand with vigor and confidence – as President Obama did and as St. Spyridon teaches us.

If we are knocked to the ground we must be resilient and bounce back. We must abide by our 9 student principles, which are the declaration of all that we aspire to be as Orthodox Christians, and by extension, dignified human beings. These principles allow for the intertwining dynamic between us as a school community, and on a more personal and spiritual level. They are an expression of who we are, and who we want to become, of developing character and integrity, and having a highly tenacious mentality. Above all, these principles are a representation, and guiding light to becoming more decent and moral individuals - putting our altruistic and compassionate attitudes, before personal desires and materialism.

It was this greed that has led us into this bleak chasm of uncertainty that has become the Global Financial Crisis. By misplacing our trust in avaricious peoples, we have forgot-

Year 6 On Leadership Year Six Leadership Day

HICES 2009 - Developing negotiation, communication and co-operation skills.

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Christopher Stasos – School Captain ten our own personal leadership. We have languished into the corners of our own indifference and black fears, instead of taking personal responsibility. This idea of personal responsibility is what we all need to be implementing in our day-to-day lives, not necessarily on such a grand, global scale, but on a level more applicable to us. For those of you who sit there now, and think to yourselves, ‘but how could I possibly be a leader’ – I would simply answer, everyone here is a leader, because you are leading yourselves.

Student Principle Number 3 states: “We work together to achieve a school community whose distinguishing characteristics are those of friendship, compassion and decency”.

If we work in unison, in collaboration, then we will not only become more successful individuals, but happier team-members. This was exemplified by the Year 12 Class of 2008 – they did not only work hard for themselves, but lifted together, as a team, from the menial tasks, to the real thing – the HSC. When one needed encouragement, they were encouraged. When one succeeded, they were applauded. Each student was their brother’s keeper, their sister’s keeper, leading themselves and each other.

It is this expulsion of sheer egoism and individuality – possessed by Year 12 which made them the leaders they were, allowed them to obtain their brilliant HSC results, and above all made them proud and honourable young men and women.

We congratulate them on such a tremendous effort, and only

hope we can fill their shoes. In part we are doing this already, as a whole school community from Kindy to Year 12, we raised close to 3000 dollars for the Victorian Bushfire Appeal, as one we dug deep for a greater cause.

This college provides us with all of the opportunities necessary in developing self-concept and character. It allows us to take hold of ourselves and strive to be Orthodox Christians through the multitude of programs open to us from Leadership Forums, to travelling interstate for sports, to being the voice of your class as an SRC. If it is only one thing is taken away from what I say today then I hope it is this: Seize the moment and the opportunities, seize the exposure we have to our culture, seize our faith in God, seize our fundamental Orthodox beliefs and values which we have at our will. Take all of these things, and live passionately and with purpose, not wallowing through the flimsy mishmashes, and false pretences of life. Be proud of yourselves; be proud of your culture, your blood, and your school. This is my definition of leadership.

What does it take to be an extraordinary leader?

As school leader at St Spyridon College Junior School I would like to share my vision for our school in 2009.

There are a few key words for being an extraordinary leader.

The first word is RESPECT. You have to respect other people.

If you do not show respect to other people they will not respect you in return.

Another key word is LOYALTY. You always have to be loyal if you’re a captain or leader of a school, state or a country.

Being a LOYAL person displays honesty.

together as a community. I believe that we can be a community that lives in peace and harmony, where we all get along and have fun.

In addition, if we all look out for one another and support each other we can all have a great school community.

Philip Hatzistergos 6M

In 2009 I have a vision for my school. My vision is to work

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We love our Wednesdays!!

In Kindergarten we look forward to Wednesdays because our Year 6 buddies come to visit us. We spend our lunchtime together. We eat our big lunch and then we play all different games with our buddies. We like playing on the equipment with them, playing soccer with them and also we love the hoola hoops!!

Miss Kollias Kindergarten Jade

Global connections

A

s part of the College global connections strategy, the Head of College and the Parish Executive Officer attended three Education Expos and Seminars in China, in the cities of Beijing, Xian and Shanghai.

The purpose was to create new education and cultural links with schools and other providers, for the good progress of the College.

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Prefects lead to SRC Leadership

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ongratulations to all the Prefects for the efficient manner in which they conducted Pastoral Care Leadership talks and guided the SRC nomination process with all Middle School students.

The three Senior Prefects:- Chris Stasos, School Captain, Kosta Pappas, Vice Captain and Tina Piperides, Senior Prefect attended the annual Prefect Seminar hosted by SCEGGS,

Darlinghurst. At this event student school leaders have an opportunity to liaise with Prefects from many varied Sydney Schools, listen to inspirational speakers and participate in leadership workshops.

Ms G Kokinelis Dean of Middle School

Student Leadership Congratulations to the following students who were elected

by Home Room groups as the class Student Representative Council member (SRC) for 2009.

SRC 2009 Year 7: Anthony Theofanidis 7S

Chloe Kourtesis 7G

Pamela Prineas 7Z Year 8: Chrisovalantou Georgou 8K

Michael Arfanis 8P

Nicholas Stasos 8S Year 9: Dimitrios Syros 9B

Adriana Tsounis 9C

George Mantzavrakos 9M Year 10: Christopher Georgiades 10A

Stefan Ivanovic 10I Year 11: Stephanie Vardas 11B

Sarut Chomsuwan 11G Year 12: Christopher Stasos – School Captain

Kosta Pappas – Vice Captain

Tina Piperides – Senior Prefect All students were presented with their badges at the Leadership Assembly that was held on Wednesday 18th March, at St Spyridon Church.

Ms G Kokinelis Dean of Middle School STYLUS Page 5

Focus on our teachers Profile of Mrs Dimitrelis – Primary Curriculum Coordinator

Qualifications:

• Masters of Educational Leadership (University of New South Wales)

• Bachelor of Arts-Psychology with the Diploma of Education (Macquarie Uni)

• Certificate of Religious Education (Australian Catholic University)

Responsibilities: • Curriculum 3-6 English/H.S.I.E.

• Coordinates Prep Middle Pastoral

• Coordinates Student Support 3-6

Care Program, Student Leadership

• Coordinates Transition from

and Year 6 Fundraising/Enterprise

Prep Middle School to Senior

Education

School Program

• Primary Classroom Teacher

Mrs Dimitrelis is a passionate and dedicated teacher with experience in team-teaching cooperative planning and inclusive programming.

She has taught in Public, Catholic and Independent school systems.

She began at St Spyridon College in 2004 as specialist English/H.S.I.E. before becoming Curriculum Coordinator.

Her many strengths include teaching practice, professional development engagement and her capacity to inspire teachers and students.

Educational Philosophy Mrs Dimitreles says: “It is my uncompromising view that my role as an educator is to facilitate and coordinate learning

P & F Activities Bravo For Taverna Night!

The P&F committee was thrilled with the overwhelming response from its community for a most successful Taverna Night. With well over 400 guests, this profitable event raised $6000 which will make its way into the classrooms to help benefit the education of our children.

Mrs M. Pascalis

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which includes establishing strong and productive links between school and home as well as cooperative links with our broader community.

I believe the school environment should be reflective of the values and standards of our school’s mission and demonstrate a thoughtful and on-going commitment to providing quality education to children, inspiring in them a desire for life-long learning.

A program of work should aim to integrate a number of Key Learning Areas providing rich and varied tasks developed collaboratively within teams in terms of content, metacognitive skills, key conceptual elements and higher order thinking skills. Participation in a

meaningful and purposeful learning culture enables students to embrace challenges, take initiative, exercise judgment and develop individually, within their immediate community and the global community.”

Mrs Dimitreles has assisted teams to enter “Tournament of the Minds” (2006); Entered and prepared students to participate in the children’s show “It’s Academic” (2007); Established and facilitate the Year 6 Student Leadership/Pastoral Care Program (2006); Assisted students to develop and maintain the year 6 Harmony Garden as part of the Enterprise Education Program (2007).

Pantomine delights junior school audience

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ongratulations to 2008’s 7/8 Co Curricular and Year 9 Drama classes, who finished last year with two original and highly entertaining performances to the Junior School.

Our featured production was a 45 minute original play called “The Game of Life”. Last year’s Year 10 created their piece from scratch and came up with a highly entertaining play about a spoilt boy named Charlie, who gets absorbed into a video game in order to learn some valuable lessons about life. During his travels, he is guided by the cheerleading Fairy Godmother, discouraged by the Wicked Witch of the West and meets a host of characters including: Captain Jack Sparrow, The Joker, Batman and Batgirl, Kung Fu Panda, Tylong, Master Shefoo and the cast of High School Musical.

This piece captivated all audience members from Kindy to Year 6.

Ms K. Lucas Drama teacher

Photography - Mike Flokis

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New building Program begins

It’s all about

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stylus

building young lives.

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Where are they now?

Mr. Michael Comninos Past Students and Present Role Models

St Spyridon College Graduate 1997 Michael Comninos graduated from St Spyridon College in 1997. He commenced the Bachelor of Science (Advanced) in Molecular Biology and Genetics degree at the University of Sydney in 1998.

In 1998 he was awarded the Lionel Bowen Scholarship by the City of Botany Bay, an award that was given for both financial hardship and academic achievement.

In 1999 Michael changed the focus of his studies moving towards Mathematics and the modelling of natural systems including disease and resources. This was also the year when Michael first put up his hand in a student election, becoming one of seven delegates from the University of Sydney’s 40,000 strong student body to the National Union of Students.

In 2000 Michael became the Treasurer of the University of Sydney Student Union, overseeing a $22 million operating budget.

This year he led the campaign to keep the University of New England’s Modern Greek Department open, with the result being that students were able to transfer their studies to the University of New South Wales.

Having to work to support his family Michael took time off from both politics and study returning to both in 2002.

In 2003 Michael was elected National General Secretary of the National Union of Students and was the Chief Executive Officer of a $2 million organisation representing over 700,000 students.

Based in Melbourne Michael was responsible for the legal and financial dealings of the Union across Australia, an opportunity for which he is very grateful.

Michael returned to Sydney in 2004 and moved towards completing his Bachelor of Science degree. In July he joined Peter Garrett’s Kingsford Smith campaign team, running Mr Garrett’s

Michael Comninos (third from left) and distinguished achievers 1997

information office in the lead up to the October Federal Election.

In 2005 Michael worked for former Lord Mayor of Sydney and current Minister for Energy and Utilities Frank Sartor MP. Michael has also commenced studies in a Masters of Environmental Management at the University of New South Wales.

Michael is the Acting Chair of the Federation of Ethnic Community Councils of Australia (FECCA) sitting on committees that advise the Federal Government on multicultural issues and youth affairs.

In 2005 Michael matched the Sydney

University Greek Society’s (SUGS) contribution to the Professor Manuel Aroney Award out of his own pocket.

Michael was the SUGS president in 2000 and went on to be the National President of the National Union of Greek Australian Students in 2003.

When conveying his contribution to the college he justified it in the following way: “I was brought up by a widowed Italian mother and the St Spyridon Parish.

The College taught me the Greek language, nurtured my faith and supported me with friends that I still have today. My education took me to University where I had the opportunity to better myself and interact in political discourse. I would not be here today without the guidance of my childhood mentors almost all teachers of St Spyridon College. My contribution to the Aroney Award is a small token of thanks to the volunteers and contributors that built the college and to the discipline and hard work of future students who aspire to win the award.”

Michael is now married to the beautiful and talented Belinda, who works at the Office of Kristina Keneally MP, who is the Member for Heffron, Member of the Legislative Assembly, Minister for Planning, and Minister for Redfern Waterloo and Member of Australian Labor Party.

Congratulations Nicola Cafcaros We are very proud to announce that Nicola Cafcaros, Year 2, has been selected to represent Australia in the World Dance Cup in the UK and also in the American Hall of Fame World Titles.

This selection is a great honour not only for Nicola’s family and country but also for us, her school community.

Competing overseas is very expensive so we would like as a community to assist and support Nicola to go over and do her best and compete with pride for Australia and for us all. As we have done in the past for other students who have represented Australia we will have a fundraising activity early next term to assist Nicola in this wonderful achievement.

Well done Nicola, keep training and trying hard. Your school is very proud of you and we will follow your progress with great interest.

Mrs M Hamer, Principal of Junior School STYLUS Page 10

Honouring our traditions 25th MARCH Thank you to all staff and students who attended this year’s celebrations. Congratulations also to Phoebe Ganis, George Sialepis and Natalie Pizanis, Year 11 as well as Maria Spanoudakis and Emanuel Kapodistrias in Year 6,

for reciting their poems with such confidence in St Spyridon Church on Sunday, 22nd March, 2009.

Thank you to both Mrs Faletas and Mrs Ieroklis for preparing the students.

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Academic excellence Distinction courses

H

ello everybody, I’m very grateful to have this precious opportunity to share my experience at Philosophy Distinction Course (which will be counted 2 unit for UAI but no HSC exams for it, haha!) with you.

Earlier this year I attended my first Philosophy Residential School at Namaroo Conference Centre, with around 50 other students from all over NSW (some did School Certificate in Year 7, some finished 7 units of HSC in Year 10, some are doing more than 20 units alongside with sports, debating for school) to have intense lectures and seminars delivered

by Professors from University of New England (those lectures are so intense that hurt my heard and damage my brain!)

Despite the studying hours, we had a wonderful and relaxing time, full of fun and laughter (5 meals a day! Fantastic accommodation! Movie at night! All sorts of sports activities: pingpong, swimming, soccer, basketball, footy, pull, volleyball!

And other things which are too good to expose).

Therefore, I would like to encourage the current/future accelerants in Year 11 to consider this brilliant Distinction Course (no fees at all, transport cost repayable), which surely will challenge your mind and extend your knowledge.

Mark Xin Year 12

United in numbers – World Maths Day 2009 World Maths Day was held on the 4th of March 2009. The children of the world were invited to set a new record on the number of correctly answered mental mathematics questions.

What a performance. Over 1 million students from 160 countries have united to set the new WORLD RECORD of: 452 682 682.

Sponsored and powered by Mathletics, the students play against each other in mental arithmetic games. Students are captivated by the fact that they are playing in real time against other students from all over the world. Each game lasts 60 seconds; students can play as many games as they wish. The questions are appropriately leveled for different ages and level.

This truly unique world event is a fantastic way of promoting numeracy within our school and enhancing our ‘global connections’ through mathematics. Students from the whole Junior School and Years 7-9 from the Senior School participated. All students were excited and determined to beat their international

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peers, some giving out a cheer upon winning the round.

“World Maths Day’ is a celebration of numbers, as children from across the globe unite in their quest to set a world record answering mental arithmetic questions. Last year’s record was over 185 million questions answered correctly!!

Our school once again was part of this global event and we are extremely proud of our contribution of 207 345 correctly answered questions. The event created much excitement on the day and all our participants must be congratulated on the enthusiasm, determination and commitment that they displayed. We wait patiently for World Maths Day 2010 where our challenge will be to better, individual, school and global records set.

“World Maths Day uniting the world in numbers.”

The Maths Team – K – 12

Senior School Sport Congratulations to the First XI Boys Football who beat Scots College in the NSW CIS Cup (Round 2) in penalty shoot out and on Saturday beat Redlands 2-1. What an outstanding effort from the boys who are in Division 1.

Coach: Mr A. Condous Team Consists of: Reda Asaad, Erik Papadimatos, Anthony Giavis, James Demetri, George Georgamlis, Peter Koureas, Peter Mitris, Nathan Lazos, Peter Kafataris, Chris Stasos, Ilia Coplin, Kosta Pappas (Captain), Alex Vatiliotis, Peter Theodosi, Peter Kringas, Nicholas Piperides, Greg Rotis, Alex Georgiou, Milton Spiropoulos.

Athletics Carnival 2009 On Tuesday 9th June St Spyridon College held the Annual Athletics Carnival held at ES Marks Field. Increasing House Spirit and participation in events was the focus for the carnival this year. Students were able to dress up in their House Colours to emphasise more House Spirit and there were some very interesting outfits, even a visit from the Cookie Monster. Participation in events had improved and some outstanding results performed with many record broken.

• 14 years 100m John Marantos 11.96 • 16 years 200m Phillip Fotiou 23.94 • 16 years 800m Tiffany Koutrouzas 3.18.61 • 13 years Discus Costas Mavrolefterou 26.58m • Opens Discus Amanda Horafios 24.20m 11 • 16 years Long Jump Tiffany Koutrouzas 4.07m • 16 years High Jump Milica Janjetovic 1.33m Congratulations to all students for such an outstanding performance. This successful day which could not have been made possible without the help of teachers and prefects.

Congratulations to Tiffany Koutrouzas and Phillip Fotiou for winning the Champions of Champions race yet again. The Final House points were the closest ever and the final winner was not decided to the last race.

Below are the final house points.

House points 1st Delphians 715 points 2nd Corinthians 714 points 3rd Nemeans 607 points 4th Olympians 470 points 12

ATHLETICS SQUAD Congratulations to the following students who have been selected to participate in the upcoming ISA Athletics Carnival.

These students achieved outstanding results in the School Carnival and now will compete in the next level. There will be a training day held Tuesday 11th August at ES Marks Field in which students will receive more information closer to the date.

Boys - Sotiri Abouyanni, James Andrew, Stephen Andrianakos, Phillip Fotiou, James Syros, Apostolos Papayioryiou, Reda Asaad, Kosta Baratsas, Nikolas Baratsas, Andrew Christofos, Stefan Cvetkovic, George Dokos, Erik Papadimatos, Nicholas Fotopoulos, Peter Fotopoulos, Alex Georgiou, Michael Horafios, Dane Ivanovic, Stefan Jovic, Peter Kafataris, Christopher Kolistasis, Peter Kolistasis, Dylan Kontos, Georgio Lambos, George Malomitis, John Marantos, Costas Mavrolefterou, Daniel Milovanovic, Alexander Moraitis, Panayioti Kapodistrias, Nicholas Piperides, Andrej Popovic, Gregory Rotis, Ben Sealy, Milton Spiropoulos, Chris Stasos, Petros Stefadouros, Peter Theodosi, Stefanos Tsorbatzoglou, Alex Vatiliotis.

Girls - Christina Andrew, Tina Andrew, Ashli Bergmann, Patrice Calopedos, Nicola Demetri, Adriane Efstratiou, Angelina Flokis, Phoebe Ganis, Cassie Georgiou, Chrisovalantou Georgou, Katerina Hilellis, Amanda Horafios, Mariah Ishak, Milica Janjetovic, Sandra Janjetovic, Kate Kalergis, Angela Kardamis, Katerina Kerameas, Nicolette Kontakos, Aleks Koncar, Irene Koukounaris, Nansia Koukounaris, Tiffany Koutrouzas, Eleni Mavrolefterou, Leah Meletis, Anastasia Papayioryiou, Stephanie Pizanis, Lena Sialepis, Milica Simonovic, Mariam Spilioti, Martha Spilioti, Yvonne Stefadouros, Adriana Tsounis, Stephanie Vardas, Kayla Want.

Ms K O’Shea Girls Sport STYLUS Page 13

St Spyridon Sports Stars Sydney FC Holiday Clinic “…On Tuesday we all arrived in our Sydney FC gear. We all looked good, my boots were shining. The passing was different. We had to dribble the ball around the cones.

We then played a game called Sharks. This is how Sharks is played. Two defenders, must stand in the middle, while the other players stand in a circle. The players around the circle must kick or pass the ball to each other, the defenders must tackle the ball from the players in the circle if a player is tackled he must join the defender in the middle. The last player in the circle with the ball wins.

The next day was Wednesday and very exciting. The Sydney FC players came to coach us. My brother and I were asked to demonstrate the cross over drill and the Maradona. We then took a photo with Steve Corica, played a game and then went home….”

Aaron Nissirios 3S

Football 2009 Past meets the present On Thursday 12th March, St Spyridon for the first time held a football match against old boys of St Spyridon College. It was a thrilling match and good training for our current boys before the season starts next term. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Steve Sfinas of Year 10 who helped organize this fixture against the ‘old boys of St Spyridon’.

Mr A. Condous Boys Sport

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Team consists of: Reda Assad Anthony Giavis George Georgamlis Peter Mitris Chris Stasos Kosta Pappas Peter Kringas Alex Georgiou Chris Georgiadis

Erik Papadimatos James Demetri Peter Koureas Peter Kafataris Ilia Coplin Alex Vatiliotis Nicholas Piperides Milton Spiropoulos Coach: Mr Kaldis

stylus ISA swimming trials On Friday 6th March many students from St Spyridon participated in the Annual ISA Swimming Carnival.

Some outstanding results were achieved in particular the Junior and Senior Girls Divisions with 2nd and 1st place overall respectively. All students applied maximum effort and tried their hardest to do their best for our School.

May I remind you that many of the schools that we participate against have

a large number of students to select from and to achieve such outstanding results is an excellent achievement.

Senior Girls team consisted of Makrina Spilioti, Angelina Flokis, Christina Lazarides, Amanda Horafios, Sandra Janjetovic and Mariam Spilioti. Junior Girls team consisted of Christina Andrew, Yianna Criticos, Cassandra Georgiou, Martha Spilioti, Maria Mio, Katerina Hillelis and Lena Nesterenko.

ISA swimming team Angelina Flokis, Makrina and Martha Spilioti competed in the ISA Swim Team at the NSWCIS Championships.

time 3 seconds faster.

The competition was very hard nevertheless all girls produced an outstanding performance. Angelina and Makrina both achieved personal best times and finishing in the top ten positions. Special mention is to be made to Martha of Year 7 who has successfully qualified for the NSWCIS team who will compete in the NSW All Schools Swimming Championships on May 25th. Martha received silver medals in the 100m and 200m Butterfly although she was up against students one year older than her.

Ms K.O’Shea Girls Sport

Martha is now placed 6th in the whole of Australia. Congratulations!

Furthermore, Martha competed in the Australian Age Swimming Championships this is a National Competition where Martha achieved a personal best

Angelina Flokis

Makrina Spilioti Martha Spilioti

Congratulations Lucas Lucas Dedes attended the Australian ITF National Championships in Taekwondo on the 6th and 7th December 2008 held in Melbourne. Lucas and his dojang mates from Tam’s Budo Academy PCYC brought back in total 26 medals, 14 gold, 5 silver, 6 bronze.

Lucas competed in the under 10’s Junior coloured belt division, it wasn’t easy but he managed to come home with Gold 1st in his individual pattern in Taekwondo Australian ITF National Championship 2008.

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Academics Budding scientists get a boost from Dr Dokos Year Three Year 3 learning about ‘Muscles and Bones’ for science.

On Thursday the 27th of February we were lucky enough to have Dr. Dokos (Catherine Dokos’s father 3S) came and visited us to talk about how the human body works. Dr. Dokos is a Biomedical Engineer at the University of New South Wales.

Mr. Dokos came prepared with a very interesting slide show and a life size cut out of the human body. We were asked if we knew any of the scientific names of parts of the human body and we did. Dr. Dokos was very impressed to hear that we knew about the fibula, clavicle and scapula to mention a few. Dr. Dokos then went on to discuss the importance of our spine and skull and taught us that the mandible is the jaw bone. He explained how important it is to protect our bodies. We were told about bones, joints and muscles in the body and shown diagrams of the inside of a bone and muscles.

Dr. Dokos allowed us to ask questions throughout the discussion.

These are some we asked: What is inside a bone? How do babies get oxygen inside their mother’s stomach? How long does a broken bone take to mend? Dr. Dokos answered all our questions with patience. We enjoyed learning about the human body!

Year 3

Year 4 science experiment As part of unit on “Living Things” Year 4 conducted an experiment to observe and find out how plants use water.

They observed celery at regular intervals for a period of one hour and recorded their observations. Their observations indicated that they learnt how water is used by plants. Year 4 then interpreted these results to write scientific conclusions.

Mrs Dimitrelis and Ms Liakatos Year 4 Teachers

Year 4 Conclusions I observed that the stalk that was in the water was healthy, looking the same as it did in the beginning of the experiment but the stalk in the food colouring was turning blue.

Johnny Mouratidis 4C

The food colouring has gone up through the stem and into the leaves. The water level has also dropped.

Lewis Athanasopoulos 4T The food colouring went up one side of the celery stalk and changed to blue and on the other side I knew water was travelling up the stalk but I couldn’t see it happening because the water was clear.

Constantinos Kollias 4C

The celery sucked up the water in the cups to get minerals.

The celery would normally get minerals from the soil.

Markella Roditis 4T I think if you put celery in water with sugar it would travel up the stalk the same way the food colouring did but you wouldn’t be able to see it.

Jessica Mazis 4C

STYLUS Page 16

stylus

Scholarships and student leadership assembly - Wednesday, 18th March, 2009

Mr C Pavlou presents the Open Boys Basketball team with their touring jerseys.

Mr E Economou presents Natasha Diasinos with her University Entrance Scholarship Certificate.

Father Steven, Mr E Economou, Mr G Goldstein , Mr N Pappas, Mrs M Pappas, Prof Aroney, Mrs S Aroney, Mrs C Tsaconas and Mrs Katsogiannis.

Mr S Coudounaris presents Aleksandra Djordjevic, Mark Mina, Panayioti Kapodistrias and Alex Vatiliotis with certificates as Academic Scholarship winners 2009.

Mr G Goldstein and Mrs M Pappas present Nansia Koukounaris and Nicholas Fotopoulos with their Goldstein Awards.

Mrs M Hamer speaks on Leadership.

STYLUS Page 17

Community Action Year 4 Visits The Local Council

As part of the H.S.I.E. unit “Cooperating Communities,” Year 4 visited Randwick Local Council on Tuesday 17th March, 2009. The tour was conducted in the Town Hall Council Chambers. The excursion reinforced what had been taught during lessons in a practical way.

The children were provided with the opportunity to become local councillors and present a mock debate while sitting in the chairs used by the Lord Mayor and councillors of Randwick council.

It was extremely exciting and the students rose to the occasion. There may even be some budding councilors in our midst!

Mrs Dimitrelis and Ms Liakatos

Rostrum Public Speaking Competition

Congratulations to Alex Stellatos (Year 8) who competed in the first round heat at International Grammar. For these events students had to select and prepare a 6 minute speech on a topic of their choosing. Judging was based on content 50%, and delivery 50%. Alex demonstrated leadership by entering this competition and must be acknowledged for his diligence and efforts. Bravo!!

Olive picking

In preparing for the fast during Great Lent, Junior School students picked olives grown at the Senior School Grove planted by one of the first Senior School’s Year 12 class.

1130 Anzac Parade, Maroubra NSW 2035, PO Box 462, Maroubra NSW 2035 Phone: 61 2 9311 3340 Fax: 61 2 9311 4532 Email: admin@stspyridon.nsw.edu.au Website: stspyridon.nsw.edu.au Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia, St Spyridon Parish of South-East Sydney A.C.N. 000 410 891 A.B.N. 84 480 080 247 CRICOS Provider Numbers: Junior School ~ Years K-6 ~ 061558A Senior School ~ Years 7-12 ~ 02319E