2013-03-17: Oratorical Festival Results

Post date: Jan 21, 2015 3:00:35 AM

2013 St. John Chrysostom Oratorical Festival Summary

The first half of March was devoted to getting ready for our parish St. John Chrysostom Oratorical Festival that was held on March 17. The OratoricalFestival was a great opportunity for our students to learn about our Orthodox faith. The topics for grades 7^th through 12^th grade were selected from a list provided by the Archdiocese. Topics for the younger grades (Preschool to 6^thgrade) were provided by the teachers. In addition, students in the Junior Division (7^th through 9^th grade) and the Senior Division (10^th to 12^th grade) had the unique opportunity to give a speech in front of their peers and the festival judges.

We would like to recognize and congratulate the students who stepped up and gave speeches at our Oratorical Festival [All speakers received Honorable Mention. (*)Runner-up. (**) Finalist]:

6^th Grade: Gabriel Necula, Ellis Dixon, Alex Chalogianis.

Junior Division: William Kiningham (*), Frank Bairactaris, Chrysanthe Patselas, Sophia Gibson (*), Athena Chapekis (**), Athina Res, Emily Roopas.

Senior Division: Erica Theros, Angelos G. Bairactaris, Stephen Philippou, Socrates Papageorgiou, Yan Theros (*), Christopher Mitropoulos-Rundus, Grant Vlahopoulos (*), Jackie Stokes (**), Anastasia Gibson (*).

Congratulations to all students and to their parents and teachers for the hard work they put into the Oratorical Festival. They are all winners.

We would also like to thank the judges for sharing their time and talents to make the Oratorical Festival possible: Mrs. Katherine Kotsis from St. John Sterling Heights, Fr. Nick's mother, with over 30 years as Church School Teacher, extensive experience with the Oratorical Festival, and having served as a judge many times for our Parish; Alexander Radulescu, Assistant to Metropolitan Nicholas of Detroit, Seminary Graduate, Master of Arts in Theology; Alexandru Popescu, Senior in Aerospace Engineering at U-M and active leader the U-M Orthodox Christian Fellowship Group. Many thanks also to all adult parishioners who provided their support: Artemis Alex, Costas Boutsikakis, Nick Chapekis. Jr., Theresa Chapekis, Stacy Garris, Michael Kapetan, Tony Mihalopoulos, Demetra Mitropoulos-Rundus, Jennifer Patselas, Pam Petropoulos, Deno Prokos, Sophia Radwanski, and Fr. Nick Kotsis. Finally we would like to recognize Dr. Vicki Kiningham who once again organized every aspect of the St. John Chrysostom Oratorical Festival.