THE HELLENIC LINK, Inc.

Member Update- BULLETIN

Editorial Committee: Ahilleas Adamantiades, Alex Economides, Maria-Eleftheria Giatrakou, Dean C. Lomis, Katherine Efthymiatou-Stabile, Contributing Editor: Evangelos Calamitsis, Acting Editor: Constantine Efthymiou

No. 101, June, 2012

A Necessary Explanation Owed to  the Hellenic Link Members

The Hellenic Link Bulletin is asking the HL members for forgiveness of the belated circulation of the present issue caused by a recent illness that required extensive hospitalization of the Bulletin’s Acting Editor. While we are deeply sorry for this inconvenience, we wish also to express our sincere thanks and gratitude to the members and co-workers, who made extra efforts in this trying period to fulfill their commitment to their Hellenic Link Projects to which consistently they have been making significant contributions.

Professor Dimitrios Oreopoulos Transcends to Eternity

With profound sorrow we bring to the members of the Hellenic Link and our readers the announcement that HL Board Member, Advisory Council on Greek Education Member, and Contributing Editor of this Bulletin Dimitrios Oreopoulos, M.D., Ph.D., has passed away. The sad news came to us in the following message from Mrs. Nancy Oreopoulos, who highlights in it his life, outstanding career and his courageous encounter with terminal illness:

It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of Dr. Dimitrios Oreopoulos M.D.(Athens), Ph.D.(Belfast), FRCPC, FACP, FRCP(Glasgow). He passed away peacefully April 25, 2012 at Etobicoke General Hospital after a courageous battle with cancer. Born: May 24, 1936 in Alexandroupolis, Greece.

Visitors will be received at the Glendale Visitation Centre: 1810 Albion Road, Toronto M9W 5T1 Sunday, April 29, 2012 (2:00 pm – 4:00 pm and 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm) and Funeral Mass at Prophet Elias Church 1785 Matheson Blvd., Mississauga, Monday, April 30, 2012 (10:00 am – 11:00 am), Burial: Glenview Memorial Gardens 7541 Highway #50, Woodbridge, ON L4L 1A5

In lieu of flowers, please make donations to Princess Margaret Hospital / William Osler Health Centre – Etobicoke Site / Kidney Foundation of Canada / Prophet Elias Church
or the Dimitrios Oreopoulos’ charity for indigent patients: “Humane Medicine Journal Inc.”

A memorial page will honor the memory of Dr. Dimitrios Oreopoulos. Loving father, husband, mentor, innovator and humanitarian.

http://www.facebook.com/DGOreopoulos

Sincerely,

Nancy Oreopoulos

The President of the Hellenic Link responded with the following message of condolences:

April 30, 2012

Mrs. Nancy Oreopoulos                                                                                                                              Etobikoke, Ontario, Canada

Dear Mrs. Oreopoulos:

It was with  deep sense of grief that we have learned from your message that our precious friend and co-worker Dimitrios has passed away. For me and for our colleagues in the Hellenic Link, Inc. he was a source of lively wisdom, moral support and inspiration that always strengthened us during the course of our long brotherly cooperation. Now, without his presence and concerned input, we feel poorer, indeed.

May God repose his soul and his memory be eternal!

We share your pain for his loss and pray to God that He soothes it by offering you and all members of your admirable family abiding consolation. We praise with admiration his great and diverse accomplishments in life: in raising with you a wonderful family; in using his extraordinary scientific and professional skills to profoundly benefit a multitude of suffering fellow-human beings as well as to upgrade a host of mentored peers; in practicing his Greek Orthodox Faith with exemplary love towards everyone. Dimitrios has left behind a rich legacy for his children and grand children to be proud of; and to a much broader circle of people, whose life he touched,also an obliging legacy “to do likewise,” emulating his altruistic benevolent commitment!

With the deepest esteem, love and gratitude,

Until we meet again, we bid dearest Dimitrios Godspeed!

For the Hellenic Link, Inc.,

Costas Efthymiou, Ph. D.

President

The BOD and Advisory Council Members of the HL, unable to join Dimitrios’ family at the funeral rites, decided to send in lieu of flowers a donation to the charity of his creation and choice; “ Humane Medical Journal, Inc.” (200 Elizabeth Str., 6 EN room 214, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5G 2C4). We are informed that in addition to studying and writing about issues of ethical care of patients, this Journal quietly helps underprivileged patients to cover the costs of medications, transportation, or other things they cannot afford. In addition, this Charity funds nursing and medical student scholarships (especially the Greek Medical students who belong to the Hellenic Medical Association of Toronto).

The Bulletin suggests to those who wish to honor the memory of Dr. Oreopoulos to make their donation to this or one of the other charities mentioned above in the message of Mrs. Oreopoulos .

Recent Hellenic Link Activities in the Field of Hellenic Education

We are pleased to report progress in the following projects, all concerned with pivotal needs of Hellenic Education in America:

• The ad hoc collaborative Task Force of Educators, formed under the auspices of the Hellenic Link, Inc.(Bull.No.90, October 2010), has continued its concerted effort to develop National Standards for the teaching of Modern Greek in the United States of America. The TF, coordinated by Dr. Vasiliki Tsigas-Fotinis, was an active participant at the 2011 Annual Conference of the American Council of Teachers of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), held in Denver CO last November. In a substantive interaction between ACTFL and TF, it was decided to reorient the basic structure of the “Standards’ from the basis of school grades K through 16 to three proficiency ranges of language learners: the novices, the intermediate, and the advanced learners. The TF immediately started to revise its drafted document to conform to the new, more flexible and functional pattern. Following the November Conference, the TF planned a series of working sessions at different locations in the country, for the advancement and completion of its mandated task. Thus, a meeting was held at Wilmington. DE during the weekend of March 8-10, 2012 . As very helpful host for this meeting served the Odyssey Charter School which as previously reported, contributes to the work of the TF with educators/members on its teaching staff. The main purpose of this meeting was to review and revise the working draft of the Standards Document with the able guidance and assistance of Dr. June K. Phillips, Dean Emeritus, College of Arts & Humanities, Weber State University and former President of the ATCFL, as well as of staff members of the Department of Education of the State of Delaware. Another goal was to use the occasion to familiarize Greek teachers working in the tri-state area of DE/PA/NJ with the scope of the National Standards and the task of the TF on Modern Greek.

A TF meeting in Madison, WI on April 26-29, coincided with the Annual Conference of NCOTCL (National Council of Less-Taught Languages). There, the TF reviewed and edited its Standards Document and its appended Modern Greek Teaching Scenarios, and updated its Timeline and goals. The Document, already in an advanced and plausible stage of development was further “tuned” for successive submissions to teams of Reviewers and “Modern Greek Council of Advisors” for corrections, enrichment and finalization. This process is already taking place.

At the NCOTCL Conference, members of the TF participated in a panel for the Modern Greek Language.

Still, another working session was scheduled for June 8-10, 2012 at Stanford University, where the 1^st National Conference of MGLTA (Modern Greek Language Teachers Association) will take place. The TF work again will be assisted by ACTFL.

The finished Standards Document, as received from the Council of Advisors, will be posted for feedback commentary by the professional community and the community at large on the websites of the Hellenic Link, Inc. and of other Associations during the summer. Also, early in the summer,

the TF will submit the Document to ACTFL for approval at its Annual Conference, to be held in Philadelphia PA, November 16-18, 2012.

The TF is preparing to invite to the Philadelphia Conference as many Greek teachers as possible. For this purpose, they have composed an informational brochure, which will be also used at the ACTFL Conference to kick off a broader public effort in support of Modern Greek learning.

The brochure and the public campaign will be set off with the motto: “Modern Greek: A Living Classic.” In support of this TF most worthy effort, we offer to our readers a preview of their brochure below in this Bulletin as an attachment.

The anticipated approval of the “National Modern Greek Standards” by ACTFL will mark the successful completion of the Task Force Mission.

• The Advisory Council generates a new study-group to advance Hellenic Education in America

While the eventual introduction of Modern Greek to American Schools comes closer with fair speed thanks to the positive interaction between the  TF and the ACTFL, the Greek community at large along with the community of Greek educators remain gravely concerned about the lack of a steady and credible source of qualified Greek teachers for Greek schooling in America. It is relevant to note that the dispatch of teachers on short-term assignment by the Greek Ministry of Education, the

usual  albeit meager source, has been drastically curtailed under the problematic fiscal conditions currently prevailing in Greece without promise for an early resolution. On the other hand, it is a fact that none of over 80 US/Canadian universities and colleges sponsoring Hellenic Studies has an academic program to train certified teachers of Modern Greek language and culture! In response to this glaring need, the HL Council consistent with its long-term policies and developmental activities has decided at one of its recent meetings to tackle the issue within the limits of the Hellenic Link capabilities. The Council activated a sub-committee consisting of its own members to initiate a detailed study of the factors and parameters bearing on the introduction and viability of a relevant interdisciplinary academic program of teacher training in the present economic and academic environment of the U.S. Members of this study-group include competent academic administrators and faculty.

The Bulletin wishes to thank the members of the Council for their most meaningful undertaking and wish them every success in carrying on. We remind our readers of a similar endeavor undertaken

a few years back by the Council, led by the late Dr. Alice Scourby. That dedicated effort based on a grant proposal did not meet with success. We hope and pray that the new effort, in due course, will increase awareness and proactive interest in the community to become involved and do its part in  upgrading the structure of Hellenic Education in the country as vitally needed.

• In another major generic project: “Modular Teaching of Hellenic Cultural Themes,” the Advisory Council has focused its endeavors to materialize first the instructional unit: “Byzantium: the missing link for understanding the history of Western Civilization,” a topic deemed to be covered scantily in the curricula of Greek as well as of U.S. schools. The purpose of this specific undertaking is to develop a Resource Guide for teacher and student- use in high and middle schools (grades 6-12). Two key characteristics of the Guide being developed are: the use of documented research to support the teaching content and the latter’s relevance to national and state subject-area standards (such as the Common Core, established by the U.S. Department of Education). To co-author this innovative Guide have been invited experts, well versed in the history and accomplishments of the Byzantine Civilization, and experienced educators with appropriate pedagogical grounding teaching in U.S. schools. On last report, a number of authors have agreed to contribute to the project under the guidance of Dr. Constantine Hatzidimitriou, a Byzantine scholar with the Department of Education of the City of New York and a member of the Advisory Council of HL. In addition to members of the Advisory Council, scholars of the Hellenic Research Foundation, of the US/Canadian academic communities and of the U.S. Byzantine Studies Association, together with U.S classroom-educators are converging to produce the Guide  which, we are firmly convinced, will represent an original educational aid of immense cultural significance. In view of the educational importance and the size of the overall project, it is hoped that governmental agencies and benevolent foundations will be interested in supporting its development and completion.

On the educational developments reported above, the Hellenic Link, Inc. is exceedingly happy to observe that its persistent, over the years, pioneering efforts to nurture a culture of voluntary collaborations among fellow-Hellene Professionals has started bearing fruits for the common ethnic and national good. Let us all be grateful to those begetting this cultural renaissance and be ready to follow in the roads being opened for a lasting future.

CJE

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CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

PDF BROCHURE

ON

NATIONAL STANDARDS

 FOR MODERN GREEK

 LANGUAGE EDUCATION

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On-Line Course in Modern Greek Offered Free

In cooperation with the Institute for Language and Speech Processing (ILSP)/

“Athena” Research  Center, the Hellenic Link, Inc. is offering as a service to the community a series of Greek language lCATIONessons on its Web site: http://www.helleniclink.org ( on a 24/7 schedule)

On the home page of the site, upper left corner, click on “Learning Greek,”

to be introduced to a series of fifteen lessons of the filoglossia+ courseware.

Please inform anyone who would be interested in learning Greek of this service.

THE HELLENIC LINK,  Inc.

A NON PROFIT CULTURAL AND SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATION

OF HELLENES AND PHILHELLENES

INCORPORATED IN DELAWARE

Suite No. 278, 38-11 Ditmars Blvd, Astoria, New York 11105

Web Site: http://www.helleniclink.org Email: info@helleniclink.org

Contact Telephone: (718) 217- 0430

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