Announcement from the Board of Directors

Dear Pinewood Community & Friends,

On behalf of the Pinewood Board of Directors, I am honored to announce the appointment of Dr. Roxanne Giampapa for a second term as Director of Pinewood – The American International School of Thessaloniki, Greece. The Board’s decision, which was unanimous, is an exciting and significant step in securing the dynamic future of our school.

Dr. Giampapa is an accomplished independent school educator with a strong leadership record at Pinewood. In the last three years, she has led our school through a multitude of contemporary transformations in order to establish Pinewood as a vibrant, healthy and growing international school.

Prior to Dr. Giampapa’s first appointment as Director in 2010, she served as a member of the Faculty and Coordinator of Curriculum and Studies at Pinewood for four years; thus, establishing her knowledge and experience in all areas of instruction and management at the school. Prior to her arrival in Greece, she taught for 11 years at Columbus School for Girls, a rigorous private school in the USA.

In addition to her professional experience, Dr. Giampapa brings a solid academic background, earning her B.S. and M.A. in Education, with specializations in Literature and History, from The Ohio State University, continuing her M.A. studies at Yale University in British Literature and completing her Ph.D. in Educational Policy and Leadership from The Ohio State University.

Dr. Giampapa’s appointment comes at a time of great excitement and invention at Pinewood as we begin preparations for our comprehensive 5-year strategic plan next year and for our 10-year re-accreditation with Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools in 2016. Under the leadership of Dr. Giampapa, both processes are expected to contribute to Pinewood’s progressive ethos for children in our Early Years, Elementary, Secondary and IB Diploma Programs.

The decision to select a Head of school is the most important duty of the Board of Directors. Dr. Giampapa is an educator of vision, warmth and integrity and she understands the culture and sense of community that are at the center of all that Pinewood represents. We are delighted that she will be continuing her work with your children and all of us.

Kind regards,

Nikolaos Margaropoulos
President, Board of Directors

Pinewood Corporation Meeting on Wednesday, May 22

I cordially invite all Pinewood parents, faculty and staff to attend the May Corporation meeting on Wednesday, May 22 at 19:00 in the Pinewood Library. Board of Directors’ committee reports shall be presented as well as Board elections. The Nominating/Electoral Committee is pleased to announce the following candidates for the two vacant parent positions on the Pinewood Board of Directors. A brief resume of each candidate may be found by clicking HERE.

Hair for Charity!

Little Princess Trust is a wonderful charity that provides children suffering from hair loss with real hair wigs. If you're thinking of having a change of style for the summer, why not donate your ponytail to this amazing charity? Kalypso Isaidou in Grade 2 decided to do this and is thrilled that her long curly hair will make another child happy. Congratulations to Kalypso for her bravery and young charitable mind! Check out the Little Princess Trust website at www.littleprincesses.org.uk . The site provides details for donating.

Spring Fundraising Concert

The Pinewood Music Department is thrilled to announce the First Annual Spring Fundraising Concert. If your child sings or plays any musical instrument, we would be happy to include his/her performance in the program! All ages are welcome to participate. Anyone interested in participating may complete the ATTACHED FORM, which also includes details about the concert!

The Myth of Persephone

Please join us on Monday, May 27 for the special presentation by Mrs. Tournas’ Greek class. The group of students, in Grades 6-9, will perform a dramatic retelling of the myth of Persephone. Look for details of the time in the coming week!

CAST

Zeus - David Karchkhadze
Hera - Alexandra Stoykova
Athena -Alexa Tchakar
Rea - Alexandra Amvazas
Hades - Alexander Kling
Hades' Guards - Simona Xu, Ali Zhang
Persephone - Arina Kocherga
Demetra - Niya Kafedzhiyska
Hermes - Andrejs Mezaraups
Hercules - Jose Luis Neira
Nymphs - Luna Garcia, Vienna Rose
Iris - Georgia Rheault

What's Happening in the Elementary School!

Elementary Author’s Café

Mrs. Johnston’s Grade 2 engaged in the 5 steps of the writing process which includes, brainstorming, organizing, drafting, editing/review, and publishing in the week before Easter break. The students presented their work to their peers during the Author's Cafe, where the Grade 2 students shared their published pieces with Grades 1 and 3.  The authors shared their stories in a soft chair next to the only lamp in the room.  Authors and listeners relaxed in the cafe atmosphere, sipped on hot chocolate or tea, and enjoyed many original stories.  Even Grade 3 authors presented some of their masterpieces!

Everything Matters in 5th Grade

Since the journey on the Nile and study of the Human Body, students in grade 5 have traveled East to study about Ancient China, explore Matter and its Properties, and Forces in Motion.  These experiences took many forms from experiments in the laboratory, classroom, reading, research, videos, sketches, to songs- their favorite being “the Atom Family” and “Pi-nomite”. Their Science fair projects dealt with how to reduce bacteria, growth of mold, earthquakes, and electromagnetism. March 14th, International Pi Day, was devoted entirely to pi.  They read about the history of Pi, calculated the circumference of cookies, tables, and anything they could find, sang the Pi-nomite song and many other activities.  In celebration of Earth Day,  guest speaker, Mr. Jesse Pavlick, an environmental engineer, spoke to the class about sustainable building, life, and, school in a Mozambique village.  After his slide presentation,  he helped the students build solar ovens in which they cooked pizzas.  The class also raised money to plant a garden and trees  around the school with the Seedling Club.  Another favorite hands-on experience involved working first hand with Newton’s laws of motion, with  Pinewood Physics teacher, Jordan Paschalidis, as he demonstrated his rock-climbing gear, pulleys, and harnesses.

Seedling Club

“As the twig is bent the tree inclines”- Virgil

Science enthusiasts in the elementary program from grades 1 to 5 have spent many morning recess breaks conducting short chemical, physical and biological experiments throughout the long winter months. Now that spring has come, the clubs last projects were to plant seeds for a garden and to plant trees.

The students loved planting as many seeds as possible and were saddened to see that not all of their seeds grew. Understanding that soil type and the amount of water given to a seed greatly affects the growth of a seed was a hard lesson learned.  With the help of some well established tomato and pepper plants, however, their garden is thriving.

In addition the seedling club, with generous donations from Mrs. Niki Tzivanaki, Dr. Giampapa, Mrs. Varsakopoulos’s 5th grade class, and Pinewood Friends (students, teachers and families) the Seedling club was able to  purchase 5 seedling  trees for the Pinewood campus.  The lovely wooden markers, donated by Mrs. Tzivanaki will serve as a reminder of the our concern for our campus and our environment.  Next year the Seedling club hopes to join forces with ‘Trees for the Future”  http://www.treesforthefuture.org/ to reach out beyond our immediate campus.  

What's Happening in the Secondary School!

Pinewood High School Student Council Helps Families in Need

On Friday, April 26, 2013, members of the Pinewood High School Student Council delivered a cash donation of 230 Euros to a local church which has been helping needy families in the greater Thessaloniki area. Student Council members Savvas Sfairopoulos and Andrea Fernandez-Martinez, accompanied by Dr. Linda Manney, Student Council Faculty Advisor, met with Father Haralambos, of the Holy Taksiarchon Church, Kalamaria, to deliver a cash gift, which consisted of donations offered by the Class Treasurers of Grades 9-12 and the High School Student Council. Students in each class have worked hard to earn the money in their treasuries through a number of fund-raising activities which they organize throughout the school year; they decided to donate a sum of money from their respective treasuries after their class officers had explained the charity project to them. The High School Student Council, well informed of the hardships caused by Greek economic crisis, unanimously agreed to prioritize this very important project. Special thanks are due to Student Council member Savvas Sfairopoulos, who made the initial contact with Father Haralambos, and has been a strong advocate of the charity project from its inception to its completion.

Thank You for Supporting our Food & Clothing Drive

The Middle School Student Council thanks all who contributed to their Food and Clothes Drive for Roma children and their families before Easter. Your clothing contributions help these children stay in school and get an education and your non-perishable foods were so appreciated.