With a focus on sport and Olympic education, Patmos hosted Olympic champions and distinguished athletes at the end of May, as part of activities organised in collaboration with the nursery schools of Skala and Chora Patmos.
The island was visited by Olympic rowing champion Yiannis Tsilis, Olympic handball champion Giorgos Chalkidis, five-time Olympian Kallinikos Kreanga, as well as the distinguished athletes Christina Zachariadou (tennis) and Anna Charalambidou (water polo).
The programme kicked off on Thursday 28 May at Skala Nursery School, where around 40 children from the two nursery schools welcomed the athletes. After chatting with them, the playground was transformed into a small sports workshop with games and activities.
The following day, the athletes took part in the two schools’ celebration, which had the Olympic Games as its theme. The children’s presentations also highlighted the need to build a new stadium on the island, whilst the event concluded with sporting activities alongside the Patmos PE teachers.
On Saturday 30 May, the activities continued with a joint presentation of educational programmes by the nursery schools of Patmos and Rhodes. Four sports stations were set up on the basketball court, where the children got to know the athletes’ sports first-hand and took part in hands-on activities.
At the end of the activities, all the children were given badges, a copy of the book *How Well Do You Know the Olympic Games?* and information material about the work of the National Olympic Academy. Teachers were presented with commemorative gifts, as well as the Olympic Values Education Programme (OVEP) teaching manual.
The participants, touched by the welcome they received, spoke of the work carried out by the teachers on Patmos and of continuing the collaboration in the coming school year.
