FLUSHING, NY – Pride for Hellenism was in full display at the AHEPA and Daughters of Penelope’s New York State District 6 Hellenic History Tournament (HHT) which was held at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in Flushing, NY on March 15, 2025. Lead chairperson AHEPA’s Supreme Governor Region 3 Dean Moskos and co-chair DOP Grand Governor Zone Lainie Damaskos-Christou, successfully led the continued efforts to provide students the opportunity to compete in a Jeopardy- style tournament of intellect and curiosity by choosing multiple choice questions in categories from Ancient, Middle and Modern Eras of Hellenic History from the Hellenika textbook by T. Peter Limber.
This year the tournament was honored to have in attendance Mr. Petros Dorizas, Consul from the Consulate General of Greece to speak to the audience about the importance of educating our next generations of Greek-American students in Hellenic history and culture in the Diaspora.
Many chapters and individual donors throughout the district helped to sponsor the teams and raised the funds to award $4,500 in Scholarship awards to the first place and second place winning teams, as well as to cover the operational costs of running a tournament.
The First-place winners were sponsored by the Daughters of Penelope Ilion Chapter 135 in Astoria. “The Myrmidons of Manhattan” included Victor Stojanovski, Team Captain, James Vanterpool and Brandon Loor each receiving $1,000 in scholarship prize money.
The Second-place winners were sponsored by the Porphyra Foundation. “The Theodosians” included Christos Daoulas, Captain, and Mila Obradovic each receiving $500 in scholarship prize money.
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Participating were also the following teams:
“The Prairie Dogs” sponsored by the Daughters of Penelope Demetra Chapter 33: Mila Lyssikatos, Captain, and Stella Papadamianos;
“The Bulldogs” sponsored by Demetrios and Georgia Kaloidis Parochial School in Brooklyn: Dimitrios Garyfallos, Captain, with Luka Baramidze and Marina Likourezos;
“Hurricane Hempstead” sponsored by AHEPA Constantine Cassis Chapter 170 and Daughters of Penelope Pasithea Chapter 141: Anastasia Vani, Captain, with Harrison Lagonikos and Melina Ehrendranz;
“Greek American Institute” sponsored by AHEPA Peter Karounos Bronx Chapter 175: Nicholas Kirka, Captain, with Theodore Tsougranis and Sofia Papaelias.
The focus of the event is to inspire our youth to invest of themselves by learning Hellenic history. The committee hopes to have many more teams participate from all over New York State for their 3rd Tournament in 2026. It is encouraged that students from 8th – 12th grades consider participating in next year’s tournament as it continues to grow in popularity. AHEPA Regions from the USA and Canada with their first and second place winning teams this year are invited to compete in the International Championships which will take place in Disney World, Orlando, Florida at the 103rd Annual Supreme AHEPA Family Convention the week of July 20th, 2025, with Grand Prizes of $10,000.
To support the HHT event, many AHEPA Family dignitaries participated and contributed towards its success including Gregory Simones, PD7G and District 7 Lt. Governor who served as the Advisor and Judge, Michael Labatos, AHEPA District 6 Governor, Harry Yanakis, AHEPA District 6 Treasurer, Styliani Rallis, Maids of Athena District 6 Secretary & Treasurer, Basil Katsamakis, AHEPA District 6 Director of Education, Vassilios Chrissochos, AHEPA District 6 Director of Hellenism, and Effie Argyropoulos, DOP Lt. Governor, among many other volunteers from the AHEPA Gus Cherevas Estia-Pindus Chapter #326, the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and Wm. Spyropoulos Greek-American Day School community.
For more information visit the AHEPA District 6 website and go to the Hellenic History Tournament page, or click at https://www.ahepad6.com/hht
