Our cultural project took place in Ralleio Lykeio under the title ?PIREAS, THE PORT OF OUR HEART? and referred to the biggest port of the country and the stories of the people who live there. The initial aims of the project were, on the one hand, for the students to get to know their city and its history and, on the other, to engage in the drama procedure not from the point of view of the spectator, but from that of the creator. Working in this direction, the students learnt the history of the City of Pireas from its foundation in the 19th century and focused on its most important historical moments. Apart from using historical textbooks for their study, the students also made use of narrations by their elderly relatives. After practicing the fundamental kinds of theatrical improvisation (forum theatre, devised theatre), the students were led to the creation of the text for the performance, which included literary and free expression texts. The dual nature of the text (cognitive and performative) was enhanced by the choice of songs referring to Pireas and the history of the City, making the students aware that Art as the live, on-going history of the people can act not only as a tank of information but as a form of entertainment as well.

Two performances were given, the first one on May 11, 2014 at the theatre of Ionidios School, and the second one on June 16, 2014 at the theatre of the French-Greek School of Pireas, Jeanne D?Arc. Invitations, posters and the program were sent to various representatives of the educational and the administrative community of Pireas. The performance itself was a composition with elements of prose, live music and projection of visual material, representing images from the life of simple people of Pireas. Twenty-one students participated in both performances acting, singing, playing music or as stage technicians. One of the elements of success was the large audience which attended both performances. It is worth mentioning that the second performance was also attended by 25 European teachers and students, our guests at the concluding meeting of the European Comenius Program ?Sustainable School Indicators? from the partner schools. Our guests were presented with a program, a poster and a CD with the songs of the performance as a souvenir.

The evaluation of the project was in the form of free discussion with the participation of all those involved. It was made obvious that this kind of school activities, apart from covering the cognitive part, also affect greatly the students? emotional and psychomotor function. The discussion also focused on the benefits of cooperation and team spirit between students and between students and teachers which enhances the positive nature of the school climate. The students underlined the active participation of many teachers who acted, sang, played music and worked as stage technicians. The students pointed out that such activities help building the necessary team spirit , creativity, friendliness and trust that function as the basis of a better school life.

Coordinating Teacher: Maria Panagiotopoulou

Members of the educational team: George Katopodis (Biology Teacher), Panoraia Kolentzou (Greek Language Teacher) and Panagiotis Markopoulos (Biology Teacher).