Meet the grand marshal of the 2011 Ragamuffin Parade

Opa!

Christina Tettonis, principal of the Hellenic Charter School inPark Slope, will be the Ragamuffin Parade’s Grand Marshal thisyear.

This is the biggest honor because it celebrates children and ourunited community, said an excited Tettonis, who lives in Bay Ridgewith her husband, Mark and her twin 16-year-old sons, Konstantineand Vasili. It’s an event that everyone comes together andcelebrates. It’s the best event I have ever experienced.

Colleen Golden, president of the Ragamuffin Committee and Tettonis’neighbor, sang Tettonis’praises. When you talk to her, you feellike you have known her your whole life, she said.

Her husband, State Senator Marty Golden echoed the sentiment.Christina has taken my wife and my block by storm, he said.

Tettonis attended Holy Cross Parochial School and began herteaching career at P.S. 186 and P.S. 105 in Bensonhurst and BoroughPark, respectively. She went on to become the principal of P.S. 170in Bay Ridge for five years, receiving numerous awards includingthe High Performing/Gap Closing School in 2006 from the New YorkState Department of Education.

Tettonis has countless achievements when it comes to children inthe local community. She was the keynote speaker at the 2007America’s Choice National Conference in Atlanta, Georgia and hasworked closely with the Church Avenue Benevolence Association tocreate one of the best after-school programs in the country.

As principal of the Hellenic Charter School, Tettonis givesstudents the opportunity to learn Greek language, culture andhistory – they even write in Greek. She has formed manypartnerships with her school and other organizations such as theBrooklyn Public Library, the Reading and Writing Project atColumbia University and the National Foundation for TeachingEntrepreneurship.

Tettonis said one of her family’s dearest memories is marching inthe Ragamuffin Parade in 2001, alongside late District 20Superintendent Vincent Grippo.

Whenever you think about this parade, either 45 years ago or thisyear, you begin smiling, she said. I am proud to say that I cancontribute to this tradition. It celebrates how united ourcommunities are, with a sense of peace and harmony.