Ioli Advani
Ioli Advani was born and raised in Nicosia, Cyprus. She started her studies in computer science in Grenoble, France, but after a year she moved to the United States when she was awarded a Fulbright scholarship. She obtained a Bachelors degree from the University of West Chester in Pennsylvania and a Masters from the University of Delaware, both in Computer Science. She started her career as an IT programmer with AT&T Bell Labs, switching gears she moved to Hong Kong to become the European marketing manager for a local company, and eventually moved to Europe, where as a freelance Information Technology consultant she undertook a number of positions with software development companies including Société General Bank Cyprus. Her love for academia ultimately won, and she accepted a Computer Science teaching position at Philips College in Nicosia, Cyprus, while concurrently offering private tutoring in Computer Science and English to high school students. In 2015 she moved to San Francisco where she trained to be a docent at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and also taught Greek at the Holy Cross Belmont Greek School. She has been teaching at the Greek School of the Annunciation Cathedral in San Francisco since 2017.
Liza Koukkou
Liza Koukkou was born in Russia of Greek parents and moved to Greece with her family at the age of 7. She graduated from the University of Macedonia, Thessaloniki with a major in Economics. During her studies she worked as a private tutor for elementary and middle school children. She moved to San Francisco in 2009. Liza graduated from the Multiple Subject Teaching Credential program of San Francisco State University in 2013. She has been working as a substitute teacher across all grades of elementary school for the Moraga School District in the East Bay where she resides with her family. She has been teaching at the Greek School of the Annunciation Cathedral in San Francisco since 2012. She has two children who are both students at our school. Liza is a native speaker of Greek and Russian.
Loukia Papadopoulos-Exarhou
Loukia Papadopoulos-Exarhou was born and raised in Greece. She graduated with a degree in Mathematics from the University of Ioannina. She came to the Unites States to attend graduate school where she obtained her Master’s degree in Computer Science from the University of San Francisco in 1990. While a graduate student, Loukia started teaching at the Greek School of the Annunciation Cathedral in San Francisco. A few years later she assumed the role of the school Director in addition to her teaching position.
In 2001, Loukia moved to San Ramon in order to be closer to her full-time job, as Principal Technical Architect at AT&T, and to devote more time raising her daughter Zoe. She stopped teaching at the Annunciation a couple years later. However, she wasn't able to stay away from teaching Greek and therefore, taught at the Greek School of the Resurrection Greek Orthodox Church in Castro Valley from 2006 - 2008. When her daughter moved to college, she decided to come back to where she began, and has been teaching at the Greek School of the Annunciation Cathedral in San Francisco since 2017. Over the years, Loukia has tutored many children and adults and has held a position as a Greek translator for “Fluent Language Solutions”. Loukia’s greatest gratification is to watch her first students, adults now, bring their own children to attend the Greek School at the Annunciation Cathedral.
Eva Spirakis
Eva was born in San Francisco, but her family decided to return to Greece when she was 10 years old. She spent her formative years in the coastal city of Kalamata. After graduating high school and achieving certificates in English proficiency from universities there, her plan was to remain and teach English in Greece. However, after returning for visits to California, she ultimately decided to move back to San Francisco in 1998 for undergraduate studies. She fell in love with Sociology, and paired it with a Modern Greek Studies minor, during her studies at San Francisco State University. Eva has been teaching at the Greek School of the Annunciation Cathedral in San Francisco since 2012. Her son William attends the school.