The West Australian Modern Greek Language Teachers’ Association Inc.
(WAMGLTA) held its first ever Greek language competition for school-aged
children (Pre-primary to Year 12), and it was a hit!

With the aim of promoting the speaking of the Greek language in an enjoyable
and non-threatening way, the Association devised the WAMGLTA Speak Greek
in June Competition (also in support of the annual Speak Greek in March
Campaign) with the following stipulated criteria:

• Prepare a video of maximum 3 minutes’ duration, speaking in Greek on
any one of the following topics:

Me
My family
Food
Winter
Life in Greece
Life in Australia
Explaining the rules of a chosen sport
Greek Orthodoxy
The Arts

• Students were permitted to work alone, in pairs, or in groups of no more
than 4 persons.

• The categories for judging were:
(1) Background Speakers: Solo, Pairs, Groups
(2) Non-background Speakers: Solo, Pairs, Groups

• The criteria used for judging the winners in each of the above categories
were:
(a) Fluency in speaking Greek;
(b) Clear communication of meaning; and
(c) Entertainment level.

• The competition opened on 1 June 2019 and closed on 6 July 2019.

It was heartening for the Association to receive entries from 40 individual
students, some of whom worked in pairs or in groups.

The participants came from the following three educational providers where Modern Greek is taught:
• St. Andrew’s Grammar
• Immaculate Heart College
• The Evangelismos Greek Language School

Judging took place on Saturday 10 August, with the following winning entries
emerging from each educational provider:

St. Andrew’s Grammar

Background Speakers (Solo)
Filippos Stergiou – Winning Entry
Lucas Cristopoulos
Panagiota Kyriakidou
Melina Lampropoulos
Kon Stergiou

Non-background Speakers (Solo)
Bojan Dinic – Winning Entry

Background Speakers (Pairs)
Strati Pergamalis & Dean Diodato
Alexandra Zafiropoulos & Jana Edwards – Winning Entry
Nicholas Cristopoulos & Konstantinos Koutsouvelis
Jason Androutsos & Damianos Kyriakidis

Non-background Speakers (Pairs)
Milan Dinic & Nemanja Savic – Winning Entry
Ana Susa & Yashvi Meghani
Asha Greer & Cassiana Papadoulis
Andjela Petkovic & Nina Novakovic
Georgia Kikiros & Elena Ilic

Non-background Speakers (Groups)
Ewan Weir, Biftu Demissie & Anh Vu Nhien Tran – Winning Entry
Jelena Cubrilo, Mia Francis, Lamija Ekic

Immaculate Heart College

Non-background Speakers (Pairs)
Polly Bartlett & Emmanuel Hurley – Winning Entry
Mikaela Vale-Kunz & Kelsey Van Heemst
Tyson Dewhirst & Georgie Buxton
Kaelan Ormsby & Oliver Parker

The Evangelismos Greek Language School
​
Non-background Speakers (Pairs)
Delaney Mamakos & Zeva Mamakos – Winning Entry

As Chair of The West Australian Modern Greek Language Teachers’ Association
Inc., I had the privilege of visiting each of the schools over the course of Term
Three, to present a certificate to every participant, and the prize of a Dymocks
Book Voucher to each of the winners.

As a result of the enthusiastic and positive outcome of this inaugural
competition, WAMGLTA will be sure to offer it again in 2020 and beyond!
​
Dr Angela Evangelinou-Yiannakis
WAMGLTA Chair
14 September 2019

Since the inception of The West Australian Modern Greek Language Teachers’ Association Inc. (WAMGLTA) on 24 August 2016, Dr Angela Evangelinou-Yiannakis, as Chair of the Association, has worked tirelessly to
achieve a number of goals. As the driving force of the Association, Angela has achieved the following in
2018:
• Managing all the responsibilities of the Association as its Chair whilst also carrying out the full duties
of Secretary up to the August Meeting when a Secretary was finally installed;
• Overseeing the updating of the WAMGLTA Rules, which were approved by the Department of Mines,
Industry Regulation and Safety Consumer Protection on 9 April 2018;
• Holding regular meetings at the various Greek Education Providers to ensure inclusion of all Greek
Language Teachers;
• Instigating and bringing to finalisation a Logo for the Association;
• Promoting the idea of WAMGLTA’s inaugural Professional Learning opportunity and bringing it to
fruition on 25 August;
• Creating the Agenda, Promotional Flyer and Certificate of Participation for the PL;
• Preparing the post-PL article and disseminating it widely;
• Bringing together Greek Language Teachers from all of WA’s Greek Education Providers in a
supportive and productive environment;
• Preparing for subsequent PL opportunities to be offered by WAMGLTA.
Further to these efforts for the Association, Angela is in her 14th year as the Director of the Centre for the
Greek Language, which offers annual examinations to WA candidates. Angela organises the registration of
the candidates, the payment of fees, the invigilation of the examinations, the return of the examination
papers to Greece, and the dissemination of results and certificates to the candidates.
Angela is also a consultant for the teaching and learning of Modern Greek for a number of Greek Education
Providers in WA.

The West Australian Modern Greek Language Teachers’ Associaon Inc. (WAMGLTA) held its inaugural Professional Learning (PL) session on Saturday 25 August at The Evangelismos Greek Language School in West Perth. The event was hosted by the school, inclusive of a delicious lunch, which was blessed by Reverend Father Emmanuel Stamatiou.

The formal part of the PL session began promptly at 1.15 pm with a brief welcome address by the Chair the WAMGLTA Commitee, Dr Angela Evangelinou-Yiannakis. It included a brief history of the Association, with particular reference to the fact that it was established on 24 August 2016 and exactly two years later, it was holding its first PL session, achieving one of its constitutional objectives. The PL, aptly named ‘Best Practice’ in the Greek Language Classroom, drew on the existing local expertise of Greek Language Teachers from the various Greek Education Providers here in WA. With the firm belief that the collective expertise of our existing practitioners is as good as any ‘imported product’, an agenda was prepared that included four presenters with their nominated ‘best practice’ item:
• Ms Fay Giannaris: ‘Souvlaki’ Language Game and Tic Tac Toe Programming for Differentiation
• Mrs Christina Panovrakou: Diction and Vocabulary (handy hints for teachers to help their students remember Greek orthography and lexicon)
• Mr George Anastassiadis: ‘What’s in the bag?’ Role Play
• Ms Catherine Papanastasiou: Using Music to reinforce Language

The presentations were well prepared and hands-on in their approach, with the use of IT and other resources to complement the content being delivered. The participants not only gained insight and some ‘best practice’ ideas from each of the presenters, they also enjoyed themselves whilst doing so, volunteering for activities, role play, and even singing along with Catherine!

A humble start to WAMGLTA’s PL initiatives, the 15 participants were impressed with the event. Sincere thanks are extended to Father Emmanuel for his blessing; to Mrs Irene Starr, Principal of The Evangelismos Greek Language School, for generously hosting the event in a warm and friendly environment; to each of the four presenters for their willingness to share their ‘best practice’ ideas with other teachers and for the effort that went into their inspirational presentations; and to all the participants for being part of this historic event.

A particular highlight was witnessing the first WAMGLTA PL come to fruition and seeing representation from the following Greek Education Providers; St. Andrew’s Grammar, The Centre for Hellenic Studies (Saturday School and Aer-hours Greek School), The Evangelismos Greek Language School, and Immaculate Heart College. This is one of the key objectives of WAMGLTA; to be an Association for all Greek Language Teachers from all Greek Education Providers in WA.

Dr Angela Evangelinou-Yiannakis
WAMGLTA Chairperson
​28 August 2018

PTCWA 2017 Outstanding Professional Service Award for Dr Angela Evangelinou-Yiannakis

The West Australian Modern Greek Language Teachers’ Association Inc. (WAMGLTA)

​On Wednesday 25 October 2017, at the Awards Ceremony of the Professional Teaching Council of Western Australia (PTCWA), Dr Angela Evangelinou-Yiannakis was honoured with an Outstanding Professional Service Award. Nominated by members of the West Australian Modern Greek Language Teachers’ Association Inc. (WAMGLTA), Angela received the award for the following reasons, as cited in the Awards booklet:

If not for the efforts of Angela Evangelinou-Yiannakis over many years, the teaching and status of Modern Greek in this state would be close to non-existent. From co-authoring the original Secondary Education Authority Modern Greek Syllabus in the late 1980s to championing the inclusion of Modern Greek in the State’s list of prioritised languages, Angela has been instrumental to the promotion and advancement of Greek in this state. She also had input into the National Languages Policy. She ensured that Greek attained TEE status and served as the Chair for the Modern Greek Syllabus Committee for a consecutive 19 years, within which time she was also the Moderator for Upper School Greek. In further voluntary capacities for the last 13 years, Angela has been the Director of the Centre for the Greek Language (CGL), arranging and coordinating the annual examinations from Greece to be available to students of Greek in WA. Her involvement in co-instigating the WAMGLTA is further evidence of her contribution to education in this state. She co-initiated the establishment of the Association and is its driving force. Organising a constitution, consulting with various stakeholders and colleagues about the Association, and being chosen by her peers to Chair the Association is evidence of her commitment and the high regard in which she is held by fellow educators.