Summer Staff Biographies

One of the keys to the success of Ionian Village is its remarkable staff of talented and dedicated Orthodox Christian adults.

Our staff is selected from hundreds of applicants from across America, that undergo a rigorous application and interview process, and a thorough background investigation. Once hired, each staff member contributes his/her own expertise to IV's program during extensive planning sessions, and takes part in an intensive orientation and training program prior to camp.

With an average staff-to-camper ratio of 1:7, Ionian Village adheres to the American Camping Association's staff ratio standards, and is one of the most well supervised youth programs in existence.

To ensure the health and safety of all participants at Ionian Village, our staff includes Registered Nurses and/or Medical Doctors, and an experienced aquatics staff of certified lifeguards and water safety instructors

The spiritual life and religious instruction of the camp is led and coordinated by priests who participate from throughout the Archdiocese of America.

Meet the 2010 Summer Staff Members!

ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF......

Director:  Father Jason Roll is a native of Portland, Oregon and a current resident of Briarcliff Manor, New York.  Serving in his second year as Director, Father Jason has over 20 years of camp and youth ministry experience.  He has served at Camp Angelos in the San Francisco Metropolis, and as Assistant Director at St. Nicholas Ranch.  He and his wife Sandra have three sons, Demetre (age 9), Tedy (age 6), and Georgios (18 months).  He is a faithful Red Sox fan, a Dunkin’ Donuts iced-coffee drinker, and loves to play Wii with his wife when the kids are asleep.

 

 

Program Coordinator:  Drew Baker is from Richmond, Virginia and is a recent graduate of Hampden-Sydney College.   He is currently completing a Master's Degree in Educational Leadership at Virginia Commonwealth University. A High School history teacher, Drew spent his first summer on staff at Ionian Village in 2007.  He loves his fiancé, his family, the Hokies, the Braves, the comedic styling of Will Ferrell and grilled meat.

 

Logistical Coordinator:  Stavroula Katsifas, also known as Stavi or Stephanie, is from New York.  She graduated from Hellenic College in Boston receiving a BA in Human Development and received her Master's degree in school counseling from Fordham University. She is currently working with the Catholic schools as a school intervention counselor and also works at St. Basil Academy as a residential staff member.  Stavroula loves the Yankees and is looking forward to a great summer at IV!

 

 

 

 

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CABIN STAFF.......

Abbie Pappas is an avid Jayhawk basketball fan and a native of Overland Park, Kansas. Abbie has gained extensive camp and youth work experience through her summers as a counselor at the Eastern Orthodox Youth Camp near Kansas City, and also as a basketball coach and GOYA adviser at her home parish of Annunciation.  Abbie attended Ionian Village as a camper during the summer of 2005, and is thrilled to be returning to Ionian Village as a staff member this year. When Abbie is not working or spending time with one of her many sisters, she enjoys reading dorky sci-fi books, watching any movie with a satisfying ending, and Chinese food.

 

Alexis Economy is from Atlanta, GA. She is a recent graduate of the University of Georgia, receiving her degree in journalism. Upon returning from Ionian Village, she plans on moving to Charleston, SC to begin a career in public relations. She attended Ionian Village as a camper in 2006, and is excited about returning this year as a staff member. In her spare time, Alexis loves to play tennis.

 

 

 

 

Christine Whitton is from Portland, Oregon where she is currently a substitute teacher.  She has served many years on staff at St. Nicholas Ranch in the San Francisco Metropolis and is excited to attend Ionian Village this summer as a staff member. 

 

 

 

 

Chryssa Tsakiris is a native of the small but mighty state of New Jersey. She has a degree in English from the University of San Diego and a degree in Psychology from Rutgers University. In the quest to stay in school forever, she will begin a graduate program in Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine in the fall. In her spare time she enjoys laughing at nothing in particular, longer than necessary wanderings around cities, talking about her two dogs as though they were human children, spending time with friends and family, reading, and writing super funny emails.

 

Danielle Hillas is in her senior year as a Classics major, and Religious Studies minor at Hellenic College in Brookline MA, where she studies everything to do with ancient Greece and Rome (i.e. language, philosophy, culture, art and the list goes on) and in her spare time she studies Orthodoxy.  Her favorite things to do are: run, play lacrosse, hike, cook, read and paint.

 

 

Gina Johnstone is from Northern California (San Francisco Bay Area).  She graduated from UCLA (Go Bruins!) in Los Angeles, receiving a BA in English Literature and received her Elementary Teaching Credential from San Jose State University.  She is currently working as a substitute teacher in kindergarten and part-time tutor.  She has been involved with St. Nicholas Ranch in CA and OCF throughout her college career.  Gina loves traveling, reading and watching crime dramas, and she is addicted to camp.

 

 

 

Irene Papas is from near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She will be a senior at the University of Pittsburgh in the fall where she is studying Health and Physical Activity in order to eventually study Physical Therapy. This summer is her first experience with Ionian Village, but certainly not with Villages…she grew up attending Antiochian Village camp and was on staff there for 2 years. In her spare time, she runs, plays her piano, and cooks delicious food for her roommates (as long as they clean the dishes).

 

 

Jackie Limberakis is from the City of Brotherly Love...Philadelphia, PA!  Jackie graduated with a BA in Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania and received her MS in Nutrition from Columbia University.  She is currently a medical student at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM) and is very excited to be taking a break from her studies to spend the summer at IV!  Outside of the classroom Jackie can be found singing with her med school a cappella group, The Pulmonics.  As a former camper and staff member, Jackie has a special place in her heart for IV!

 

Andrew Jayson is from New Jersey.  He just graduated from Western New England College in Springfield, Massachusetts with a Communication Degree.   He is sports fanatic who loves the New York Giants, Yankees and Chicago Bulls, but will root for LeBron James all day long. What makes him most happy in life besides the love for his family, friends and faith is grilled lamb, Pastitsio and crumb cake.   Most of all he loves loud music that he can dance to.

 

 

 

Jonathan Limberakis is a recent graduate of Villanova University and is from outside Philadelphia, PA.  A history major, who will be attending dental school next year, has a variety of interests other than teeth and ancient history.  He loves playing sports, traveling, singing, playing guitar, concert going, and cheering for all Philly sports teams.  

 

 

 

Andreana Kenrick was born the third of six children, in South Bend, Indiana, and raised in Phoenix, Arizona.  She graduated from Arizona State University with a B.S. in Psychology and received her M.A. in Clinical Psychology from Loyola University Chicago in 2009.  She currently is pursuing a Ph.D. in Social Psychology at Princeton University, studying stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination.   Andreana loves to bake and has a self-diagnosed iced coffee addiction.

 

 

George Landis is from Oakland, California where he is currently going to school to become a Firefighter. He is very involved with Greek dancing and has served as a counselor at his parish summer camp for years. He is looking forward to an amazing summer at Ionian Village!

 

 

 

 

Nicholas Lendaris is from California.  He graduated from the University of California, Davis, with a BA in Classics and a BS in Biology.  He plans to work for a few years in the Biotechnology field, then go back to school for an MBA.  In his free time, Nicholas loves to wrestle, chant, learn the lyra, read, and hang out with his friends and family.  

 

 

 

Marina Maib is from Kansas City.  She is a senior at the University of Kansas with a double major in both Journalism and Spanish and a double minor in both English and Communications. Marina has been a staff member at Kansas City’s Eastern Orthodox Youth Camp and the Denver Metropolis annual summer youth camp in Albuquerque, Camp Emmanuel. She enjoys spending her free time with her close family and friends and loves her little Chihuahua, Tinkerbell.  She is a huge KU Jayhawks basketball fan but sadly is not a huge fan of the Kansas City Chiefs. Marina can’t wait to join the staff of Ionian Village this summer and begin making the friendships she knows will last a lifetime!

 

Marc Cassimus is a senior at the University of Georgia majoring in Advertising in UGA's Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. He excels at ping pong, badminton, pickle ball, bowling, and Minesweeper.  In his free time he can be found enjoying the musical styling of Ben Harper, snacking on loukaniko, and consuming large portions of his Yiayia's pastichio. Marc is excited to spend an amazing summer at Ionian Village!

 

Maria Giannopoulos is from New York.  She graduated from Boston University where she double majored in Classics and earned her Master's degree in Teaching.  She is currently a Latin teacher at Bayside High School where she advises the Sports Club and Greek Club.  Maria loves reading, traveling and outdoor sports.  If she could only eat one thing for the rest of her life, it would be passion fruit flavored Italian ices. 

 

 

 

Mario Colosimo is from Salt Lake City, Utah, where he works in Interactive Marketing at a regional bank, and as a part-time Specialist at The Apple Retail Store.  He's super excited to attend Ionian Village as a staff member this summer.

 

 

 

George Plumis is from Seattle, Washington and is a graduate of the University of Washington majoring in Economics.  He is a proud Washington Husky fan as well as a loyal Seattle sports fanatic. His dislikes are the Oregon Ducks. George is looking forward to living the dream this summer and meeting the campers at the Ionian Village. 

 

 

Rachel Gerassimakis was born in Wilmington, Delaware, but grew up in Akron, Ohio.  She is a recent graduate of The Ohio State University with a BA in Speech and Hearing Science and is an aspiring Speech Pathologist.  She enjoys spending time traveling between the East Coast and Midwest visiting her close family and friends, and when possible, going to Greece to visit her family.  She loves shopping, traveling, cooking, and sushi!  This summer is Rachel’s first time at IV, although she spent every summer since age eight at Camp Nazareth in Mercer, PA.  She is excited to be a part of the IV staff and cannot wait to witness what is going to be a life changing summer for all campers and staff!

 

Katherine Relle is from Potomac, Maryland and attends Georgetown University (Class of 2011) where she studies government and anthropology. Currently, Katherine is spending her junior year abroad at the London School of Economics and Political Science as an international exchange student. She attended the Ionian Village as a camper in 2005 with her two (triplet) sisters. When Katherine is not traveling Europe or living in London, she enjoys her role as 'coxswain' on Georgetown's crew team as well as working at the White House Office of Presidential Correspondence, answering letters to President Obama. Katherine loves waking up extremely early, shopping on itunes, and whenever the Cowboys beat the Redskins!

Christina Rotas, more commonly known as Tina, is from Granite Bay, California.  She has spent the past four years studying at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA and recently graduated as a double major in English and Religious Studies, with a concentration in Peace and Conflict Studies.  When she was not busy studying, she enjoyed being a part of three singing groups on campus and Orthodox Christian Fellowship.  She's known to make a mean tray of pastitchio and, when asked, could probably tell you all the lyrics to any 90's song in existence. Having gone as a camper to Ionian Village in 2005, she is excited to return this year as a staff member!

 

 

 

 

Jennifer Saba was born and raised in Los Angeles. She graduated from California State University, Northridge with a BS and MS in Environmental and Occupational Health. She’s been to YMCA camp every summer since age 16.  She feels camp has been her life and her my second home.   She also enjoys the outdoors and being with other campers, but her greatest joy is seeing how camp changes kids.  Jennifer loves boogie boarding, and enjoys watching independent films. 

 

 

 

 

Isaia Tselengidis, or Sassa as she likes to be called, is a recent graduate from UMass Boston with a bachelor's degree in Psychology. She hopes to pursue a career in secondary education in inner city schools. She currently works as a Greek school teacher and GOYA adviser.  She loves learning languages and singing Disney songs with the occasional interpretive dance.

 

John Schieber is a Chicago resident and recent graduate of Northwestern University with a degree in Biomedical Engineering, and will be attending University of Illinois Medical School in the Fall. Currently, he works as a research assistant at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, working with stroke and spinal cord injury survivors in a clinical research environment. Some of his favorite things include:  playing the violin, Chipotle, the Chicago White Sox, Scrabble and Disney World.

 

 

 

Tara LePage, from Rochester, Massachusetts, just completed her junior year at Providence College in Rhode Island, majoring in Health Policy Management and Political Science.  She loves to stay active with a good game of beach volleyball or to go running down by the water.  Reading is another one of her favorite hobbies, unless the Boston Red Sox are on the television!  Having spent the past few summers waitressing on the waterfront, Tara is looking forward to an Ionian Village summer in Greece!

 

 

 

Thane Economou is from Tulsa, Oklahoma. He recently graduated from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas with a double major in Cinema-Television and Business. Thane attended Ionian Village when in High School, and still ranks it as one of the best experiences of his life. Thane's main passion in life is filmmaking, a career he aims to pursue when he returns from Greece. He cannot wait for this summer!

 

 

 

Theo Zecy is from Overland Park, KS.  He graduated with a BS in accounting from the University of Kansas this past spring and plans to get his Master’s degree in accounting sometime in the near future.  During the summers he works at a local fitness club in the Youth Activities department as one of the camp directors for all summer camp programs the club offers.  He was a camper at IV during the summer of ’05 and can’t wait to go back as a staff member.  Theo loves KU basketball and enjoys playing basketball, soccer and golf.

 

Athanasios Nectarios Margaritis simply goes by Tommy since his whole name is as long as his Greek unibrow. He currently lives in Tucson, Arizona where he graduated from the University of Arizona with a major in Sociology and minor in Criminial Justice Administration. He has been to 49 states with the exception of North Carolina. Both a die hard Phoenix Suns and Nebraska Cornhuskers fan who loves to draw, play piano, photoshop, hike, water ski, and is a self proclaimed Trekkie.

 

 

Marita Urban is from Westchester, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. She graduated from Alma College in Michigan receiving her degree in Elementary Education. While in college, Marita worked as a dorm resident assistant. Marita is currently working in the Westchester Public School District. She enjoys spending time with her dog, baking and going to Blackhawks Games. Marita is very excited to be spending her summer at Ionian Village! 

 

 

 

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