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4 THE SHEPHERD • OCTOBER 2023 • SAINT SPYRIDON GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH OF SAN DIEGO YOUTH MINISTRIES Our school year and Liturgical Year has got- ten off to a great start! Our Youth Ministries volunteers have been hard at work teaching Sunday School, Dance, and helping during events. When you see a Youth Volunteer around church, be sure to thank them for volunteering! As we enter this school year, one of our goals is to increase the opportuni- ties for service projects for our children and teens. To make this happen, we are looking for one or two service-oriented parishioners who can help us find and coordinate service projects approximately once per month. You do not need to have any previous experience volunteering with children or teens. If you are looking for a way to use your community connections and resources to help our youth help others, please reach out to Julie Dennis, Youth Ministries Director, 619-940-5167. Sign up for the Youth Ministries email list on our website: https://sites.google.com/stspyr- idon.org/stspyridonyouthministries Follow us on Facebook (St. Spyridon GOC San Diego) and Instagram: @youthstspyr- idon To volunteer or get more information on any of the Youth Ministries at St. Spyridon, con- tact Julie Dennis, Youth Ministries Director, at 619-940-5167 or email youthministries@ stspyridon.org GOYA (Greek Orthodox Youth Association) Introducing our new GOYA Youth Board: President Alexios Savvides, 1st Vice President Kiki Mellos, 2nd Vice President Luka Maude, Secretary Sia Paraskevopoulos, and Treasurer John Savvides. In addition to our Board, we have chairpersons in other leadership roles: Photographer – Emma Brown, Green Team – Maria Paraskevopoulos, and Community Outreach – James Burrell. Please reach out if you are interested in volunteering for GOYA events! We would love to have young adult mentors for our teens! Text 619-940-5167 to get involved! HOPE &JOY (Holy Orthodox Primary Education &Junior Orthodox Youth): HOPE and JOY officially kicked off the new school year with a BBQ and Bounce House afternoon! Check out the photos of the kids and families! Our next event is on October 21st from 11:30am – 1:30pm: Lunch and a Lesson! We will enjoy lunch together and then split into small groups for our lesson on Kids in Orthodoxy: History and Today. The lesson will include fun activities! Sunday School We are excited to start the school year with a full Sunday School Teacher roster! Introduc- ing the Sunday School Teachers: Preschool - Heather Aryana and Christina Terpo, TK- 1st grade - Sophia Thiros and Maria Wojcik, 2nd-3rd grade - Tina Perri and Erika Couris, 4th-5th grade - Anastasia Polles, 6th-8th - Rhad Brown, 9th-12th - Marcella Bothwell. We always have opportunities for more vol- unteers, substitute teachers, class helpers, snack donations, and more! Sunday School just finished up its Diaper Drive for the new Nursery at St. Innocent Orphanage in Rosarito. The generosity of our Church community was overwhelming! We collected so many diapers and wipes to help the Orphanage prepare for its youngest residents! Thank you to everyone who do- nated! Sunday School is also looking for Guest Speakers who can talk and/or lead a lesson the first Sunday of each month. Please reach out to Julie Dennis, Youth Ministries and Sunday School Director to volunteer! Dance &Choral Be on the lookout for our dance groups in the community and our Youth Choir each Sunday! The Youth Choir sings with the adult Choir every Sunday during the Di- vine Liturgy. If you have a child, aged eight through eighteen, we hope they will join Ms. Kathy and the Choir in the Choir Loft.