The quest of knowledge, spiritual development, creative and critical thinking, creative expression as well as children’s sensitivity towards cultural affairs are some of the new ideas promoted in the 21st -century schools.

It is within the framework of such innovative cultural programs, that the students of the last three grades of the 1st Tositseio Arsakeio Primary School decided to go on a long trip in the past! Having their teachers as their guides, the pursuit for knowledge as their vessel, the passengers/explorers little students set off on a trip to Ancient Athens aiming to meet Myrtis.

Everything started when the main subject of the media was the reconstruction of a young girl’s face, 2,500 years old, who lived during Pericles’ era and was one of many victims of the killing plague of that time.

And the trip began…

History, music, art, images, technology, imagination and the search for reality met with the joy for participation and creativity. First, all sorts of information was put up on the classroom notice board, which, however, turned out to be something like science fiction, a mystery with innumerable questions! “How was this reconstruction made?”, “Why can’t we see her face?”, “Can she speak?”, were just a few of the questions asked by the children! Then the students attended an exhaustive presentation about the historical, cultural and social background of the 5th century B.C., when Pericles was the ruler of Athens. Yet, the more the little explorers of the past were presented with, the more curious they got – not that uncommon for children! So while doing Computer Studies the students started searching more information about how Dr Manolis Papagrigorakis, Professor of Orthodontics at the University of Athens, and his team worked on this difficult task. However, no matter how much more they learnt and found out, the face of young Myrtis was well hidden in the years that had passed! The students’ ideas and preferences about what exactly she looked like were so amazingly many that someone had to help them out of the maze! The inspiration came from Ms Marina Koraki, Art teacher at the 1st Tositseio, Arsakeio Primary School, who encouraged the children to take their pencils and paints, add their knowledge, use their imagination, be happy and bring Myrtis into life, which they eventually did successfully!

The young artists and their classmates, parents and friends took pride in seeing their pieces of art being exhibited during a cultural bazaar that took place in the school premises. Their joy, however, really took off when they were informed that Dr Papagrigorakis himself along with his team would visit and talk to them so as to shed light to the mystery of Myrtis!

8th June, 2010 and 450 students of the 4th, 5th and 6th grades of the Primary school attended like eminent scientists the process of the remaking of Myrtis’ head. There was complete silence in the crowded amphitheatre of our school, where the students watched on the big screen how the scientists worked and listened carefully to the extra information they were given. It is needless to say that the children bombarded Dr Papagrigorakis with questions after the presentation. At last!!! Now they were happy they knew everything about Myrtis!!! When they grabbed their crayons to paint her again everything was far easier than before!!!

For our little students, that can be considered as a lifetime experience. Not only was it different from anything involved in the school routine but it was a great chance for them to enjoy an unforgettable trip in the endless ocean of knowledge, participate actively, express themselves creatively and have a special approach to something that is far away from us and yet so closely related to us, our History and Cultural Inheritance!

A’ Tositseio Arsakeio Primary School