National Hellenic Museum Marks Greek Independence Day with Family Celebration

The National Hellenic Museum honored the heroes of Greek Independence with a Family Celebration in Chicago on Saturday.

Students in the NHM Greek Language Program (GLP) were the core of the event. They performed patriotic songs, acted in historical plays, and recited poems about Greece’s 1821 War of Independence, all in Greek.

Each class performed a classic Greek dance, while children and their families made arts and crafts inspired by Greek Independence Day.

The GLP Intermediate students gave the attendees a brief history of how Greeks revolted and kicked out the Ottoman rulers, while the GLP Emerging & Beginning Literacy students sang the Greek National Anthem to the audience.

For the first time this year, GLP students performed the Dance of Zalogo and learned about the brave Souliotises who sacrificed their lives to avoid falling in the hands of the Ottomans.

The Greek Language Program’s youngest students in the Preschool, Pre-K and Kindergarten classes won the applause for singing a Greek rendition of “If You’re Happy and You Know It Clap Your Hands”.

Other than the heroes who gave their lives for Greece to be free, the NHM urged its friends to honor their own Everyday Hero, the person who had an impact on each one’s life.

With a gift to the National Hellenic Museum, contributors will see the name of their Everyday Hero displayed in the summer NHM Newsletter alongside the name of the contributor. The NHM will then send the honored person a letter acknowledging the gift sent by the one who sees them as having an impact in their lives.