Hero Paides

While at High-school, an new idea popped up in the head of a team of students: To create a new school magazine run completely by the students and distributed to them. After finding two really enthusiastic professors to help us, the project was up and running. Some decisions had to be made and the first one was the decision over the name. After long debates, finally one girl gave the idea of ‘Hero-paides’, something that was accepted by all people in the end. It is a world play with a double meaning. Hero is the English word, while paides (παίδες) means children in Greek. However, if the words are pronounced together, you get the Greek word for handcuffs (χειροπαίδες).

This name was symbolising the ‘heroic’ attempt of the student of the high school to break the handcuffs that were put to them, by publishing their own magazine and having the opportunity to express their ideals and opinions to the outer world. After hard work of months, the first edition was ready during March 2001. It was a full colour 52 pages magazine, with articles ranging from music, politics and exam anxiety of the students. And on top of that the magazine was sent to one of the biggest national newspapers of Greece (Ta Nea), in order to participate to the annual competition of Greek student magazines. After some weeks, we received the best news we could, letting us know that Hero-Paides was the winner of the category ‘Best newspaper’.

This event provided us with the needed energy and founds to go on publishing more editions, till in the end the edition of the magazine became a tradition that is kept till these days.

Article from the newspaper ‘Ta Nea’ about the school magazine competition: in Greek