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Academy Service Projects

Each year, Academy studentshave the opportunity to participate in community service projects thatbenefit environmental causes or children and families inneed.In the past, students have reforested Penteli Mountain, the Forest of Thines in Lehaina, Ileia, and more recently, replanted nearly 200 trees inKato Samiko, an extension of the Forest Kaiafa in Ileia that burned in this summer's devastating forest fires.

ACS students continue toperiodically serve meals to homeless people and refugees at a local soup kitchen, support a multicultural school for refugee and immigrant children , as well asa support center for families frommarginalized communities and childrenoften known as "The stoplight children".Students also have been volunteers atPaidon Children's Hospital and Aghia Sophia, where theycommitted their free time to play with terminally ill children at the hospital's play therapy center.

Non-governmental andcharity based organizations also have opened their doors to ACS students and invited them to contribute their time,energy andtalent to benefit those in need, such as Habitat for Humanity, Smile for a Child (Hamogelo tou Paidiou), Amnesty International, Doctors without Borders, Greek Council for Refugees, UNICEF, Make-A-Wish-Foundation, Athens Environmental Foundation.

Service experiences with schools for children with special needs also have been among the most enriching experiencesfor Academy students such as with Hatzipaterion- day center for physically challenged youth, ESEEPA-vocational school for mentally challenged youth, Pamakaristos-- day center for children with autism, and KEPEP Lehenon-- an institution in Lehena, Ileia for children with severe physical and mental disabilities.

 

Wednesday
29Jul2009

ACS Athens participates in Coastal Cleanup

National Coastal and Underwater Cleanup Day

Modern technology
Owes ecology
An apology.

Alan M. Eddison

On September 20th 2008, an energetic team of five ACS students "scuba divers" and one teacher took action in becoming part of a global solution.

Every year, on the third Saturday of September, in more than 75 countries, Project AWARE Foundation coordinates underwater cleanup events, where thousands of people take part in cleaning not only underwater but also coastal areas close to seas, lakes and rivers. This event is the largest single day volunteer event on behalf of our underwater and coastal environment.

Divers are the guardians of our underwater world. So, ACS students Olympia Filippeli, AJ Ginnis, Max Ginnis, George Papandreou and ACS science teacher Mr. John Sutfin decided to take on this role and become part of this event by making a difference and joining a group of scuba divers and participating in the underwater cleanup of Kavouri beach. The things they found were truly astonishing from the ability to fully dress a human being with underwear, socks, shorts, a shirt and a hat, to providing him with a range of daily activities, like drinking some kind of beverage, or flying a kite or even equipping him with a set of new tires.

We have taken advantage of the hospitality offered on our short stay on planet earth and even though at some point we check out, we leave our own individual fossils behind. We forget its offerings and neglect its needs. Two- thirds of earth's surface is covered with water, oceans function as an engine for regulating our climate and provides the oxygen we breathe, the food we eat and acts as a home for 97% of all life. We many times are overwhelmed with our obsession to maintain a certain level of hygiene on the top floor of apartment earth that we sometimes neglect the down floor turning it into our own personal basement where we tend to store unwanted stuff.

It time to act and join a common cause. Because in order to go green, we must live blue.