What is dance after all?

 

The majority of people use the word “dance” in their vocabulary very often, but the truth is that they don’t actually know the real meaning of it! Indeed, a lot of people makes fun of it, because they haven’t searched or cared about what emotion this brings to other people.

For example, look at this man in the picture! The kind of dance he does is called: “Hip hop”. As, you can see, he seems very happy and he is smiling, because he can express his feelings by just moving his body and by the expressions he makes with his face!

So the truth about this hobby is that it helps people not just physically but mentally too. That’s the reason why my school has dancing classes with almost all the categories of dancing such as: Ballet, Hip hop and jazz dance, acrobatic dance, Break dance, Gymnastics, Rhythmic gymnastics and finally modern dance.

DANCE IN SCHOOL

Of all these dances, I have chosen hip hop and jazz dance. Well when I was younger I preferred rhythmic gymnastics, but over the years I changed my mind, because it turned out that it was an extremely difficult sport for such an early age.

This year I am turning 16, which means I am at the tenth grade of high school. Therefore, I don’t have a lot of leisure time, because I have plenty of homework to do at home and at school teachers pressure us to study for tests. Despite all this, every Friday, after all regular lessons have finished , I go to my school ‘s dance club with 8 other classmates of mine and we practise for 2 hours. This is my favourite time of the week! The dance teacher is very friendly to all of us and her choreographs are just perfect, because she has managed to match the energy of all girls in her class with the movements that she teaches us and the music she chooses.

All in all, I believe that dancing brings joy and freedom to people, so it would be a great idea for everyone to start dancing lessons , because every adolescent or adult must have the opportunity to get away from their daily program even for just a little while. It goes without saying, that dance can improve your confidence relieve your stress and cheer you up!

By Eleftheria Christodoulou

The historical importance of speaking foreign languages

 Languages have been for centuries a great means of connection between different cultures. From ancient times, people who spoke foreign languages were held in high regard, because everyone knew that they, being in charge of negotiations among nations, could be even the reason why a war started or an alliance was born. Nowadays, in most job positions fluency in one foreign language is taken for granted, and knowledge of a second or even a third one constitutes an indisputable asset. Several times the knowledge of one foreign language is not enough. Knowing all the above, our school has decided to emphasize on foreign languages and give students the opportunity to study English, French, German and even...Chinese!

By Dimitris Stamatelos

A Research Study on Long-Term Learning

 

Do Students Retain What They Study? 

One of the primary concerns in education is whether students genuinely retain the information they study or if they memorize it for the test and forget it afterward. To explore this question, we conducted a study analyzing students' performance in two identical tests taken at different times under controlled conditions.

More specifically in this study, students initially took a test as part of their normal curriculum in various subjects. A week later, they retook the exact same test. However, they were not informed in advance about this second test. This ensured that they did not study or prepare at all. The purpose was to examine whether students had truly learned and remembered the material or if their performance was just a result of short-term memorization for the first test.

The analysis of the test scores revealed that:

• A significant number of students scored lower on the second test ( 53,5% ), indicating that much of the information had faded from their memory within a week.

• A small portion of students retained their scores ( 23,3% ), suggesting that they had a stronger grasp of the material and had genuinely learned it rather than just memorized it.

• Some students even improved their scores (23,3% ), possibly due to subconscious reinforcement of the information during the week.

The findings suggest that a large proportion of students do not retain information long-term after studying for a test. This raises important questions about common study methods and the effectiveness of memorization versus deeper learning techniques. It also highlights the need for alternative educational approaches that focus on understanding, spaced repetition, and practical application to enhance long-term memorization.

Our research indicates that while students may perform well on tests they prepare for, their actual knowledge of the material declines within a short period of time. This highlights the necessity for educators to try strategies that make students have a deeper understanding of the subject which can lead to longer retention rather than temporary memorization.

By Katerina Kalliakmani and Lydia Fakiola