ACS Athens wins third place sweepstakes cup in the panhellenic forensics tournament
The ACS Athens Forensics team won the 3rd Place Sweepstakes Cup, ranking in the top three for the fifth consecutive year at the 51st Panhellenic Forensics Tournament, which took place March 16-19, 2023, at Athens College! This was the first post-pandemic face-to-face tournament. Throughout the four days of the tournament our team, composed of 29 Academy and 1 MS student, showed great commitment, camaraderie, and dedication to the spirit of Forensics.
Special congratulations go out to the finalists and honorable mentions:
Group Discussion:
- 1st among equals: Frantzeska Vasilogeorgi
- Finalist: Josie Holmgren
- Honorable Mentions: Athina Ntosta, Dimitris Skikos
Impromptu Speaking:
- 1st among equals: Dimitris Skikos
- Finalist: Kai Yuet Zhang
Oral Interpretation of Literature - Comic:
- 1st among equals: Kai Yuet Zhang
Original Oratory:
- Honorable Mention: Erin Sidereas
Congratulations to the entire team for their passionate participation in the events of:
Debate, Group Discussion, Impromptu Speaking, Original Oratory, Duet Acting and Oral Interpretation of Literature, and a heartfelt thank you to their coaches: Ms. Stavi Dimas, Mr. Stefanos Achilleos, Mr. John Backogeorgos, Mr. Tommy Lynch
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 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, the 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 graduate’s 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.
