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RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHNP RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSK RUEHSL RUEHSR RUEHVK
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DE RUEHTH #0054/01 0150822
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 150821Z JAN 10
FM AMEMBASSY ATHENS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1329
INFO EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHIK/AMCONSUL THESSALONIKI 0057

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ATHENS 000054 
 
SIPDIS 
STATE FOR IIP/IR BCONATY, EUR/PPD MCROUCH, 
EUR/CARC BHUNT, EUR/PPD, RSTEVENS, EUR/PPD LHELLING 
ROME FOR IRO LHOHMANN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OIIP KPAO KIRC GR
SUBJECT: FY 2010 Request for Sustaining Funds-American Corners Greece 
 
¶1. Introduction and Summary: Embassy Athens requests $54,800 in 
FY10 funds to strengthen programs at the six American Corners (ACs) 
in Greece: Xanthi (northeastern Greece), Veria (northwestern 
Greece), Sparta (southern Greece), Corfu (western Greece), the 
Hellenic American Union (HAU) in central Athens, and the American 
Corner in the wider Athens municipality of Nea Philadelphia. 
Requested funds will be used for participation of AC Directors in a 
training workshop organized by Athens IRC; a series of American 
Culture Week presentations and workshops at Veria, Xanthi, Nea 
Philadelphia, and Hellenic American Union; speaker programming; 
book orders; and equipment upgrades.  Major accomplishments in FYO9 
were the significantly increased number of programs in all six 
American Corners and the formation of partnerships between ACs and 
local entities reaching wide audiences in their communities. The 
American Corners in Greece and their programming specifically fit 
into Post's PD program through outreach to diverse, critical 
audiences, including youth and Muslims; and by ensuring that 
popular English Language teaching materials are widely available in 
the major regions of Greece.  End Introduction and Summary. 
 
¶2. IRO Laura Kaspari Hohmann has reviewed this proposal and 
concurs. 
 
¶3. Regarding usage of FY09 Sustaining Funds and their impact on the 
American Corners, six new television sets and six DVD players were 
purchased. A substantial number of books were ordered for all our 
six ACs. This equipment upgrade and the new book titles will extend 
ACs program base and will attract more visitors in hosting 
institutions.  In addition, three ACs used FY09 sustaining funds as 
follows: 
 
--Hellenic American Union: Purchase of poster display stands for a 
more dynamic program of poster show presentations. 
 
--Nea Philadelphia: Replacing of new PC and printer to be used by 
AC visitors. 
 
--Xanthi:  A new set of book shelves was ordered for the extended 
book collection. 
 
--Veria: Recent books on innovation and new technologies were 
ordered in order to satisfy the reading needs for this specific 
thematic group. 
 
--Two hundred English language teachers and more than 200 high 
school children took part in five storytelling workshops presented 
by a professional Chicago storyteller. This program provided us the 
opportunity to build new relationships with local municipal and 
educational authorities, opening up lines of communication for 
future collaborations. 
 
¶4. The amount of Post funds provided in FY09 excluding 
sustainability funds is $ 4,691.76 to cover honoraria and travel 
expenses for program speakers and a jazz group as well as ordering 
paper shows and printed promotional material. 
 
¶5. No private donations were received by the American Corners in 
Greece for this rating period. 
 
¶6. All American Corners managed to almost double the number of 
their programs (56 in 2009, vice 33 in 2008). The wide thematic 
range and a professional organizational level guaranteed this 
successful outcome. The list of programs per AC is as follows: 
 
--Hellenic American Union: Trick or Treat fun in a Halloween party 
(October 2008). Lecture on Civil Rights Movement and today's 
multiracial American society (February 2009). Lecture on the genre 
of the American short story (April 2009). Series of presentations 
of the life and work of the American novelists Jack Kerouac 
(March/April 2009), John Steinbeck (January 2009), Mark Twain 
(November 2009). Book reading on the environment by AC staff and 
English language teachers (June 2009). Celebrating Independence Day 
(July 2009). Presentation on Columbus Day (October 2009). Wii 
gaming night (November 2009). Christmas party (December 2009). 
 
--Xanthi: Halloween party (October 2008). Theatrical performance of 
Thornton Wilder's "Our Town" by twenty junior high school students 
(December 2008). Lecture on Major Accomplishments in African - 
American Literature (February 2009). Film showing on International 
Children's Day (April 2009). Environmental-related film showing 
(May 2009).  Eli Yamin Blues Band performing in Xanthi in an AC 
partnership with local folk art museum (May 2009). Lecture on Greek 
diaspora co-organized with local educational and cultural 
association (December 2009). 
 
ATHENS 00000054  002 OF 003 
 
 
--Nea Philadelphia: Presentation on Celebrating the holiday season 
in the U.S. (December 2008). Two Black History Month related events 
at a private elementary school and an English language school 
(February 2009). Columbus Day celebration event (October 2009). 
Presentation on Thanksgiving (November 2009). Series of workshops 
on American photography (December 2009). 
 
--Sparti: Embassy photographer presented the topic American 
Photography: Roadtrip to America (November 2008). Special holiday 
presentation (December 2009). Black History Month related event 
with Embassy speaker (February 2009).  Creative writing exercises 
and short theatrical performances as an approach to teaching 
English (May 2009). Workshop entitled "Art of Dynamic Storytelling" 
presented by a professional Chicago-based storyteller (October 
2009). Halloween party (November 2009). 
 
--Veria: Lecture on "Accomplishments of African-American Artists 
and Authors" (February 2009). Showings of documentary film "Obama" 
and an adaptation of Alice Walker's short story "Everyday Use" for 
high school children.  Both films were shown in support of English 
language teaching (March/April 2009). Three trivia contests on the 
topics of climate change, American films, and the Independence Day 
(August 2009) 
 
--Corfu:  Black History related film showing of "Everyday Use" for 
a private English language school (February 2009). 
Showing of "Abraham Lincoln: Preserving the Nation" at the 
auditorium of Corfu Medical Society (February 2009).  Two workshops 
for English language teachers on storytelling as an interactive 
technique to enhance student's verbal expressions (October 2009). 
 
--Note: All six American Corners organized U.S. Election-related 
book exhibits (October - November 2008).  Our AC partners 
participated in the promotional campaign of two youth initiatives " 
My Culture + Your Culture" and "Democracy is..." by posting 
announcements, contest poster, flyers and postcards (November - 
December 2008). Book exhibits, paper shows and educational programs 
were organized by the staff at the six American Corners 
participating in the celebration of Native American Indian Heritage 
Month (November 2009). 
 
¶7. Media Coverage 
Most IRCs received good to very good local media coverage in 2009. 
There was significant coverage of all programs on HAU and Veria 
Public Central Library websites.  Veria, in addition, promotes all 
its programs by posting photos on Flickr platform.  Extensive local 
media coverage was noted with two programs in Xanthi.  Both the 
jazz performance and the lecture on Greek diaspora were highlighted 
in print and electronic media of the city of Xanthi. 
 
¶8. Training and professional development 
The coordinators from the six American Corners participated in the 
"Jump Start Your American Corner" workshop in Vienna, October 13 - 
15, 2009.  This workshop reviewed the fundamentals of good AC 
management, discussed working with the Embassy and the local 
institutions and explored techniques for successful programming, 
including marketing strategies and using volunteers and alumni. 
Participants took part in problem-solving exercises and hands-on 
exercises that demonstrated good management and programming.  Our 
AC coordinators left this workshop armed with techniques and 
strategies to help overcome challenges and with new ideas to run an 
effective AC. 
 
¶9. Plan of action for the near future. A key component for 2010 
programming will be the series of workshops and presentations on 
American culture organized by Fulbrighter and playwright from New 
York City Catherine Rogers, who will work along with faculty 
members and graduate students of American Literature departments in 
Athens and Thessaloniki. This programming platform, called "Week of 
American Culture," will be hosted by the ACs in Veria, Xanthi, HAU 
and Nea Philadelphia and will include theatrical sketches, lectures 
on American drama, literature, poetry and film showings to showcase 
the variety of contemporary American culture. 
 
¶10. Of special note is the launching of an American Corners website 
in early 2010. Funded by Post and administered by Athens IRC staff, 
the new site will promote the network of our ACs with a wide range 
of links related with Greek and American libraries, sites on 
American culture and education as well as related bibliographies 
and articles for innovative programming. It will highlight all the 
programs run by our ACs so far but will also tout all upcoming ACs 
events and programs. The new site, along with the existing group in 
the Facebook social application, will further improve the 
electronic presence of American Corners in Greece. 
 
ATHENS 00000054  003 OF 003 
 
 
¶11. Post also hopes to sponsor a countrywide training program for 
the six American Corners.  Our goal is to share best practices and 
discuss efforts for new partnerships with the local environment of 
each AC.  This training will highlight successes, brainstorm for 
other new ideas and encourage AC coordinators to further develop a 
network among themselves. 
 
¶12. Post requests $54,800 in sustaining funds for FY10 to 
address AC needs as follows: 
 
¶A. Periodicals for 6 Corners: $800 each, total: $4,800 
¶B. Books and DVDs for 6 Corners: $5,000 each, total: $30,000 
¶C. American Culture Week: presentations/workshops in Nea 
Philadelphia/HAU/Veria/Xanthi including travel expenses for one 
escort: $10,000 
¶D. Local training workshop/travel of Corner Directors: $5,000 
¶E. Speaker programming: $4,000 
¶F. Operating expenses (photocopying, mailing, etc.): $1,000 
 
Combined Request for 6 Corners: $54,800 
 
 
Post plans to use $5,000 of post funds for AC operations in FY10. 
 
 
Compliance issues 
 
¶13. All six American Corners were established with MOUs signed by 
the Embassy and the host institution, and all are posted on the AC 
Central database.  Post has a designated editor for the ACCD.  The 
records are complete and up-to-date. Each AC is in compliance with 
core characteristics.  Details are available on request. 
Speckhard