Evangelos Mantoulidis, The Founder
After 25 years I’m still not certain that the phrase “every obstacle is a blessing in disguise” would apply in my case. This is because, when I left a private school where I had worked for 12 years, I could not have imagined that I would become involved in creating a school, with everything that entails.
Perhaps the Schools have, in fact, succeeded in becoming a modern and dynamic educational community of culture and sports, recognized throughout Greece today.
It seems as though their reputation has rather surpassed Greek and European borders, as our students are currently studying on scholarship in the best universities of the United States: Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Stanford, Caltech, MIT, Duke, Dartmouth, Cornell, Carnegie Mellon, and Great Britain: Cambridge, Oxford, Imperial, etc., while others have taken part in International Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Olympiads, in which they have won distinctions worldwide.
Perhaps the fact that our students have consistently ranked first in the Greek universities’ entrance examinations; and in local and national student contests such as the Panhellenic Forensics Association Tournament (English language dramatic and rhetorical speech national competition), as well as Hellenic Mathematical Society, Chemistry, Computer Science, Ancient Greek, Modern Greek Rhetorical Speech, Orchestra, Theater, etc., competitions, proves the Schools’ worth in the minds of great thinkers of our nation. Perhaps the above has been complemented with sports distinctions where, so far, the Schools have conquered a world and two national high school basketball championships.
I wonder, is it worth sacrificing one’s own life and that of one’s family, to provide such a level of studies to young minds? As you can see, providing a yes or no answer is somewhat difficult. Yes, it is definitely worth fighting for youngsters’ education when one:
Does something that is fulfilling;
Believes that, along with instructing, one is shaping character and instilling Greek Orthodox ideals in young minds;
Combines tradition and progress, two very significant factors for the continued existence of any people;
Is able, in the best possible way, to achieve infusing the meaning of the phrase “a healthy mind in a healthy body” into students’ consciousness.
And all this, I for one will not have succeeded in, had I not been surrounded by wonderful teaching, technical, and administrative staff, as well as by my family who, selflessly and for many years, stood beside me and helped me with their insight and innovative ideas, which are invaluable for the achievement of a school’s lofty goals. These are the qualities that are essential to us in realizing the demanding goals of our institution, in order to continue living up to the outstanding reputation and high regard we have earned here at Mandoulides Schools.
Evangelos Mantoulidis
Founder of Mandoulides Schools
Philologist
