The ACS Athens Forensics team won the 2nd Place Sweepstakes Cup for the second consecutive year at the 50th Panhellenic Forensics Tournament, which took place March 17-20, 2022! The competition took place virtually this year, but ACS Athens competed as a team from the ACS campus. Throughout the four days of the tournament the ACS Athens team, composed of 25 Academy students, showed great commitment, camaraderie, and dedication to the spirit of Forensics. 

Special congratulations go out to the finalists and honorable mentions:

Original Oratory - Finalist, Lauren Fox

Oral Interpretation of Literature, Dramatic - Finalist, Kelly Karamanoli

Impromptu Speaking - Finalist, Ian Brown / Honorable Mentions, Ann Marie Martinou, AND George Pliakas

Group Discussion - Finalists, Dimitris Skikos, Frantzeska Vasilogeorgi, Natalie Wollen, Yasmin Hatzis / Honorable Mentions, Ann Marie Martinou AND Paloma Georgakopoulos-Ussia

Monologues, Dramatic - Finalist, Iris Selmpesi

Monologues, Comic - Honorable Mention, Ariadne Koropouli 

Congratulations to the coaches:

Stefanos Achilleos, Ioannis Backogergos, Stavi Dimas, Tommy Lynch, Sofia Thanopoulou & Amalia Zavacopoulou.

Special Thanks to Judges: Leigh Anderson who ALWAYS supports our team, our alumna Marilina Bitsikas who zoomed in from Milan, and Gianna Gkioni, the most recent addition to our team.

Leading the way... our Forensics Coordinators/ Head Coaches: Sofia Thanopoulou & Amalia Zavacopoulou.

A Few Words about the Panhellenic Forensics Association

The Panhellenic Forensics Association was founded in the early 1970s and ACS Athens was one of its early members. Since then the PFA Tournament has grown to be a prestigious national competition that brings together over 500 students and coaches from 19 schools from all over Greece. 

Its six events, permeated by the principles of Logos, Ethos, and Pathos, address original, creative, ethical, and critical thinking that is communicated through oral language. Coaches Amalia Zavacopoulou and Sophia Thanopouou have been successfully leading the ACS Athens Academy team, finding the perfect match for the school’s core values and philosophy: independent inquiry, pursuit of knowledge, fair play, open-mindedness, and ethical involvement with global issues; curiosity, creativity and creative expression; effective communication, ownership, and personal investment. Every single attribute of an ACS Athens graduates’ profile is addressed and developed through this competition. 

Every year students come back from the Panhellenic Forensics Tournament with amazing experiences, having been exposed to intense argumentation, creative interpretations of literature, presentation of original ideas, and impressive speaking and discussing skills.

The events

Debate is an event of verbal conflict: two teams of 3 speakers are given as a motion a controversial issue and have to speak as a team “for" or “against" that motion regardless of their personal beliefs on it. 

Duet Acting: two students perform a 7-9 minute comic or dramatic scene of their choice, using just two chairs and their talent. 

Oral Interpretation of Literature:  one student animates, while seated on a stool, a 6-8 minute comic or dramatic piece of literature of his/her choice, using only voice, face, and hand gestures.

Original Oratory: one student writes and delivers a 6-8 minute persuasive speech on a topic he/she feels strongly about and tries to convince the audience of their point of view.

Impromptu Speaking: students are given 1 minute to prepare a 2-3 minute speech on a given topic with coherence, originality, and confident expression of their ideas.

Group Discussion: a group of 6-8 students uses polite conversational skills to express their ideas, make suggestions and attempt to help the group resolve a given problem.