YEREVAN — Nine-year-old Ardag studies at Vahan Tekeyan No. 92 school in Yerevan. He has decided to become a doctor when he grows up. Edmond Azadian, a member of Tekeyan Cultural Association Board of Directors, during a recent visit encouraged him by saying, “After a few years I will be back to hear about you, if you have become a doctor or not.”
Ardag and his 606 schoolmates are studying at the Tekeyan school in Yerevan and have their own dreams about the future. And at school their teachers are educating them to become first good human beings and then good Armenians, who would be helping their country.
The Sponsor A Teacher project, which is implemented by TCA, serves to help the teachers. It was established in 2000 and since then, every year, all the schools in Armenia and Artsakh named after the prince of Armenian poets, Vahan Tekeyan, the namesake of the organization, receive financial help.
On September 20, the members of Yerevan TCA visited the No. 92 school to hand the checks to each teacher and staff member. Each teacher received $130 and staff members $30.
Each year this amount is handled to teachers in the presence of members of committee and members of Tekeyan from US and Canada. This year Azadian and Hagop Minassian from Detroit visited the schools and the classes named by Ared Khntirian and late editor Hagop Boghossian as well as the library which was renovated by the Tekeyan Cultural Association.
The last time that Minassian had visited the school was in 2001. He says that through the years the school has changed a lot, but unfortunately the students’ number has decreased. Therefore, he said, this donation for teachers is encouraging, especially for the heroic job that they are doing, although they believe also that the fund raising process is not easy. Azadian said, “If we say to people that we are building a church, they immediately donate money. If we say we are building a second church, they do give a second time without even asking if we are in need of that church. But when we ask for the sake of helping a teacher who is not well paid, unfortunately the fund raising will not be smooth, but rather difficult.”
