New York, NY – Under the direction of His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros, the Director of Greek Education Anastasios Koularmanis and the Associate Director Fr. Gregory Stamkopoulos have started to visit the various Metropolises’ around the country. The purpose of these visits is to listen to the Metropolitans, clergy, and teachers to hear the real day-to-day issues they face teaching the Greek language in their parishes.
As part of his role as Director of Education, Mr. Koularmanis wants to speak directly to the Clergy, Parish Presidents, School Board Directors and Teachers and ask them what their top priorities and needs are.
On August 24th 2022, he visited the Metropolis of Pittsburgh, were he met with His Eminence Metropolitan Savvas, Chancellor Fr. George Callos, and Mrs. Maria Stamoolis, Director of Education Office of the Metropolis. The discussions revolved around how the Archdiocese can better serve the schools/ programs of the Metropolis.
More recently on September 26th 2022 the Director and the Associate Director visited the Metropolis of Detroit where they met with His Eminence Metropolitan Nicholas and staff. A special meeting was scheduled where Mr. Koularmanis and Fr. Stamkopoulos addressed over 20 clergy and 30 teachers and directors. The meeting was extremely productive as ideas were shared on how parishes benefit from collaborative programs and projects. In addition, the attendees shared their concerns and desire to work together so that parishes can continue to provide to their children the opportunity of learning the Greek language.
Mr. Koularmanis stated: “Every Metropolis I have visited, so far, has been incredibly welcoming and it was wonderful to see so many excited clergy and teachers proudly speaking about their parish programs. These visits provide us with an opportunity to speak directly to clergy and teachers to hear their voice and find out first-hand what they would like to see addressed for their wellbeing and education at their schools. We are also taking the opportunity to talk to staff on the front-line to discuss the real day-to-day issues they face to deliver our aspirations as an archdiocese. We require and need their input on how we can move forward”.
The Director will continue to visit the remaining Metropolises in the hope of understanding the different needs and hurdles each Metropolis is facing and how the Department can assist them moving forward.
Currently the Department has many new opportunities for teachers working in parish programs and schools. If anyone is interested in learning more about the various programs, please reach out to the director Mr. Anastasios Koularmanis at [email protected]
