NEW YORK-- The Archdiocesan Department of Education is proud to announce the winners of its National Essay Contest honoring His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew upon the occasion of his month-long visit to the U.S. Participating in the contest were students from various Greek American parochial Day and Afternoon schools throughout the country.
In the Greek language
1st Prize: Irena Karadimas, student, Transfiguration Greek American Day School, Corona, NY
2nd Prize: Niki Panoutsos, student, Greek Afternoon School of St. George,
Chicago, IL
3rd Prize: Elena Raptis, student, Greek Afternoon School of St. George, Bethesda, MD
and George Vavilis, student, Greek Afternoon School of Holy Trinity, Hicksville, NY
In the English language
1st Prize: Katerina Rekatsinas, student, Greek Afternoon School of Holy Trinity,
Bridgeport, CT
2nd Prize: Dean Siroky, student, W. Spyropoulos Greek American Day School of St. Nicholas,
Flushing, NY
3rd Prize: Eleni Kostopoulos, student, A. Fantis Parochial Day School of SS. Constantine and Helen, Brooklyn, NY
Winners of the Contest will receive the following prizes:
1st Prize: Summer camp and travel program in Greece with 'Ionian Village' operated by
the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
2nd Prize: "Constantinople, the Cathedral City" - a two-volume, bilingual publication, on the history of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the cultural heritage of Constantinople
3rd Prize: "Glory of Byzantium" - the accompaniment publication of the renowned exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC
All students who participated in the National Essay Contest will receive a "Certificate of Merit" signed by His Eminence Archbishop Spyridon of America.
Partaking in the selection process of the top essays, which consisted of three phases, were the following:
1st Selection
Educators: Filia Anastasas, Antigone Vlachogiannis, Eleni Capous, Christina Makridis and Christos Papatheodorou (Greek), Mary Tzalas, Penny Trikoris and Angela Kouboulas (English).
2nd Selection
Principals: Athena Kromidas, Kostas Loukeris (Greek), Angela Kousoulas, Frederika Sagiani (English)
3rd Selection
V. Rev. Fr. Gabriel Karambis, director, Stewardship Ministries, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese; Rev. Fr. Anastasios Bourantas, director of Youth Office; Chrisanthi Arlis, principal of W. Spyropoulos Day School of St. Nicholas, Flushing, (English); Dr. Athanasios Fourlas, Chief Secretariat, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, and Dr. Fotios Litsas, director of Education, Chicago Diocese (Greek).
Responsible for the coordination and supervision of this National Essay Contest was Mrs. Maria Makedon-Fountas, Asst. Director of the Archdiocesan Department of Education