BALTIMORE, MARYLAND September 11, 2013—CTY Greece, a new academic program at Anatolia College designed to challenge and engage bright, pre-college students from Greece, was celebrated on Monday, September 16, 2013 at the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth in Baltimore. CTY Greece, made possible by a $3.3 million grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, is part of the foundation’s efforts to help relieve some of the serious consequences stemming from the financial crisis in Greece. “The operation of CTY Greece, through the foundation’s grant, recognizes the particular learning needs of the country’s talented students and provides them with innovating teaching infrastructures, new possibilities for personal and intellectual development, and hope for a better future,” says John Zervakis, co-chief operating officer of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation. The grant to establish CTY Greece is rooted in the foundation’s January 2012 initiative designed to make grants of $130 million over three years to help ease Greece’s continuing socioeconomic crisis. Speakers at the event will include Johns Hopkins University President Ronald J. Daniels, Andreas Dracopoulos, co-president of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, CTY executive director Elaine Hansen, Maryland Rep. John Sarbarnes, and Panos Vlachos, president of Anatolia College. Every year, more than 9,000 pre-college students participate in CTY summer programs, which are held at 24 sites in the United States and Hong Kong on college campuses ranging from Johns Hopkins and Princeton to Stanford and Berkeley. Based in Baltimore, CTY draws extraordinary students from some 120 countries worldwide. The Center also offers family and online programs and partners with countries from around the world whose leaders seek to develop educational strategies to encourage creativity and innovative thinking among their future citizens. CTY Greece, which will be operated by Anatolia College in Thessaloniki, will open in summer 2014 and enroll 150 students who will be able to choose from 10 CTY courses. The program will identify and offer academically advanced students aged 7 to 18 comprehensive summer, online, and weekend programs. CTY Greece will feature challenging coursework, innovative teaching methods, and new academic experiences designed to foster a love of learning and encourage critical thinking skills. Training of CTY Greece instructors and staff began this summer, when five faculty members from Anatolia College participated in CTY’s International Educators Institute in Baltimore before heading to a number of CTY sites in the U.S. to observe courses in engineering, chemistry, computer science, mathematics, and biology. Also this summer, 10 students from Greece studied at CTY’s Summer Program site at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa., supported by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation. Among these students was Georgina Kypriotaki, 15, who took a three-week course in the history of disease. Spending seven hours a day studying how diseases like leprosy, smallpox, and tuberculosis shaped society may seem like an unusual way to spend one’s summer vacation. But for Georgina, having the chance to learn and live on a college campus alongside other academically advanced students proved to be an invaluable experience. “This has been such a great opportunity,” says Georgina, who lives in Crete. “Even though I go to a model school we don’t learn as much in a day as we do at CTY. I love having a roommate. I love staying on campus. And I love connecting with people from all over the world.” Maria Tsaousidou, a future CTY Greece instructor who teaches biology to middle and high schoolers at a division of Anatolia College, spent her time at CTY Lancaster observing an Introduction to the Biomedical Sciences class. What impressed her most, she says, was the age of the students were who were mastering material that can be quite complex. “Everything I wait to teach my 9th graders and IB students at home is being taught to 13 year olds at CTY,” she says. Note to media: Photos and video of Greek students who studied at CTY this summer are available. Please contact Maria Blackburn at 410-735-6263 for more information. ### About the Stavros Niarchos Foundation The Stavros Niarchos Foundation is one of the world’s leading international philanthropic organizations, making grants in the areas of arts and culture, education, health and medicine, and social welfare. The foundation funds organizations and projects that exhibit strong leadership and sound management and that have the potential to achieve a broad, lasting and positive impact. The foundation also seeks to support projects that facilitate the formation of public-private partnerships as effective means for serving public welfare. Since 1996, the foundation has approved grant commitments of $1.36 billion through 2,470 grants to nonprofit organizations in 109 nations. Excluding the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC) in Athens, the foundation’s grant funding is equally divided between Greece and other international countries. In response to the continuing socio-economic crisis in Greece, the foundation announced in January 2012 a grant initiative of $130 million over three years to help ease the adverse effects of the deepening crisis. Since then, and as part of the initiative, the foundation has committed grants totaling $75 million in support of numerous not-for-profit organizations around the country, and is in the process of assessing additional grants. The foundation’s largest single gift $796 million was to the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center. The foundation firmly believes that the project is of national importance, even more so under the current socio-economic conditions. It remains a testament and a commitment to the country’s future, at a critical historical juncture. It is also an engine of short- to mid-term economic stimulus, which is essential under the current circumstances. About The Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth (CTY) A global leader in gifted education since 1979, CTY is a not-for-profit organization focused on identifying academic talent in exceptional K-12 students and supporting their growth with summer and online courses, family programs, services, and resources specifically designed to meet their needs. Education Week called CTY “one of a set of remarkable nonpublic institutions dedicated to the discovery and nurture of the most talented young people for the highest levels of accomplishment.” About the Anatolia College Anatolia College is a not-for-profit organization with a long history and contributions at all educational levels. It was founded in 1886 in Merzifon in Pontus (modern-day Turkey), and relocated to Thessaloniki GREECE in 1924. Today it encompasses learning opportunities in English from primary school to graduate programs. Known for excellence, innovative educational activities, high quality teaching, a liberal spirit and social contribution, the Anatolia College has established itself as a nationally and internationally recognized educational center. ### https://fbcdn-profile-a.akamaihd.net/hprofile-ak-ash3/c61.0.579.579/s160x160/1017207_10150293240574982_1446036950_n.jpg
Posted on: Wed, 18 Sep 2013 11:35:57 +0000