In 1986, the 100th birthday of the Statue of Liberty, I did a series of profiles of immigrants in Maine, including a tailor from Spain, a stonecutter with roots in Italy, and a restaurant owner from the Philippines. They had come to the United States for familiar reasons--opportunity, a better life, freedom from fear—and their stories were inspiring.
Since then I’ve enjoyed doing stories on immigrants, and I didn’t have to go far for the latest one. Angela Varipatis came to Maine from Greece in the 1960s and since then has taught Greek classes at her church in Portland (about a three-minute walk from the TV station), motivated by an enthusiasm for education and a deep affection for the children. “I love them so much,” she says. “They are so sincere. They are so innocent. They have so much love. So they teach me.”
Mrs. Varipatis teaches four afternoons a week. The students, who are in grades four through eight, study Greek history, culture, music and dancing, and there is a special emphasis on learning to speak the language. “She loves it,” says Sofia Kirtchev, one of the students. “And she wants us to love it as much as she does.”
Although her career began in the 1960s, Mrs. Varipatis is not contemplating retirement. For one thing, she’d miss the kids. “I still cannot think that I can be away from them,” she says. “Even after 52 years.”