On Friday, June 16, 2017, the graduation ceremony of the Socrates-Demosthene School of the Hellenic Community of Greater Montreal took place at the Château Royal Reception Hall in Laval. Graduates celebrated in an evening filled with laughter and good-byes filled with hope. The ceremony marked the end of a pivotal year and a part of their young lives. We would like to congratulate them all and wish them the best of luck in High School, where we are sure they will be excellent ambassadors for Socrates-Demosthenes.
More than 1,200 people, 135 proud and beautiful students with their families, campus adminstrators, secretaries, all Grade 6 teachers and others attended the official dinner and ceremony.
Fathers Panagiotis Salatellis and Zisi Nterekas blessed the assembly. Elli Mandelanakis and Christos Filandrianos were the impeccable ceremonial masters of the evening.
Under the watchful eye of the five campus principals, two CHGM Education Secretaries and the Director General of the School …
Many of our great students received awards of excellence in various subjects…
…and some made really inspiring speeches.
The Honorary Diploma of the Socrates-Demosthenes School, awarded annually to a person who has distinguished himself by the excellence of his work for the benefit of our School, was presented this year to Maria Diamantis and Dimitri Ilias, our two outstanding choirmasters and entertainers. For many years, Maria and Dimitri have conveyed their extraordinary passion for music to one generation after another fof the Socrates-Demosthenes School. We salute them with gratitude and admiration.
After decades of exemplary service, Helen Tsouroudiakakis of the Socrates III campus, Diane Trudel and Sylvie Tremblay, of Socrates IV and Monique L’Écuyer, of the Socrates V campus, are retiring this year. They leave with honor and distinction, what has been their home for more than a generation. They received a well-deserved tribute. Katherine Divolis, director of Demosthenes handed flowers to Monique L’Écuyer, reminding her that she had been her teacher, at the primary level. It was very moving.
We also wish to salute Maria Lemontzis, from the Socrates II campus, who was absent that evening, but no less remarkable.
There were many distinguished guests, some of whom addressed the crowd: Frank Baylis, MP for Pierrefonds-Dollard, Fayçal El-Khoury, MP for Laval-Les Îles, Mary Deros, Deputy Mayor of Montreal, Aglaïa Revelakis, munincipal councillor of Laval, Nicolas Pagonis, President of the HCGM, Andy Crilis, Executive Vice-President of the HCGM, Zoi Batsis and Aliki Georgiadou-Daher, Vice-Presidents of the HCGM, Tassos Xipolitakis, President of the fund raising committee, Dora Papadopoulou, representing the Consul General of Greece in Montreal, and Dennis Marinos, president of the regional council of HCGM in Laval. We thank them for their participation in the ceremony, just as we are grateful to the parents’ committees of our campus’ and, of course, to Bill Zannis, the affable owner of Chateau Royal Reception Halls.
The students performed traditional dances from different regions of Greece to the sound of joyous folk music. Then their relatives and friends joined them.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank the talented dance teachers to whom we owe these wonderful results:
Campus Socrates II: Joanna Marinos
Campus Socrates III: Stevia Tatsis
Campus Socrates IV: Katerina Sita
Campus Socrates V: Denise Eleftheratou
Demosthenes Campus: Panagiota Daltagiannis
We wish all our graduates success and joy in high school!
