Gymnasio Paranestiou me L.T. is located in Paranesti, a village 36 kilometres away from Drama, a city in northern Greece. It is located just beside the
river Nestos (from which it has taken its name) and in the mountains of Rhodope and the Virgin forest of Frakto. In our school, there are students from
13 to 18 years old, as well as 3 adults, summing up 37 students and 16 teachers. We have mainly regular courses such as Greek Language, English,
Physics, Maths, Chemistry, PE, Biology etc. The school is well-equipped with educational devices which sustain the educational process. Many of our
students’ families face economic problems due to the high rates of unemployment in our region. Most of them live on agriculture and animal
husbandry. There are also students who come from economic immigrant families and others from mixed weddings. Thus, there is cultural diversity in
our school. Our main goal is to encourage students adopt a better image not only for their school but for the world they live in, to develop their critical
thinking, basic life skills and key competences in order for them to become active citizens. We often organize workshops on various matters or call
experts to talk to our students on various topics. Furthermore, we try to motivate them by participating in many projects such as environmental, health
and care as well as cultural ones. Hopefully, we are going to implement two “Teachers4Europe: setting an Agora for Democratic Culture” (T4E)
projects, which unfortunately were postponed due to the closure of schools.
With the coming of the economic crisis of the last decade, many people from our region have immigrated abroad in search of a better future. However,
others have returned to their villages because of their inability to manage the expenses of living in a big city as many have lost their jobs. These
factors have led us to realize the necessity of providing our students a new perspective on life in the village, both to those who already live there but
want to leave, and to the newcomers who find it difficult to adjust. Living in a village has much to offer and this is what we want our students to realize.
Furthermore, the involvement of our students in an Erasmus+ project and collaborating with students from other countries would be an invaluable
chance for them not only to gain knowledge but also to expand their world view.
The key people in charge of the project will be the headmaster and Maths teacher Pantelis Ioannidis, English teacher Christina Terzopoulou,
Paschalis Dedousis, Vallas Athanasios, Sofia Filippidou and Navsika Ksanthopoulou, all Greek teachers, Ioannis Andreanidis Physics teacher, In case
any of them leaves the school, other members of the staff will take their roles.
Although we do not have previous experience on Erasmus+ projects, all teachers involved are highly motivated, have good ICT skills, use innovative
teaching methods in the classroom and will do their best for the success of the project.