Greek Group Tutoring (GGT) located in Lexington, MA welcomed guest speaker, Dr. Manos Chaniotakis – MIT scientist, former professor, and passionate educator – into its classrooms. Over thirty students in grades 3-6 and the THELO post-grad program (Teen Hellenic Educational Language Organization) participated in an exciting interactive session led by Dr. Chaniotakis, who is author, co-author, and contributor of a number of science and engineering curricula that are widely used in secondary education. He co-founded the education company Ergopedia which develops software and hardware educational technologies and uses those technologies to create and deliver curricula with rich interactive and personalized content in K-12 educational settings across the United States.

Dr. Chaniotakis’ interactive and engaging presentation focused on Ελληνισμός/Hellenism, the importance of learning the Greek language, and knowing who we are. The students felt proud to learn about the ecumenical value of Hellenism and were empowered by the responsibility to advance and promote Hellenism. The children participated in reading, writing, and speaking activities and were very excited to be able to read epigraphs and names written 2,500 years ago. A geography lesson followed where students participated actively by identifying where on the map they, their parents, or grandparents originated.

Dr. Chaniotakis incorporated the four elements of learning a second language throughout his presentation: listening, speaking, reading, and writing, and motivated the students to explore and demonstrate these skills throughout the afternoon. In addition, he brought in various hands-on educational tools which further engaged the students and used the opportunity to inspire the children to question and share their ideas in order to make a difference in the world. It was obvious that Dr. Chaniotakis loves teaching as he engaged the students in a very positive and reinforcing manner while communicating with them in Greek. We are grateful to Dr. Chaniotakis for offering this amazing learning experience to our students!

Tapping into the extensive network of Greek scientists and educators in the greater Boston area, GGT (https://www.ggtutoring.com/) will continue to enrich its students’ learning experiences throughout the year with age-appropriate and thought-provoking topics related to our Greek language, culture, and history.