The Hellenic American Academy holds a number of annual events for students and their families including:
Oxi Day Celebration is celebrated throughout Greek communities around the world on Oct. 28 each year, to commemorate the rejection by Greek Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxas (in power from Aug. 4, 1936 until Jan. 29, 1941) of the ultimatum made by Italian dictator Benito Mussolini on Oct. 28, 1940, after a party in the German embassy in Athens, demanded that Greece allow Axis forces to enter Greek territory and occupy certain unspecified “strategic locations” or otherwise face war. It was allegedly answered with a single laconic word: όχι (No!) However, his actual reply was, Alors, c’est la guerre (Then it is war).
Our Veterans’ Day Programcelebrates the service of all U.S. military veterans, while Memorial Day is a day of remembering the men and women who died while serving.
At the Holiday Concert, our school celebrates our Christian faith in a beautiful Christmas program, the highlight of the Christmas season for our families. Rich in our Greek culture and Orthodox Christian traditions, the students perform songs, skits, and a beautiful reenactment of the Nativity.
Greek Letters Day is the celebration of the Three Hierarchs of the Orthodox Church: St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory the Theologian, and St. John Chrysostom. The Orthodox Church considers the Three Hierarchs the most important Teachers and Fathers for the development and growth of the church. The Three Hierarchs have been credited with working diligently to see the development of Greek literature and education. Greek Letters Day celebrates the use and promotion of the Greek language abroad.
Our fathers among the Orthodox saints, Basil the Great (Jan. 1), Gregory the Theologian (Jan. 25), and John Chrysostom (Nov. 13) are known as the Three Holy Hierarchs for their leadership of the Orthodox Church. Their shared feast day is celebrated on Jan. 30. At the Hellenic American Academy, we celebrate the Three Hierarchs with our Greek Letters Day Program, during whichchildren in grades K and up participate in the program with poems, songs, and Greek dance.
The annual Greek Independence Day Celebration includes many festivities for the students at the Hellenic American Academy. We honored the history with a performance at school, a Lowell Parade after Liturgy, a visit to the Lowell Mayor’s office and to the Massachusetts State House, all culminating in the Greek Independence Parade through Boston. Hellenic American Academy students and families demonstrated they were proud of their heritage.
Academic Fairs
In April, our students in grades K and up participate in our annual Science Fair. The science fair is a judged for students in grade 5 and above. Students in grades 2 and above are expected to create, perform, document and present an original scientific experiment or an invention, using the Scientific Method of Inquiry. Students in grades 5 and above are extremely well prepared to participate in our science fair. Grades 5 and above have a required weekly science lab with hands-on experiments and lab reports.
In May, the students proudly display their art and languages projects in our annual Arts and Academics Fair. In addition to our own school art program, our middle-school students participate in art classes at the Whistler House. They eager await the opportunity to display their artwork. This event provides an opportunity for the students to display their Greek and Spanish language projects, as well as History and Social Studies projects.