TNH

Published by The National Herald, February 4, 2005

Sister Syglitiki: TNH 2004 Teacher of the Year

By Stavros Marmarinos
Special to The National Herald

NEW YORK - The National Herald presented Sister Syglitiki, the beloved abbess and director of the Greek school of the old-calendarist community at Saint Markella Cathedral in Astoria, with its annual “Teacher of the Year” award last Sunday, January 30. The award was presented to the 80-year-old nun at St. Markella’s. The church was packed for the occasion.

The abbess - whose secular name was Aliki Strati - was chosen for her vitality, clarity of mind and dedication, despite recently being rendered unable to walk or stand due to a disability in her legs.

Sister Syglitiki teaches history, geography and the Greek language to young students at St. Markella’s.

"I am very moved," she told the Herald. "I wasn’t expecting something like this. There are so many educators in our community who are worthy for this honor. They could easily have been honored in my place," she said.

Sister Syglitiki was born in the Moschato area of Athens into a family of eight children. Teaching is in her blood and has been very much a part of her life from a young age.

In the late 1930’s, one of her older (biological) sisters opened a private school, where the abbess began teaching little children at the age of 15 to earn her pocket money.

Nelly Georgopoulos, daughter of George Georgopoulos (former president of the Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater New York), honored her former teacher with the following statement: "I’m not here to speak to you about the teacher of the year, or even about the teacher of the decade. I’m going to speak to you about the teacher of the century. But perhaps, because I’m still a little bit too young, I really can’t speak in proper terms about such an important person or subject. I can only speak about the teacher of my heart. Sister Syglitiki is the missing Karyatis from the Acropolis. She left the Erechthion and followed the children of Greece to the new world to help sustain Greece and Hellenism in New York," Miss Georgopoulos said.

Sister Syglitiki was originally a member of the new-calendarist Church before joining the old-calendarist movement. She began teaching Sunday School as a member of a religious community. In 1945, she took her teaching diploma from the Ralleio Pedagogic Academy. She later joined a convent in the village of Nenita on the island of Chios.

When she returned in Athens in 1948, she taught briefly at her sister’s school and was then appointed a teacher in public schools by the Greek Ministry of Education.

Sister Syglitiki reflected on those years with great fondness, while holding an old timeworn edition of the Orologion to Mega (the liturgical book containing prayers for daily and Sunday services).

"When I began teaching, it was October 27, 1940, one day before war was declared in Greece," she said. "So much has changed since then. My life changed completely, especially after I became a nun at age 20."

Sister Syglitiki first came to the United States in 1958, after being invited by the late Metropolitan Petros of the Genuine Orthodox Christians of America. "At the time, I paid my first visit to the National Herald’s former offices in Manhattan," she recalled.

Her interest in teaching at community schools soon brought her to the St. Markella School, and later to the St. Isidoros School. She said that memories of Metropolitan Petros are deeply ingrained in her heart. She also said that she considers Metropolitan Pavlos a worthy successor. "He was my student as a child, and I taught him Greek," she recalled.

Sister Syglitiki said she is happy with the way many of her former students have excelled professionally and have become "good Greek Orthodox Christians." She pointed to a little boy in an old classroom picture. "This is Ioannis Sitilidis, (formerly executive director of the recently closed) Western Policy Center," she said with evident pride in her voice.

Her greatest concern, however, is for Orthodoxy and Hellenism to be preserved in America, she said.

"If we lose that, we will have lost everything," she told the Herald. "Our children must know where they come from; what their roots are. By perpetuating Hellenism and Orthodoxy, we will be blessed, and we will continue to progress."

St. Markella’s School is also facing some important challenges, she added, although she did not elaborate.

The School numbers approximately 100 students from pre-school to the sixth grade, while classes run from Monday to Friday at 3-5 PM.

When she is not teaching, Sister Syglitiki said she likes to write poetry. Her latest poems are inspired by Christ’s post-Resurrection appearance at Emmaus (where He appeared to Saints Luke and Cleopas). She has also written about Greece’s sunsets.

After life’s experiences and years of teaching, however, Sister Syglitiki offered the following words of advice for Greek Americans: "People recognize and see what is good. Failure is often followed by success. Do not fear to be among the few, and hold onto your faith. Send your children to school, and go to church."



Volume 7 Number 6 - Tuesday, February 8th, 2005	A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY