TSN5026

4 THE SHEPHERD • MAY 2026 • SAINT SPYRIDON GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH OF SAN DIEGO May’s quick tip for families: Play the Mad, Sad, Glad Game. Everyone in the family chooses one time they felt Mad, Sad, and/ or Glad during the day and tells the family about it. Play the game as many times as pos- sible each week. **CLASS OF 2026!** Calling all Seniors! Please email youthministries@stspyridon. org with your student’s full name, high school, and post-school plans as soon as pos- sible! We would like to acknowledge all of our graduating seniors at our Sunday School Promotion on May 17th. We will also recog- nize our Sunday School Teachers and their classes. Ice Cream party fellowship to follow! Register by June 1st for the Early Bird Dis- count for Vacation Church School - July 13-17, 2026! 9am – 12:30pm daily. Aftercare available until 4:30 daily. This year’s theme is The Wonders of Creation! The entire week is only $40, and only $20 for siblings. Prices go up after June 1st. Youth Leaders are free. Children of Volunteers are free. Register on the Youth Ministries website or by following this link: https://tinyurl.com/2026vcswonder If you have questions about Youth Minis- tries at St. Spyridon, call or text Julie Den- nis, Youth Ministries Director, 619-618-5116 or email youthministries@stspyridon.org. Learn more about St. Spyridon Youth Min- istries on our website: https://tinyurl.com/ stspyridonyouth Follow us on social media: Facebook - St. Spyridon GOC San Diego and Instagram - @youthstspyridon ORATORICAL FESTIVAL: On Sunday, March 22nd, we held our Parish Oratorical Festival. In the Junior level cate- gory, we heard from two speakers, Athena Banthrum and Maria Paraskevopoulos. In the Senior level category, we heard from four speakers, Sotiri Kanakaris, Sia Paraskevo- poulos, Hana Fitzenz, and Tea Brown. Spe- cial thanks to our judges who had the diffi- cult task of ranking our speakers: Dr. Asimi- na Courelli, Kay Harkins, and Arjan Jooyan, and to our timekeeper, Ramon Almaraz. We were excited to advance three participants, Tea Brown, Sia Paraskevopoulos and Maria Paraskevopoulos to the District level compe- tition at St. Basil’s Greek Orthodox Church in San Juan Capistrano on Saturday, April 18th. We are thrilled to report that Maria Paraskevopoulos placed third in the Junior category and will serve as an alternate for the Metropolis level competition and Tea Brown placed in the top two in the Senior category so she will move on to the Metropolis level to compete on weekend of May 9-10th. The Metropolis level is held at St. Nicholas Ranch and is attended by His Eminence Metropoli- tan Gerasimos. We are proud beyond words to have Tea represent St. Spyridon at the Me- tropolis and wish her the best of luck in the next level of the competition! Timmy Paraskevopoulos Oratorical Festival Chair Parents of babies & toddlers We hope to see you on Sundays right after Holy Communion in Kids’ Corner in the lower education building playroom. Little Angels Playgroup will meet on May 6th at 9:45am. Sunday School The Holy Friday Retreat was a huge success with over 45 kids and leaders in attendance! They all learned quick prayers that they could use in different areas of their lives to “Pray Unceasingly” and took home a prayer book, Pascha Candle, and a homemade prayer bracelet keychain. April was filled with service projects for the Sunday School classes, including making Thank You Cards, Cards for the Homebound and assembling Blessing Bags! Our last day of Sunday School for the school year is May 17th. We will have fun Summer Sunday School activities for kids throughout the summer! Thank you, Tina Perri, Sunday School Director Sophia Thiros, Asst. Sunday School Director GOYA (Greek Orthodox Youth Association) This year, thanks to your generosity, GOYA Families, and Bill Navrides, the Palm Sun- day Luncheon raised over $7,000! The funds support youth group monthly events, ser- vice projects, and annual trips such as the ski trip and upcoming camping trip! New this year, GOYA has started a High School Senior Scholarship, eligible to all high school seniors who have participated regularly in GOYA, completed the application form, and have been accepted into a post-high school college, university, or trade school program. Application deadline is May 15th. Infor- mation is available online at https://tinyurl. com/stspyridonscholarships Meráki Young Orthodox Service Group Thanks to Meraki for setting up and hosting the Pancakes and Palms for our community! We tied over 400 palms! In May, we will be having a fun Mother’s Day activity and lunch on May 9th! YOUTH MINISTRIES Little Angels P L A Y G R O U P For Babies and Toddlers ages 40 days - 4 years old and their Parents or Caregiver! Wednesdays 9:45am - 11:00am Join our contact list: https://tinyurl.com/spyridonplaygroup St. Spyridon GreekOrthodoxChurch www.stspyridon.org Questions: 619-618-5116 youthministries@stspyridon.org at