Pauline in one of the classrooms at Protagonist
Director of the Protagonist Elementary School:
Two of the highest priorities for the Archbishop Anastasios are children and education. Both of these elements come together in the Protagonist Elementary School which is funded and administered by the Orthodox Church of Albania. The school is in it's fifth year of operation and was originally directed for four years by our good friend and fellow missionary Shannon Sakellariou. Shannon did a magnifcient job of growing the school to this year's total of 147 students in grades 1 - 5. The school, under Shannon's direction, and with support of the Archbishop, has achieved a wonderful reputation for high scholastic achievement. The school teaches in Albanian, while using an American style cirriculum.
In the beginning of 2006, Shannon and her husband Panayiotis decided to return to America to allow Panayiotis to attend the Holy Cross Seminary. One of her final duties for the school before leaving was to find her successor. With Pauline's background in education, her experience in missionary work, and her Albanian language skills, Shannon and the Archbiship discussed offering her the job. After careful consideration by everyone involved, Pauline accepted the position and began work to prepare for the 2006 - 2007 school year.
Pauline has faced some difficult challenges already as the school has opened another facility to handle the increasing number of students. She and her staff have worked very hard to make the new facility ready for classes. Everything was ready in September and things have been very successful in the new facility so far this year. Pauline asks for your prayers as she enters into this new phase of her mission work.
Students and teacher working together in one of the Protagonist classrooms
