A mericAn F Arm S chool True Education... is Transforming
Mar 12, 2016
AmericAn FArm School
True Education... is Transforming
True Education...
A t the American Farm School,
there is a shared conviction
that true education is transforming.
That there exists a common set
of compelling experiences that defines
an educational institution for its
students and that contributes
to shaping them into the
individuals they become.
This set of experiences stems from a
learn by doing approach to education
and sustained, personal interaction
among teachers, students and peers
in an environment that fosters
collaboration and mutual endeavor.
...is Transforming
T his dynamic community of learners shares another bond:
a focus on applied life sciences. The School encourages
discovery, engagement and inquiry in the areas of agriculture,
food systems, the environment and other disciplines related
to our sustainable future.
With its ethos of service, innovative approaches to education,
enterprising graduates, and more than a century of contribution
to the region, the American Farm School continues to be a catalyst
for beneficial change.
The First 100 Years
A fter 30 years of service in the Balkans, enlightened American educator
Dr. John Henry House with his wife, Susan Adeline, founded the
American Farm School in 1904 on the outskirts of Thessaloniki The first
students were boys orphaned in one of the many uprisings marking the
collapse of the Ottoman Empire in Europe.
Dr. House was known as a practical idealist, dedicated to “educating the
whole individual: the head, the hands, the heart.” Hands-on training in
field and garden crops, vineyards and orchards, livestock and silkworm
production, and in industrial skills such as carpentry, masonry and
blacksmithing, equipped American Farm School graduates to succeed in
farming and, over time, aid in the economic development of Greece.
Modest donations of funds and equipment from a loyal circle of supporters
in the United States helped the institution to survive through its early
years, as it bore witness to two Balkan Wars, World War I and the massive
resettlement in Greece of refugees from Asia Minor.
The 1930s, a period of expanding academic facilities and bringing the
latest agricultural innovations to Greece, gave way to World War II and
Occupation; to the ensuing civil war; and to postwar efforts to reconstruct
Greek agriculture and agricultural education. During the second half of the
20th century the School was led by Bruce M. Lansdale, an American teacher,
engineer and philhellene who shared with his wife, Tad, a remarkable ability
to communicate with and inspire people in all walks of life. Milestones of
the time included coeducation; short courses and technical advice for
farmers in the region, incorporation of information technology across
the campus and educational farm, and “training of trainers” programs for
international groups.
“I believe in a permanent agriculture, a soil that grows richer, rather than poorer, from year to year. I believe that tillers of the soil are stewards of the land and will be held accountable for the faithful performance of their trust.”
Faced with growing demand for
higher education, the American
Farm School established the Perrotis
College of Agriculture, Environment
and Life Sciences in 1996, through
a gift from Mrs. Aliki Perroti.
The English language curriculum
serves an international student body
with innovative specializations leading
to a Bachelor of Science (Hons)
degree that is recognized worldwide.
The American Farm School today
is taking agriculture and life sciences
education into the 21st century,
while remaining true to its roots
and century-long tradition
of hands-on learning.
Dr. John Henry HouseAmerican Farm School Creed, 1910
“I support the American Farm School becauseits ideals have inspired me to reach my full potential.”
Demetrios Vlachos American Farm School Class of 1954
Owner, V & P Nurseries, Phoenix, Arizona Pioneer in Xeriscape Technology
“The American Farm School is a fine example of people to people approach to mutual aid.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower, President of the United States, 1958
D istinctive features of the
American Farm School
education have their origins in
nineteenth century American thinking
about the need to cultivate
well-rounded individuals with
initiative and problem-solving
abilities. From institutions such as
the Penn School and the Hampton
and Tuskegee Institutes, the founders
of the American Farm School embraced an educational philosophy
of practical, skills-based training complementing strong grounding in
theoretical subjects that has equal relevance today. Another aspect is
the focus on individual development. By creating an environment that
encourages leadership, personal ethics, innovative thinking and the ability
to work cooperatively, the School helps students form values that will guide
them throughout their lives.
U.S. land grant universities are a model for the School in using agricultural
extension methods to transfer knowledge and skills; and the examples
of eco-schools and universities in America that promote comprehensive
science teaching beginning at the primary level guide the School as it
evolves and strengthens its curriculum.
The American character of the School is enhanced by the work of recent U.S.
college graduates who live in the campus dormitories and promote English
language learning. They are mentors and coaches for the School’s athletics
program, inspiring students to take on new physical and competitive
challenges and to give their personal best. And they encourage students to
pursue their interest in summer study abroad programs and further studies
at U.S. colleges and universities.
The Dimitris & Aliki Perrotis Library, with its print and online resources and
year-round schedule of events and activities, is a rich font of American
culture. Faculty and library staff open new perspectives for students into
the depth and diversity of America’s literature, history and political debate,
as well as its visual arts, music, theater and dance.
American Values
The Scholarship Program for deserving students from families of limited means is a central aspect of the American Farm School’s mission and among its most critically important funding needs. The breadth and longevity of the program make it unique in the region, and have earned the School the admiration and support of the Greek people.
“Planning, studying and working hard can improve people’s lives. I congratulate the American Farm School for all you are doing to make your country a better place.”
Lyndon Baines Johnson Vice President of the United States, 1962
During a visit to the American Farm School
T he American Farm School’s
historic secondary school
offers contemporary academic
instruction in science and the
humanities, and practical skills
instruction in ecologically
sound agriculture and food
technology methods. English
language proficiency, information
technology and business
management concepts are
essential elements of the curriculum. The educational farm and science
laboratories give students research and hands-on work experience
in horticulture, landscaping, livestock management and food processing
and service.
Since its founding, the School has provided scholarship assistance to its
students while asking families to contribute to the cost of room and board.
Promising young people from modest backgrounds are given access
to an education that empowers them to better their lives and those
of their communities.
Unique for Greece, the majority of students come from all parts of
the country, and live on campus in contemporary residence quarters.
They benefit from a full range of extracurricular classes, clubs, student
government, athletics and service opportunities that helps in educating
the “whole individual” as envisioned by the School’s founders, and prepares
them for lifelong participation in community life.
Graduates of the American Farm School’s secondary school, many of whom
pursue higher education to further their engagement with life sciences,
contribute dynamically to the local and regional economies and go on to
serve as leaders in the country’s food, agriculture and environment sectors.
The Secondary School
Perrotis College of Agriculture
P errotis College of Agriculture, Environment and Life Sciences educates
students from Greece, southeastern Europe and beyond to become
leaders for sustainable development. The rigorous academic program,
taught in English, leads to an internationally recognized Bachelor of Science
(Hons) degree. Students prepare for careers of the future by majoring in
such areas as Precision Agriculture, Xeriscape Technology, International
Agribusiness, Food Science and Technology, and Environmental Systems
Management, or qualify for further study in a chosen field.
The Scholarship Program ensures that more students who meet the
College’s academic standards will have the opportunity to receive this
education without regard to their socioeconomic background. Those
who receive financial aid contribute volunteer work hours in departments
throughout the campus and educational farm.
The Sustainability Fund provides a flexible source of support for new educational initiatives in sustainable agriculture and natural resource management.
Environment and Life Sciences
Most Perrotis College students live on campus. The newly-built Aliki
Perroti Student Residence is one of Greece’s leading examples of green
architecture, incorporating principles of bioclimatic design that save energy,
conserve natural resourses, and minimize maintenance costs.
The College welcomes students from U.S. colleges and universities
for year-long, semester or summer term accredited coursework,
as well as unique educational and cultural experiences such as homestays
in Greek villages and an array of community service opportunities.
Continuing the tradition of adult education that began shortly after the
American Farm School was founded, the College today offers short courses,
seminars, workshops and practical skills laboratories to urban and rural
adults to transfer expertise in the areas of entrepreneurship, gardening with
heirloom vegetables and flowers, artisinal cheesemaking, preparation and
preservation of traditional food, viticulture, apiculture and a host of other
topics relevant to sustainable living.
“Giving to the American Farm School is my way of furthering education and helping Greece. It exemplifies the qualities I value: practical skills, entrepreneurship and commitment to community.”
Mrs. Aliki Perroti, Philanthropist
“We came to teachBut we have ended up learning.We came to change,But we have ended up being changed.We came to bring a new lifeTo the people of GreeceBut it is they who have brought a new life to us.”
“My parents, Marie and Pierre Curie, won the Nobel Prize (1903) My mother a second one (1911) My sister, Irene, as well (1935) And my husband, Henry R. Labouisse, was Director when UNICEF won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1965. My Nobel Prize is the American Farm School.”
Bruce and Tad Lansdaleon their retirement from the American Farm School in 1990
Eve Curie Labouisse (1904-2008)Trustee of the American Farm School
A Sense of Place
G enerations of students, teachers
and friends experience a deep
feeling of belonging to a community
on the residential campus of the
American Farm School. In this intimate
setting, young people of diverse
backgrounds come to discover
common values, pursue shared
dreams, and feel part of the collective
identity of the institution.
The Early Childhood Environmental Education Fund supports the School’s efforts to introduce lifelong respect for the natural world and responsible engagement with the environment.
T o educate new generations of healthy,
creative young people who will develop
harmonious relationships with the earth and
with one another, environmental education
based on experiential learning needs to begin
during the very earliest years of life.
Such experiences play a crucial role
in shaping lasting attitudes, values and
patterns of behavior.
Early childhood educators demonstrate that positive interactions with
nature are an important part of healthy development, and such interactions
enhance learning over the span of a lifetime. Children who are close to
nature relate to it as a source of wonder and joy, and are better prepared for
responsible global citizenship as they mature. And for many children, this
will likely be their first chance to make a direct, physical connection between
food and the earth – and to begin to understand how their food choices
affect their health and the health of their families and communities.
The American Farm School, with its long history of experiential learning and
sustainable living, its dedicated teaching and technical staff, and its array
of outdoor classrooms and living laboratories of gardens, farm animals and
natural landscapes, has the capacity to address environmental education
at every level.
This newest educational initiative begins with preschool, will progress
through an elementary school, and eventually to a junior high school
that will bridge to the historic secondary school and Perrotis College of
Agriculture, Environment and Life Sciences.
By creating a model program of environmental education through
experiential learning, and by offering teacher training to educators from
other schools in Greece and southeastern Europe, the School is fulfilling the
most time-honored aspect of its mission: influencing learners of all ages to
become “stewards of the land.”
Experiencing Nature at an Early Age
“My goal in life is to unravel some of the medical mysteries of human diseases. The American Farm School gave me the opportunity to pursue the career of my dreams as a researcher in pharmacology.”
Marianthi KarampoukoukiAmerican Farm School Class of 2006
Mount Holyoke College, BSc in Biology & Ancient Greek StudiesImperial College, London
Masters of Research in Experimental Physiology and Drug Discovery
Teaching Science
T he pace of change in agricultural and life sciences is rapidly
accelerating. Applied research is urgently needed to find answers
to questions that threaten the health of world populations and the planet.
Students need more and better science instruction and resources to join in
the effort to determine those answers.
Science faculty and technical staff have career experience in agricultural
enterprises and the food industry. With local and regional industry partners,
teachers and students undertake studies such as the viability of restoring
Greece’s traditional sesame crop to commercial cultivation; using paper
byproducts as soil substrates for garden and field crops; and high density
cultivation of olive trees for producing highest quality Greek olive oil.
Long-term cooperation in training and research with the USDA’s Agricultural
Research Service, and with Arizona State University, University of Georgia,
Iowa State University, Virginia Tech and other U.S. land grant universities,
fosters the exchange of scientific know-how while providing learning
opportunities for resident and visiting students and faculty.
But far more is needed. Provided that laboratories are enhanced and
scientific equipment is updated and increased, the educational farm
offers vast potential for applied research. Students can master research
skills, by using organic methods to reestablish endangered indigenous
vegetable varieties, for example, or by testing ways to integrate information
technology into food production and processing to reduce harmful
environmental impact; or by raising local crops to manufacture biorenewable
materials for clothing, packaging and fuel, or by growing food as medicine
to combat disease.
Graduates of the American Farm School and Perrotis College will be
part of the solution on a range of issues related to food, agriculture and
environmental concerns faced by Greece and its neighbors in the years
ahead. By putting students into the laboratory and in the field to conduct
applied research, the institution prepares young men and women to
contribute knowledge and action in all areas of life sciences, including those
that affect global food supply and the earth’s ecosystem. Just as important
is teaching students of all ages that life sciences are complex activities that
have cultural, ethical and ecological dimensions as well as intellectual and
technical parameters.
“You should look upon your field the same way you look upon your loved one’s face. It will yield the healthy food you want to serve at your family’s table.”
Manolis TrakasAmerican Farm School Class of 1991
Organic Farmer
Farm to Fork
A t the heart of an American
Farm School education is the
institution’s diversified research,
demonstration and training farm.
It functions as a living laboratory
where students of all ages learn how
to bring safe and nutritious food
from farm to fork.
The School introduced fresh pasteurized cow’s milk to Greece in 1935,
by building the country’s first milk pasteurizing and bottling plant.
Applying U.S. dairy breeding and management practices over the years,
the School today has a Holstein Friesian dairy herd that is ranked among
the top 10% in the world. A state of the art educational dairy and milk
processing center facilitates the development of innovative dairy products
in addition to the milk that is prized as the best in Greece.
The poultry division is a site for ongoing nutrition research that,
in partnership with Thessaloniki’s Aristotle University and other international
veterinary and food experts, has led to the commercially successful
American Farm School Omega 3 egg. The same flaxseed which is fed to
hens and results in eggs with high levels of the Omega 3 fatty acid known
to promote cardiovascular health, is also in the diet of fresh American Farm
School turkeys that grace the Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations
of thousands of families around the country.
Students are involved in all stages of livestock management and dairy
processing, as they are in the many aspects of horticulture on the
educational farm. Olive oil is pressed from the harvest of extensive campus
olive groves, and thousands of liters of wine, including the indigenous Greek
red varietal, Xinomavro, are bottled in the campus winery each year.
Durum wheat grown in the School’s fields is used with fresh whole milk and
Omega 3 eggs to make highest quality traditional Greek pasta products.
Students keep bees and raise scores of varieties of vegetables, herbs, and
flowers that contribute to nutritious meals and beautify the surroundings.
Good food, which students are integral to producing, preparing and
presenting, helps to create the vibrant sense of community so apparent
on the residential campus.
T he American Farm School and Perrotis
College promote international living
and encourage sensitive, responsible global
citizenship in the Greek and international
student body, as well as in American
teenagers and university students who
come to the Thessaloniki campus to take
advantage of year-long, semester, and
summer study abroad opportunities.
Greek Summer, in operation since 1970, is designed for high school students
who want to challenge themselves through immersion in another culture.
Over the years, the American Farm School has built a tradition of helping
Greek villagers meet their evolving needs through community service
projects carried out by Greek Summer participants. During Greek Summer,
young Americans undergo their own metamorphosis of thought and spirit
as they live with village families and work to accomplish set goals.
The intensity of the experience leads them to realize new potential within
themselves and each other. Of the nearly 2,000 alumni of Greek Summer,
most consider it one of the pivotal growth experiences of their lives.
“Greek Summer was an odyssey, full of pitfalls and triumphs, and each of us returned home with a little of the reborn hero inside ourselves that Odysseus found on his own journey. ”
William (Luke) Hamel Greek Summer 2010
T hroughout the year, the Perrotis
College Study Abroad Program
offers U.S. students the chance to earn
college credits for courses that are
part of the innovative Perrotis College
curriculum, as well as courses especially
designed for study abroad students
that explore aspects of Greek history,
culture and cuisine. Research and work
internships on the educational farm are
also available, and all students are encouraged to participate in service
learning experiences in rural areas arranged by the Perrotis College staff.
The secondary school also welcomes groups of U.S. teenagers for study
visits and work projects organized during spring or other school year breaks.
Studying in the United States is a goal for many American Farm School
and Perrotis College students. Faculty counsel candidates on pursuing
undergraduate and graduate degrees in the U.S. by connecting them to
summer academic programs focusing on science, English language, and
other subjects that orient them to the American approach to education,
and by helping them to select the college or university that best matches
their aspirations.
“I can trace the global outlook that continues to guide my life to my interaction with faculty and fellow students at Perrotis College.”
Nderim RudiGjakove, Kosovo
Perrotis College Class of 2004Virginia Tech, MSc in Applied Economics
Advancing Global Citizenship
Envisioning the Future
Agriculture and food systems are under more pressure today than ever
before. Food production must multiply to meet growing demand
of the earth’s population, despite climate change, critical water shortages,
and the need to reduce the energy and environmental footprint
of agricultural practices.
Therefore the heart of the vision for the American Farm School’s future
must be about sustainability, and the importance to society of how food,
fiber, energy and medicines are produced while leaving the planet a better
place than it is today. With sustainability as the ultimate value, the School
is committed to teaching agricultural practices that are ecologically sound,
economically viable and socially responsible.
As it works to improve and expand educational programs for the 21st century
with a greater emphasis on life sciences and a blend of new technology,
delivery methods and partnerships, leadership of the School is also
envisioning how the historic campus can better support the innovative
teaching and research that will attract talented students and faculty
going forward.
Envisioning the Future
President Panos Kanellis, an experienced educator and scientist
with an extensive research background in bio-organic chemistry,
leads a team of fellow teachers and researchers, as well as
administrative and technical professionals, in envisioning the future
of the American Farm School. Dr. Kanellis is directing strategic
initiatives in these major areas:
At this critical juncture in the institution’s history, the American
Farm School reaffirms its determination to meet today’s challenges
by becoming the premier center in southeastern Europe for
contemporary education and research in agriculture, food systems,
environmental studies and other life sciences.
Creating future-oriented curricula
that truly prepare students to be leaders of beneficial change
Attracting students to the excitement of applied research
in cutting-edge fields of agriculture and life sciences
Introducing environmental education at the primary level
through experiential learning
Developing a campus master plan
that will provide for new and renewed facilities
and an enhanced physical environment to support
the School’s educational mission in the decades ahead
Ensuring that more outstanding students
will continue to have access to
the American Farm School and Perrotis College education
regardless of socioeconomic background.
Supporting the American Farm School
T he American Farm School is a private, not-for-profit organization as
described in section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code, and
is registered in the State of New York as the Thessalonica Agricultural and
Industrial Institute. It is governed by a Board of Trustees of Americans
and Greeks, and is financed in large part through the generosity of private
donors in the United States and Greece.
The people of the United States play a major role in the advancement of the
American Farm School and have done so throughout the institution’s history,
providing educational and agricultural expertise as well as financial support.
The active presence of the American Farm School is felt in cities and
communities across the country through a network of volunteers whose lives
have been touched by the School, as alumni, parents, educational partners,
or simply because individuals believe in the importance of the institution’s
endeavors. The nationally representative Board of Trustees engages the
interest and support of friends of the School, and informs them about its
history, mission and vision for the future.
The Board of Trustees and President Panos Kanellis invite you
to learn more about the American Farm School and Perrotis
College of Agriculture, Environment and Life Sciences, and to
explore the opportunities to support strategic initiatives that will
characterize the institution’s second century of service
and achievement.
“Ambassadors come and go, but the American Farm School, serving Greek and Balkan students for over a century, remains a strong and visible example of what is best about America, and does more for U.S. relations abroad than almost any other kind of investment we could be making in the region.”
R. Nicholas Burns, Former Ambassador of the United States to Greece, 2010
For more information about making a gift to the American Farm School and Perrotis College, please contact the Office of Institutional Advancement.
Office of Institutional Advancement
AMERICAN FARM SCHOOL12 Marinou Antipa Street, P.O. Box 23
Thessaloniki, Greece 55102
T: +30-2310-492-890, F: +30-2310-492-727
[email protected] www.afs.edu.gr
U.S. Office
1133 Broadway, Suite 1226
New York, NY 10010
T: 212-463-8434, F: 212-463-8208