Four years ago Christina Despoteris initiated an e-twinning relationship between Alphington Grammar School in Melbourne and the 1st Junior High School in Voula Athens via the program ‘Voula/Melbourne – Building Bridges across Continents’.
“The project is based on a computer program whereby the students write text, make videos, and upload them and generally communicate by computer,” Ms Despoteris tells Neos Kosmos.
“The Alphington students visited Athens and their sister school in September 2016. I was delighted to be able to be with the students on that trip. Also, I arranged for the Australian ambassador to Greece to launch the second phase of the program at the school.”
It was only recently that the students from Athens got the approval from the Greek Ministry of Education to visit Melbourne. Their visit will last for a week; from Monday 12 March till Tuesday 20 March.
A group of 22 junior high-school students and three accompanying female staff members, including the Principal will be in Melbourne for a week, during which they will follow a full program attending classes at Alphington.
The group of 25 will also go on two-day trips – one along the Great Ocean Road, the other to Puffing Billy – and visit the Shrine of Remembrance, the Greek Memorial, the Lemnos Memorial, and the Immigration and Hellenic Museums.
The guests will be hosted by the Greek Community of Melbourne and the Greek Community of Dandenong. During this short but task-packed visit, they will also visit the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, have morning tea at Parliament House and go on a river cruise. The Australian Institute of Macedonian Studies will also host an event for the students.
“They are all very enthusiastic about their proposed trip Down Under,” adds Ms Despoteris. “I will accompany the students to most venues; we have planned an amazing itinerary.”