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4 THE SHEPHERD • FEBRUARY 2023 • SAINT SPYRIDON GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH OF SAN DIEGO As we enter into 2023, Youth Ministries has a number of big projects and events planned for the next few months that include Orthodox Christian Mission Center Coin Drive, Saturday of Lazarus Pancakes and Palms, GOYA Palm Sun- day Luncheon, Holy Friday Youth Retreat, Youth Group Ser- vice Projects, Vacation Church School, and Project Mexico Home Building Trip. As you may have noticed, we are try- ing to cultivate a spirit of service and giving in our youth, but our events and projects could not happen without our St. Spyridon community. I would like to take a moment to thank all of the volunteers and families who have volun- teered during the past few months. From organizing fellow- ship, to prepping pageant costumes, serving on our GOYA board and Dance and Choral Board, teaching Sunday School and Dance, and so much more, it can’t be done without our community! Looking forward, I would like to ask you, our St. Spyridon community, to consider how you can help our youth in the upcoming year. In the next few months, we are looking for a Sunday School Teacher, Youth Group Service Project Coordinator, Kids’ Corner Sunday Set-Up, Holy Fri- day Retreat Team, and Vacation Church School volunteers. Youth Ministries cannot serve our YOUTH without YOU! Click the Youth Ministries link on the www.stspyridon.org for more information or contact Julie Dennis, Youth Min- istries Director, email: youthministries@stspyridon.org or mobile: 619-940-5167. Don’t forget to check us out on Face- book and Instagram: @youthstspyridon YOUTH MINISTRIES GOYA (Greek Orthodox Youth Association) Thanks to our GOYA Youth Board, Andreana Frangos, and Renee Maude for making our Big Bear trip a huge success! Twelve kids and chaperones drove to Big Bear Snow Valley for a day of skiing and snowboarding fun! Once the rain cleared, the conditions were perfect! If you missed this trip, we are already planning next year’s two-day snow trip! Keep an eye out for planning info. Sunday School Sunday School resumed on January 15th. Our Sunday School serves kids from Preschool through 12th grade. We encourage all kids and teens to join us each Sunday immediately af- ter Holy Communion. Also, Sunday School is looking for one to two teachers to join our Ministry Team! Email Julie Dennis at youthminis- tries@stspyridon.org if you would like to get more information about volunteering in Sunday School. Dance &Choral Our dancing choral school has been busy! After our performance at the Chaldean Radio and Television Holiday party in December, we per- formed at the Grossmont Folk Dance Holiday party in La Mesa in Janu- ary-our first performance with live musicians! Our next performance will be at the ActivCare Memory Care Home in Mission Bay in Febru- ary. We are looking forward to per- forming at the annual 25th of March Celebration for our Greek School and then we'll be on dance hiatus during Great and Holy Lent. Oratorical Festival On Sunday February 26th after Di- vine Liturgy, we will host our Parish’s annual St. John Chrysostom Ora- torical Festival. This event is open to all youth, grades 4 - 12. The com- petition is divided into Elementary (exhibition), Junior (competition) and Senior (competition) levels. Stu- dents prepare and deliver an original speech, based on topics selected by the Archdiocese (see attached fly- er) which sponsors this event. All participants at the parish level will receive a $20 gift certificate. Those who advance from our Parish level will compete at the regional compe- tition and will then have a chance to advance to the Metropolis and beyond, where they can qualify for further scholarships. Our parish winners at the Junior and Senior lev- els will receive the George M. Platis Oratorical Scholarship Award, of- fered by Michael and Maria Platis in memory of their son George, who proudly participated in the parish Oratorical Festival. Please see at- tached flyer for information on top- ics, deadlines and where to register. For more information please reach out to parish festival chairperson, Timmy Paraskevopoulos at 714-931-2431 or t_nicolaou@hotmail.com Holy Friday Youth Retreat Save the date! April 14th, 2023: 9am – 2pm. Transitional Kindergarten – 5th grade can participate in the retreat. The 6th- 12th grade students can be Retreat Youth Leaders. Adult volun- teers also needed! We hope you save the date for this wonderful experi- ence for our youth! Retreat planning will start in March. For more information, contact Timmy Paraskevopoulos at 714-931-2431 or t_nicolaou@hotmail.com