The one with Daphne and Yi-Rui

The Graduating Class of 2022 is by now a part of the ACS Athens annals, an integral page of the school's 77 year-long proud history in American and international education. Each year, students and their teachers, parents and extended family, along with the entire community of ACS Athens celebrate not just the completion of a circle that for some is as long as 14 years, for others maybe one or two years, but also to signify the landmark in the life of so many adolescents breaking through to adulthood as they enter college life, and are able for the first time to provide advice to their younger peers, as until today they were on the receiving end of that advice.

In a 3-part series about the Class of 2022, we are talking to 7 unique individuals, 7 graduates with remarkably different backgrounds, different school experiences and plans for the future. Unique personalities and approaches to life are evident through this candid, unscripted discussion.

In part 1 of the series, here's Daphne and Yi-Rui, who joined the school at different ages and with different expectations.

The one with Emilynn and Ali

The Graduating Class of 2022 is by now a part of the ACS Athens annals, an integral page of the school's 77 year-long proud history in American and international education. Each year, students and their teachers, parents and extended family, along with the entire community of ACS Athens celebrate not just the completion of a circle that for some is as long as 14 years, for others maybe one or two years, but also to signify the landmark in the life of so many adolescents breaking through to adulthood as they enter college life, and are able for the first time to provide advice to their younger peers, as until today they were on the receiving end of that advice.

In a 3-part series about the Class of 2022, we are talking to 7 unique individuals, 7 graduates with remarkably different backgrounds, different school experiences and plans for the future. Unique personalities and approaches to life are evident through this candid, unscripted discussion.

This is the 2nd part of a 3-part series about the Class of 2022, as we are talking to 7 recent graduates of ACS Athens, who through their different backgrounds, and experiences reveal their unique perspective to their life as they join the Alumni community of the school.

In part 2 of the series, we welcome Emilynn and Ali.

The one with Ann-Marie, Tomasso and William

The Graduating Class of 2022 is by now a part of the ACS Athens annals, an integral page of the school's 77 year-long proud history in American and international education. Each year, students and their teachers, parents and extended family, along with the entire community of ACS Athens celebrate not just the completion of a circle that for some is as long as 14 years, for others maybe one or two years, but also to signify the landmark in the life of so many adolescents breaking through to adulthood as they enter college life, and are able for the first time to provide advice to their younger peers, as until today they were on the receiving end of that advice.

In a 3-part series about the Class of 2022, we are talking to 7 unique individuals, 7 graduates with remarkably different backgrounds, different school experiences and plans for the future. Unique personalities and approaches to life are evident through this candid, unscripted discussion.

This is the 3rd and final part of our series on the Class of 2022, as we are talking to 7 recent graduates of ACS Athens. All graduates represent the power of ethnic and cultural diversity that is evident throughout the school, and how, through their different backgrounds, and experiences, these ACS Athens graduates have developed a a unique perspective and way of thinking as the move towards College life.  

In part 3 of the series, we have with us Ann-Marie, Tomasso and William

With the overabundance of information available at our fingertips, or through our Augmented Reality glasses or via the Metaverse, it's becoming more and more critical that we know what information is knowledge and what knowledge can be useful and for what purpose. Students of international schools, are being asked to make this distinction. How do we know that we know? What do we know? What is the extent of our knowledge? How are we to decide, in any particular case, whether we know? and, What are the criteria of knowing? These are some of the questions that are at the heart of the Theory of Knowledge course.

TOK students of the International Baccalaureate Diploma program must consider them and attempt to answer through their work. These are questions that philosophers are pondering for centuries, with every era giving different answers. We are talking about higher level thinking. And what a better way to learn than to understand and create knowledge from thinking about what is knowledge.

IB students of ACS Athens gathered this year to present their TOK question and their findings at their annual exhibition of Theory of Knowledge that was held at the Theatre lobby. We were there to see and hear from some of them.

It’s not every day that artists exhibit their art to the public. Sometimes artists go through their entire life before they get the inner strength to expose their work to the critique of others. The fact that a 16-year-old student artist gets this opportunity, is by itself remarkable.

11th grader James Lane is our guest today.

With James today we discuss:

The end of another Academic Year is very close, but this year it has a special meaning for everyone. After 2 years in the Covid pandemic, with its lockdowns, restrictions and virtual classes, the 2021-22 was the first academic year that resembled to a normal school experience. As the Class of 2022 is getting ready to bid farewell to the school, the Academy Principal is preparing to offer his own reflection. David Nelson has been the Principal of the Academy since 2019, but has been an educator at ACS Athens for 22 years.

Today with Mr. Nelson we discuss:

AND

An international school is defined mainly by the internationally minded curriculum, following the principles of international education but also by fostering a globally minded mentality in its student body and the entire community. Students by definition are international coming from different ethnicities, and nations, bringing a wealth of experiences and mindsets, looking to integrate but also to stand out. When the entire community is made of similarly international background, then you have the ultimate combination. 

Our guest today is as international as someone can get. A Greek Cypriot, Sophia Stella Soseilos was born in Germany, lived in Cyprus, studied in South Africa and moved to Greece in 1995. Sophia has a passion for teaching Art, inspiring creativity and using design thinking in her education space. 


With Sophia Soseilos today we discuss:

According to UNICEF, cyberbullying is bullying with the use of digital technologies. It can take place on social media, messaging platforms, gaming platforms and mobile phones. It is repeated behaviour, aimed at scaring, angering or shaming those who are targeted. Face-to-face bullying and cyberbullying can often happen alongside each other. But cyberbullying leaves a digital footprint – a record that can prove useful and provide evidence to help stop the abuse.

Students of the ACS Athens Middle School are being actively engaged by educating themselves on these abusive behaviors, by embracing each other and are encouraged to trust their peers and community in order to express their fears and insecurities. Adolescents are particularly prone to be victims or perpetrators of bullying, as they start their teenage years, exploring their personalities and forming groups of peers that reinforce - or shutter - their view of the world drawn by their families.

A remarkable group of middle schoolers participate every year in the Honor Code Club, taking initiatives to explore, support and facilitate the dialogue on the issues that matter to their peers. Issues that include cyberbullying.

Today with us is a group of such students, who are willing to talk about this sensitive issue and how they affect us. Brave testimonies of bullying as they experience it, bring this issue closer to home. Ms. Venie Gaki, English language instructor to students of other languages, is the Advisor of the Middle School Honor Code Club.

Early Childhood is a particularly significant period in the development of a child, when it grows to become an emotionally and physically healthy individual. It's admittedly the gateway to the Elementary School and its more formalised educational programs. It benefits children in unique ways, as it provides development of skills, cognitive stimulation and social integration. ACS Athens has invested heavily during the past several years on developing robust and meaningful program for children 3-5 years old, with the latest being the re-design and re-construction of an ideal environment for unstructured play, the new Early Childhood playground.

We have with us today the Principal of the Elementary School, Sophia Moros, who has been the driving force behind the transformation of the Elementary School of the past few years. In September her role changes, which she explains herself in our conversation.

With Sophia Moros, today we discuss:

The Sights and sounds of an Early Childhood classroom

The critical elements for children 3-7 years of age

Identifying the critical skills needed by the students at different grade levels

Transitioning from a state-side public school district to an international school abroad.

Teaching with the potential in mind, not aptitude for a test

The value of Reading - on a graduate level degree

Leading the growing development of the Early Childhood program as it opens the gate to the Elementary School

Innovation, adaptability and agility, - the effects of COVID in the Elementary school

Celebrating the opening of the Early Childhood Playground. Sparking the imagination in the unstructured play time

If you want to find out what the future holds, you have to visit a school. And if you want to understand this future, you have to talk to a student. Our podcast today tries to find the answers that explain the future with Artificial Intelligence. The kind of intelligence needed to explain artificial intelligence is not unique, but it definitely requires vision and an open mind, ready to perpetually ask questions that challenge common logic, questions that push the limit of knowledge and therefore attempt to sketch the future.

To most of us, artificial intelligence is expressed through a robot-like object, that is programmed to perform certain tasks. To Adrianos Botsios, a 9th grader who in his spare time he designs humanoids and ponders on AI ethics, artificial intelligence is the future, but with a strict asterisk: it has to serve the common good and that can only happen if it is programmed ethically by us, humans.

With Adrianos Botsios today we discuss: