BY NORMAN DE BONO
Free Press Business Reporter
Brendan Howard learned something when he went to
summer school that wasn't on the curriculum.
Of course, when you go to school for a month in Greece, much of the
learning is done outside the classroom, he's quick
to add.
"It makes you question a lot of what you experience here in Canada," said
Howard, now an OAC student at Central secondary
school. "We have a very fast-paced life and
sometimes we just don't sit down and appreciate
things. Conversation is much more important
there. Here, it's a lost art."
Howard attended the Canadian Lyceum of Greece, an Ontario high
school credit program born in London and operated by
two London high school teachers. They hope
their venture will grow to become a full-time,
year-round school -- and a successful business.
"It was excellent from an academic standpoint," said Howard.
"There were just two other students in one of my
classes, so we got a lot of one-on-one attention.
But really, it was a great life lesson."
Steve Katsipodas, director of schools for the Lyceum, is a
|
Central
teacher who opened the school. It operates
from July 1 to July 31 in Crete and had 10 students
its first summer, nine from grade 12 and one from
grade 10. Katsipodas is confident the private
school will grow as a business and is planning on 40
students next summer and perhaps as many as 100 in
the near future.
"It makes you
question a lot of what you experience here in
Canada"
Brendan Howard
"It was fantastic. We think it was a smash
success," said Katsipodas, who teaches computer,
business, science and math at central. "We're
already getting people calling us about next year.
Traveling and education make so much sense. It
teaches kids life skills as well as academics."
Katsipodas operates the school with John Krisak, director of
programs for the Lyceum and an English teacher at
Central. They hope to grow the education
enterprise into a year-round school. |
In the first year it offered computer, law, history,
English and arts. Tuition was $4,300,
including accommodation and meals.
Students lived on site and teachers in a separate hotel.
"Parents have come to us and said their kid is changed," said
Katsipodas. "They are cooking their own meals,
making their beds and reading books. It
matures them."
At the end of the month, the students wrote and produced a play on
the trial of Socrates, he added.
While the school stressed classroom curriculum material approved by
the Ontario government (the course offers a credit
towards a high school diploma), it also stressed
work outside the classroom such as Greek cooking,
dance and pottery classes, trips to museums,
archaeological sites and ruins and hikes through the
countryside, making for a well-rounded education,
said Marina Sakellis, now a first-year student at
the University of Western Ontario.
"It was amazing, amazing, that's all I can say," said Sakellis.
"I can tell you that we learned a lot about the program and
ourselves. The excursions were standard and
varied from week to week, so we not only learned in
the classroom, we saw and experienced Greece." |
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