Heritage America Program 2018: BOSTON
Saturday, August 11, 2018
The National Hellenic Society (NHS) is now accepting applications for the 2018 Heritage America Program in Boston, Massachusetts. The Heritage America Program is an experiential, educational, and cultural program for Greek American high school students, developed and hosted by the NHS.
This year, the Heritage America Program -- Boston will take place on August 11, 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts. This program distills the salient features of the study abroad experience and delivers it on the local/regional level. This unique and proprietary program will reconnect Greek American high school students with their heritage, culture, and Hellenic identity through the prism of the American experience. Students will learn little-known information about the rise of Greeks in America over the last 100 years, with a focus on Boston, named the “Athens of America.” The program will better enable these students to glean the elements contributed to our amalgamated Greek American culture that came from their Hellenic background and which came from the “American way.”
Students participating in this exciting, educational program will meet with Greek Americans who have reached the pinnacle of success in America, including:
•Greek American local state representatives
•Former high-ranking Greek American government officials
•Prominent national businessmen and women
•Heads of local organizations
•Prominent media professionals
•Prominent academics
In these meetings, participants will learn:
•That many of the modern-day American principles and practices were virtually identical to the principles and practices
of the Greeks during the Golden Age
•The truly extraordinary impact Greece has had on America
•The enormous number of pillars of American and western Democracy that were developed by the Greeks
•That the architecture of our buildings is overwhelmingly influenced by Greek designs
•The connection between the Boston Marathon and the Athenian soldiers who ran 26 miles home in 490 BC to preserve
democracy and liberty
•The lost history about the extreme sacrifices some of the early Greek immigrants made trying to fulfill the American
Dream
•How Greek Americans rose in just one generation as some of the least educated and successful immigrants to some
of the most educated and successful ethnic group
•About the concept of philotimo and how it contributed to the person-to-person popularity and acceptance of Greek
Americans in every city and town in which they immigrated to in America
•About aspects of the Greek American experience and their uniqueness to our community
Participants will also tour:
•Massachusetts State House
•Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and tour Greek and Roman art with Curator Christine Kondoleon
•Beacon Hill – Louisburg Square (Aristides)
•Consul General of Boston and meet with Consul General Stratos Efthimiou
•Hellenic College Holy Cross with President, Chris Metropoulos
•Examples of Greek Revival architecture at Boston Public Library, Faneuil Hall, Parnassus Center, Athenaeum, MGH, St.
Paul’s Church, and Roslindale Square Cathedral Church
•The Hippocrates statue at Boston University Medical School
Draft Itinerary:
Meet at 80 Hayden Avenue Lexington, MA (free parking)
8:30 am -- Check in and breakfast
9 am --Departure by coach bus (Plaza limousine) with cooler of water bottles and snacks and chaperones
Tour of Boston Greek Revival (architecture) including Harvard University; Boston Public Library; State House; Fanueil
Hall; Parnassus Center; Athenaum; Massachusetts General Hospital; and St. Paul's Church
11-12 pm -- Tour of Greek and Roman art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
12-1 pm -- Go back on bus and tour resumes at Boston University Medical School, Roslindale Square, and Hellenic College
Holy Cross
1-3:00 pm -- Lunch and meet and greet at Boston College with with local state representatives, senators, the Consulate General of Greece, Boston, and Greek American organizations
3:00 pm -- Go back on bus and tour resumes: Boston Marathon
Return to Lexington at about 5pm
This year, the Heritage America Program -- Boston will take place on August 11, 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts. This program distills the salient features of the study abroad experience and delivers it on the local/regional level. This unique and proprietary program will reconnect Greek American high school students with their heritage, culture, and Hellenic identity through the prism of the American experience. Students will learn little-known information about the rise of Greeks in America over the last 100 years, with a focus on Boston, named the “Athens of America.” The program will better enable these students to glean the elements contributed to our amalgamated Greek American culture that came from their Hellenic background and which came from the “American way.”
Students participating in this exciting, educational program will meet with Greek Americans who have reached the pinnacle of success in America, including:
•Greek American local state representatives
•Former high-ranking Greek American government officials
•Prominent national businessmen and women
•Heads of local organizations
•Prominent media professionals
•Prominent academics
In these meetings, participants will learn:
•That many of the modern-day American principles and practices were virtually identical to the principles and practices
of the Greeks during the Golden Age
•The truly extraordinary impact Greece has had on America
•The enormous number of pillars of American and western Democracy that were developed by the Greeks
•That the architecture of our buildings is overwhelmingly influenced by Greek designs
•The connection between the Boston Marathon and the Athenian soldiers who ran 26 miles home in 490 BC to preserve
democracy and liberty
•The lost history about the extreme sacrifices some of the early Greek immigrants made trying to fulfill the American
Dream
•How Greek Americans rose in just one generation as some of the least educated and successful immigrants to some
of the most educated and successful ethnic group
•About the concept of philotimo and how it contributed to the person-to-person popularity and acceptance of Greek
Americans in every city and town in which they immigrated to in America
•About aspects of the Greek American experience and their uniqueness to our community
Participants will also tour:
•Massachusetts State House
•Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and tour Greek and Roman art with Curator Christine Kondoleon
•Beacon Hill – Louisburg Square (Aristides)
•Consul General of Boston and meet with Consul General Stratos Efthimiou
•Hellenic College Holy Cross with President, Chris Metropoulos
•Examples of Greek Revival architecture at Boston Public Library, Faneuil Hall, Parnassus Center, Athenaeum, MGH, St.
Paul’s Church, and Roslindale Square Cathedral Church
•The Hippocrates statue at Boston University Medical School
Draft Itinerary:
Meet at 80 Hayden Avenue Lexington, MA (free parking)
8:30 am -- Check in and breakfast
9 am --Departure by coach bus (Plaza limousine) with cooler of water bottles and snacks and chaperones
Tour of Boston Greek Revival (architecture) including Harvard University; Boston Public Library; State House; Fanueil
Hall; Parnassus Center; Athenaum; Massachusetts General Hospital; and St. Paul's Church
11-12 pm -- Tour of Greek and Roman art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
12-1 pm -- Go back on bus and tour resumes at Boston University Medical School, Roslindale Square, and Hellenic College
Holy Cross
1-3:00 pm -- Lunch and meet and greet at Boston College with with local state representatives, senators, the Consulate General of Greece, Boston, and Greek American organizations
3:00 pm -- Go back on bus and tour resumes: Boston Marathon
Return to Lexington at about 5pm
