AUTHOR: MARIA CHRONOPOULOU | PHOTOGRAPHY: VASILIS KOUROUPIS
– Amalia, how did you come up with The Tipping Point?
– I have been working for 12 years as a Communications and Public Relations Consultant, having big companies as clients and taking on events such as the launch of MTV in Greece. For the last 4 and a half years, I have been working at Fashion Week as a Communication & Media Relations Consultant. At some point I resigned, because I understood that it was time to close this chapter and I took the risk of leaving, without knowing what I would do and how I would continue. Because I had (worked) for several years in this field, I took on some communication projects until I could make a decision. During this time, my team and I found out that the most critical decisions of our lives were made quite randomly and so we created something that we would have liked to have had when we were young—the Tipping Point. Certainly, at the same time, the question was whether I would establish a Communication Company or an NGO, and I chose the Tipping Point as I agree with the vision of the organization, since I grew up in the province and I recognize this need very well.
– Where are you from?
– From a village outside Mesolongi, Evinochori. I lived there until I was 19, when I moved to Athens to study and so I know what it’s like for children who live in the province—especially in remote areas, where they have no stimuli and they feel that they want something else to do professionally but don’t know what.
– What exactly does The Tipping Point specialize in?
– Its purpose is to help make young people become more informed and conscientious. We essentially help students—even those who are in the most remote parts of Greece—to make more conscious decisions about what they want to do with their lives. Whether it’s their career or academic paths, we achieve this by putting them in touch with people from all over the world who have already made some progress in their fields and act as mentors for children. This way, a class has the possibility to chat with a NASA engineer or with a man from the next village who has a genuine interest in what he does and has chosen to stay in his (birth) place. So each child has the opportunity to grow up with more than 2-3 role models—coming from their school environment and business environment—and thus they can broaden their horizons. Through this process, they can soon recognize their real interests and, on that basis, make the decisions we all have to take when we are 16-18 years old.
– How much does technology help you?
– All of the above is done with the help of technology where, by using a platform, a teacher with three-clicks can schedule the day and time that the classroom wants to hold a session with a mentor who can to be found anywhere in the world. Children connect with the mentor via live video, ask their questions during the session and interaction takes place. Prior to each session, it is also possible for the teacher and students to forward the discussion agenda so that the mentor is even more prepared for the session and able to better meet their needs.
– What kind of questions are the kids asking? What do they want to know?
– Their biggest concern is whether something will have job prospects and how it will take them to realize if what they are thinking (of doing) suits them. The role of the mentor in these sessions is not to suggest to the child what to do but to give them the opportunity to think outside the box and gain a new perspective through which they will understand what openings and possibilities exist regarding this matter, and that is what’s most important.
– Is the programme addressed to schools or can a student participate individually?
– At the moment we have chosen for the programme to link classes to mentors. Later, we may consider having one-to-one sessions. This year, there was also a case where the programme took place outside the school, at the Municipal Library of Prespa. There, the children gather at the Library every Saturday night to meet and chat with a mentor. At the end of each session, they plan the next, discussing together the topic they are interested in and with which mentors they would like to talk about it. It’s one of our favourite projects!
– Indeed. Do you see differences between what things were like when we were children and how children are today?
– For sure. Children nowadays have greater access to information than we had. Of course, the question is whether this information is structured in an immense database, such as the Internet. Moreover, children are more suspicious than we are, they have different experiences and different quests. When a child starts a conversation saying that life is now through technology—something that for us did not exist—this awareness changes even how they perceive their everyday lives, let alone how they see their future.
– Which classes do you address?
– We have started with the 3rd grade of Junior High School (14 – 15 years old, equivalent to Year 9 in the UK) and the 1st grade of High School (15 – 16 years old, equivalent to Year 10 in the UK), but we see that teachers and schools use the programme in almost all classes. The truth is that Primary Schools, as well as a Kindergarten, have approached us.
– How did the kindergarten make good use of your programme?
– It is a kindergarten in Crete where teachers told us that they would like to participate in the programme and we replied that it would be a real pleasure, just that their involvement should be more intense due to the age of the children. We have already held a session where the topic was “What’s Inside the Earth” and was given by a researcher from the National Observatory of Athens, dealing with seismology and geology. He explained to them why we are shaken when an earthquake strikes and answered all of their questions—a kid characteristically asked him if he also deals with other planets or only with the Earth. This researcher has created a comic book presentation explaining what is happening on Earth, what astronauts do, what satellites are and what we learn through them. In primary schools, we deal with more social issues, such as what it means to be a disabled person, so in this context, you can see a class connecting with a Paralympic Swimming Champion, where the children talk with him and ask him questions.
– I think that the teachers who approach you are really interested and tend to think outside the box.
– Exactly, they are innovative, they are the ones who will pave the way to something new. For us, the role of the educator is very important, because on the one hand they are the ones who implement the programme, and on the other hand they become ambassadors. The fact is that we, too, are addressing them, this 19% who perceives innovation, according to surveys. In the course of time, however, we have seen that what is even more important is that people who initially resisted anything new and different, are ultimately the ones who have made the most of the programme and speak to others about it, a fact that came as a very pleasant surprise.
– I can’t close this interview without asking if you have something to do with Gladwell Malcolm’s “Tipping Point” book.
– The title comes precisely from this book, basically the tipping point is this turning point in our lives where something infinitely small can happen that can change the way we think, the way we see things or it can even change and our whole life.
