Hellenic News of America

The American Farm School’s renowned program for U.S. teenagers, “Greek Summer,” is now in its 42^nd year of continuous operation. This year the program was based in the small farming village of Agios Antonios on the border of the prefectures of Thessaloiniki and Halkidiki in northern Greece.

The village is famous for its Women’s Agricultural Cooperative, whose members hosted the American teenagers. Each girl or boy lived with a different family, while as their community service project they built – with concrete and fieldstones – a small park adjacent to the Cooperative’s outdoor Coffee and Sweet Shop. Here the teenagers enjoyed making and feasting on the perek and other Pontian flat breads and pastas that the women in the Cooperative distribute in gourmet and specialty shops throughout Greece.

On the campus of the American Farm School, the group also learned how to drive tractors, how to harvest honey from the School’s beehives, how to carry out artificial insemination of the School’s dairy cows, and how to make feta and other cheese in the School’s Educational Dairy .

The Greek Summer group visited many of Greece’s major historical sites, including Meteora, Delphi, Thermopylae, Athens, Ancient Nemea, Mycenae, Epidauros and Nafplion.

A highlight of the Greek Summer 2012 experience was a three-day stay at Hopeland, a nonprofit eco-village devoted to sustainable living located in the hills surrounding Argos. The American teenagers concluded their five weeks in Greece by climbing to the summit of Mt. Olympus. Of the nearly 2,000 Greek Summer alumni, most call it one of the pivotal growth experiences of their lives.

For information on applying to be a Greek Summer participant or counselor in 2013, please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or visit www.afs.edu.gr/greeksummer.

Photo: Greek Summer 2012 participants in their community service project and with their host families in the village of Agios Antonios in northern Greece; visiting Thermopylae and Mycenae; and scaling Mt. Olympus.

Ms. Randall V. Warner

Communications Manager, U.S. Annual Fund Manager

American Farm School and Perrotis College