Harry Barba Photo
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Purple and blue light washed across the draped walls of the Palace convention centre in Laval, where rows of white-covered chairs faced the stage and crystal chandeliers hung above hundreds of waiting families. Phones rose into the air as a long line of students in deep blue caps and gowns moved down the patterned carpet, and the hall filled with applause. The graduation of École Socrates-Démosthène, held earlier this month, brought together a class drawn from five campuses to close their elementary years and to renew a promise the Hellenic Community of Greater Montreal has carried across generations, the preservation of the Greek language, faith and identity in a Canadian city far from Greece.
The ceremony unfolded on the evening of June 12 before a full room, opening with the procession of the graduates and the school’s directors. Christos Filandrianos, a teacher and director of Campus Socrates III, served as master of ceremonies and welcomed parents, grandparents and guests of honour. Father Nicodemus, a graduate of the school who now serves as a parish priest in the community, led the gathering in prayer and asked the children to remember the sacrifices their parents and grandparents had made for them. The consul general of Greece in Montreal, Nikolaos Karalekas, was unable to attend and sent his congratulations to the graduating class.
Georgia Tsakalis, director general of the school, told the graduates the evening was one the whole community had awaited with impatience. She thanked the families and educators she called the guardians of the community’s heritage and culture, and described the spirit of the school as a blend of philotimo, philanthropy and warmth. “Life becomes understandable only by looking back,” she said, telling the students that in time they would recognize these years as among the best that life had offered them. Tsakalis has led the school for some 27 years.
Two graduates read compositions about their time at the school, one in Greek and one in French. Zoi Nicoletopoulou, of Campus Socrates III, said she had started in 2018, holding her parents’ hands before boarding the school bus, and was now saying goodbye alongside her 22 classmates. “My school was always my second home, and now that it is time for me to leave, I know well that a part of my heart will remain here forever,” she said, crediting the teachers who taught her three languages and helped her believe in herself. Louis-Arnaud Cherubin, of Campus Socrates II, traced his path from online classes during the COVID-19 pandemic to his gratitude for the teachers who guided him through it.
A long series of awards followed, presented campus by campus with the support of community foundations, the parents’ committees and local sponsors. Students received honours for excellence and effort in Greek, French and English, along with prizes in mathematics, physical education, dance, visual and performing arts, entrepreneurship, perseverance and philanthropic engagement. Filandrianos noted that the dancers among the graduates give up an hour or two of their dinner time each week near the end of the year to prepare the Greek dances they would perform for their families. The evening’s highest honour, the President’s Prize, went to one student from each campus for academic achievement, character and service.
Basile Angelopoulos, president of the Hellenic Community of Greater Montreal, told the 141 graduates they had formed bonds that would last a lifetime. “Tonight we celebrate your achievement, and we invite you to continue to stay close to your community,” he said, announcing plans to form an alumni committee in the coming year. He said 86 per cent of children who leave Socrates-Demosthenes go on to the private high school of their choice, a figure he called remarkable, and described the graduates as the future of Hellenism. “I see the future of Hellenism, and I am very optimistic that we are heading in a very good direction,” he said.
The school traces its origins to 1909 and now stands as the largest private French-language school in Quebec, with more than 1,000 children enrolled across its campuses. Michael Pazadzis, vice-president of the community and a 1988 graduate of the school, said the trilingual program shapes students into ambassadors of both Hellenism and Canada. Members of the parents’ committees described the fundraising that sustains the schools, including the community’s annual radio marathon and a fundraising procession that together raised $650,000 this year and nearly $4 million over the past 15 years, money directed to equipment, programs and families in need. One committee member said every child kept within the schools keeps a piece of Hellenism within the community. The civic presence of the community has grown alongside its classrooms, with the month of March recognized as Greek month in Outremont and Laval and the Greek flag raised at local city halls.
As the formal program gave way to the dinner-dance, a young drummer carrying a daouli led lines of graduates onto the floor, and families rose from their tables to join hands in circle dances beneath the chandeliers. The 141 diplomas were presented campus by campus, beginning with Campus Socrates V, and the evening closed with the graduating class performing a farewell song conducted by Dimitris Ilias of Chroma Musica.
