Two Award-Winning Students Visit Blair Armenian Academy

By NORAYR DADURYAN

On March 12, Thursday, the winning students of the international essay contest on the “Armenian Genocide and Identity,” Luciana and Ruzanna, their history teachers, as well as Javier Polatian, Director of Educational Affairs of AGBU Uruguay visited Blair Armenian Academy in Pasadena to share their work and experiences. Luciana is from Uruguay and Ruzanna is from Armenia.

The Blair Armenian Academy students greeted and met their guest peers at the school library. First, Luciana, Ruzanna and their teachers introduced themselves, after which the teachers presented Armenian education and community life in their schools. They talked about how to excite students to research and record their family history. When Uruguay was introduced, it was especially interesting to hear about the history, roots, schools, struggles and successes of Armenians of Montevideo, a community of 10-15 thousand 4th generation Armenian souls. According to H. Poladian, the majority of the AGBU school students there are non-Armenians, and speaking Armenian in the community had ceased a generation before. However, there is great research and interest in Armenian history, moreover, the idea of this prestigious highschool essay competition was born in Uruguay. Every year, The National Public Education Administration of Uruguay publishes the 10 best student papers in book form. When Armenia was presented it was amazing to hear how great literary and technological achievements were accomplished in a small school in the Baghramyan village of the province of Armavir, Armenia, where history teachers proudly and with great enthusiasm encourage their students to know their roots, family geography, and learn family stories of the past generations. Ruzanna’s research and paper is the result of that effort.

The award-winning students, then, made their presentations: “What does it mean to be a genocide survivor and a disaporan Armenian.” Luciana told the students of Blair Armenian Academy how she found refuge, comfort and strength in the poems of Silva Kaputikyan, Vahan Tekeyan and Moughegh Ishkhan. She added that she found the Armenian language to be the safest place for all Armenians outside of Armenia. For her, resistance is art, and art should be the weapon of resistance in the face of denial.

Ruzanna started her presentation with a phrase that her grandfather from the once-Armenian populated city Kars used to say; “Ani, so close, but so far away and unattainable.” Ani, as many remember, was the capital city of medieval Armenian, a gem of Armenian architecture, now sleeping on the banks of the River Arax, across Armenia. She said that this simple, yet very complex sentence has bothered her for many years. “So close, yet so unattainable…” But, one day, when she was on the banks of the River Arax admiring Ani through the barbed wires and military watch towers separating her from the once-glorious Ani, she understood the deep meaning of that phrase. After that revelation, she came back to her small village, entered her room, and re-excavated her family history only to find more mysteries.

The students of Blair Armenian listened to the guest high schoolers with awe and amazement. They, too, started their own quest for a century-old history of their own families.

At the end of this unique and mutually beneficial gathering Blair Armenian Academy students gave bouquets of flowers to the guests, took memorable photos, and promised to do everything to see each other again. The group recited the poem “Yes im anush Hayastani” from Yeghisge Charents, a great 20th century poet who was from the city of Kars.

For five days, the winners also participated in meetings with world-renowned institutions, lyceums of the Armenian-American community and the high schools of LAUSD, where they shared their research and dialogue with students and academics about identity, memory and projection of Armenian heritage in the world.

This prestigious international competition, to which many hudreds of students participate, is the result of sustained work around education on the Armenian Genocide, articulated together with the National Public Education Administration of Uruguay, the Museum-Institute of the Armenian Genocide from Armenia and the Genocide Educational Project (GenEd) based in Los Angeles. Their integration into the Angelinian educational circuit is a concrete sign of the scope and projection of this shared pedagogical effort.

Blair IB School Armenian Academy, Pasadena is a free, UC accredited Armenian language and culture program within PUSD – Pasadena Unified School District. Along with Armenian language, history and literature, students also learn Armenian dance, songs, and celebrate Armenian national and religious days. For more information about the program or to register to Blair IB Middle and High School, please contact Norayr Daduryan, daduryan.norayr@pusd.us