NEW YORK – The annual Staff Development Seminar of the Direct Archdiocesan District will be held under the auspices of His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios of America on Tuesday, November 5, 2013 (8:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.), at the High School of St. Demetrios Cathedral in Astoria.

The Seminar will offer a variety of workshops and presentations to the teachers serving in the parochial day and the afternoon/Saturday Greek schools of the District. It will also feature a keynote address on “Leadership: Making the Home-School Connection” by Dr. Ron Valenti.

The English program teachers of the parochial day schools will attend workshops designed by Catapult Learning in collaboration with their principals, while the Greek teachers will participate in workshops focusing on the philosophy and methodology of LOTE – teaching a language other than English – following the guidelines of the New York State Education Department.

Distinguished educators have been invited to present at the Seminar such as Mr. Al Martino, director of Foreign Languages and the ESL Program at SUNY, Albany, and Mrs. Vivian Selenikas, principal of the Long Island City High School in Queens.

Also, invited are distinguished educators from the Institute of Modern Greek Studies of the University of Thessaloniki, specifically Dr. George Papanastasiou, director of the Institute and his colleague, Prof. Panagiotis Andreou. They will present parts of the Curriculum of Modern Greek Language – Checkpoint B.

The Curriculum, which is currently being developed by Prof. Andreou in collaboration with the Direct Archdiocesan District Office of Education, has been deemed essential for the awarding of credits to the students who pass the Modern Greek Comprehensive Examination. Prof. Andreou will also present on “The Pronunciation in the Language Classroom:  Issues of teaching and learning.”

The Greek program will also include a “panel discussion” on “The teaching of the Greek language today and future perspectives.”