ANEC Holds Armenian School Teacher’s Seminar in New York

On Saturday, October 1 teachers of Armenian day and Saturday schools from cities in the Eastern USA gathered at the Eastern Prelacy offices in New York City to discuss current issues in Armenian education such as access to material and common challenges faced in schools in general. The event was organized by the Armenian National Education Committee (ANEC), a joint venture of the Eastern Prelacy and the Armenian Relief Society (ARS) Eastern USA. The following schools participated: Saint Illuminator’s Armenian Day School, Holy Martyrs Armenian Day School, St. Sarkis Suzanne and Hovsep Hagopian Saturday School (New York), Nareg Saturday School (New Jersey), Haigazian Armenian School (Philadelphia), Armenian Sisters Academy (Philadelphia), ARS Zavarian Schools (Detroit), and Taniel Varoujan Armenian School (Chicago).

ANEC chairman Haroutune Misserlian (pictured below), serving as master of ceremonies, invited Bishop Anoushavan Tanielian, Vicar of the Armenian Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America (Eastern United States) to lead the opening prayer. During his comments following the prayer, Bishop Tanielian discussed the work of the Armenian teacher. He said, “It is not just stories that you teach, but the Armenian teacher tries his/her best to instill the Armenian spirit.” He also spoke about the different concerns of educators, but that students will always remember their teacher.

Following these inspirational words, ARS Eastern USA Regional Executive representative Caroline Shmavonian conveyed support and good wishes for a successful seminar. “Each week you have a responsibility to teach Armenian language, culture, and history to our youth and the ARS supports this,” she said. Ms. Shmavonian also congratulated the teachers who chose to participate in the seminar and thanked them on behalf of the ARS.

Next, Mr. Misserlian invited ANEC Director Vartan Matiossian to present the work of the committee. During his first presentation, Dr. Matiossian discussed the aims of the body as well as its current projects such as a blog that can be used as a common resource (armenianeducation.blogspot.com). In the following session, he presented different resources that are available to teachers such as books and magazines, and how they could possibly be used in the classroom. After his presentation, he invited participants to browse the Prelacy Bookstore where they could purchase any item introduced during the lecture.

After lunch, Mr. Misserlian invited guest speaker Dr. Arsine Oshagan, from Philadelphia (pictured above), who held a workshop titled “New Season, New Goal.” She told participants, “I want to give you two tools for your tool-kit that will help you achieve your goals and inspire yourselves.” Oshagan continued to explain why she chose the title of her presentation, explaining that the “new season” meant finding a way to change their minds, and the “new goal” would be to discuss the answer to the question of why each person chose to be a teacher. At the end, she asked participants to write down three important problems in their teaching and to think about a different way of tackling the problem.

Finally, Dr. Asbed Vassilian, ANEC member (pictured above), led a discussion about Armenian schools in general. He said, “We are here in this dialogue to exchange ideas” and encouraged people to share their experiences and different teaching styles. During his presentation, Dr. Vassilian invited ANEC member Sossi Essajanian to speak briefly about her experience attending Armenian day and Saturday school in Watertown, MA. She talked about the skills she gained in language, history, literature, and culture and how she built on this foundation during her education. Ms. Essajanian also brought up a discussion of the importance of using the language, not just learning it for the sake of learning. To build on these ideas, Dr. Matiossian said that “if the student has the passion, he/she will find a way ... we as teachers have to ignite the fire. It is not just the language but Armenian spirit that we teach.” Later, participants shared stories of activities, projects, and methods that worked or did not work for their students.

In his closing remarks, Mr. Misserlian thanked the speakers and participants for taking the time to attend the seminar and contribute to the important discussion about the state of the Armenian schools in the Eastern USA and ways that everyone can be inspired with new ideas to bring back to their teaching. Participants continued their discussions over coffee and dessert, while conveying their ideas to the presenters and fellow teachers alike.