Secondary School Partnership

CYSCA Archives for before 2003

0n December 26, a group of 12 teenagers and three educators from Armenia descended upon Belmont and Arlington for a three week stay. Their visit was part of CYSCA's Secondary School Partnership to Promote Civil Society, an ongoing annual exchange program between Boston area high schools and schools in Armenia. This winter's group came from School #65 in the Shegavit district of Yerevan, which is paired with Belmont High School, and School #190 in the Southwest district of Yerevan, which is paired with Arlington High School. Last year, relationships were formed between Cambridge Rindge and Latin School and Watertown High School and two other schools in Yerevan. This partnership is one of several programs sponsored by the Cambridge-Yerevan Sister City Association with support funding from the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

This year's group participated in a rigorous application process, substantial prerequisite work and orientation before they even arrived at Logan. Once here, they had a rich and packed schedule which included attending classes in Belmont and Arlington, numerous specially organized workshops such as a "Diversity and Tolerance" workshop given by Elizabeth Gulezian, former Watertown public school educator, and an extensive creative writing course with Diane Kasarjian Topjian tutor in the Arlington school system

Dennis Mercurio, a computer lab instructor at Arlington High School and Timothy Haroutunian, 2001 CYSCA Exchange Student to Armenia, conducted several hands-on workshops for the group on Internet research. Martha Regan of Belmont High School also conducted a similar interactive workshop on researching topics for history class. At Arlington High School, together with their American friends, the Armenian students wrote three fairy tales with non-violent endings which were then enacted by the drama class under the direction of drama teacher Michael Byrne.

Other joint projects focused on entrepreneurship, leadership skills a non-violent conflict resolution. In addition, day-long visits were organized at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School by teachers Tad Sudnick and Jon Baring-Gould both of whom had taken part in the summer 2000 exchange trip to Yerevan, and Buckingham Browne and Nichols School in Cambridge.

Learning about volunteerism is an important feature of the overall program, whose purpose is to study civil society. The group participated in a Community Service Class taught by Alice Melnicoff of Belmont High School, where they listened to high school students discuss the value of their community service placements. For their own volunteer project, the group visited Perkins School for the Blind, where they spent the evening with the students sharing dinner and attending their school dance. At the Wellington After School Care Program in Belmont, they told the children their Armenian fairy tales and taught them Armenian dancing.

The three teachers had their own program organized by Victoria Kherlopian at the James Russell Lowell School in Watertown, where they were welcomed to the USA with a morning breakfast reception by the Principal, Dr. Steven Gould, Victoria and the teaching staff. In addition to observing, participating and team teaching in Arlington, they attended classes at Boston University School of Education and Lesley University.

Both students and teachers were made aware of Boston's and Cambridge's rich culture, visiting Harvard University and its museums, Central Square, Cambridge Business Development Center, Cambridge Recycling Center, the State House, where they were hosted by Cambridge Representative Alice Wolf, and the JFK Library. They also took trips to Old Sturbridge Village and the Ecotarium in Worcester.

Their English skills improved greatly during their visit, through language and cultural immersion and working side by side with Americans in their joint projects. Project Director Rev. Joanne Hartunian explained, "This program isn't only about exchanges, but partnerships and projects between schools in the USA and Armenia, connections between cities, and friendships between people. Once the Armenian team returns home, they will begin their Internet communication with their newfound American friends and will work jointly on projects to help their country grow. For example, Nune Yezakyan and Gayanne Vardanyan of School #190 are interested in ecology and recycling programs. Nune's host mother Patsy Muldoon was one of the founders of the recycling program in Arlington and has been a wonderful mentor for the girls. They are excited about starting composting in both their apartments. Gohar Tovmassayan, also of School # 190, was impressed with the responsibility American teens are given for their own education. She was sparked by a discussion about high school student government and peer leadership led by Sophomore Class President Jeff DeFlavio during a Belmont High School Government class. The discussion about civil liberties inspired her to begin reading about the human rights of Armenian citizens when she returned home. She has a plan in place to teach about these rights in an after-school club and the e-mails are flying back and forth in excitement about what she has learned." The program is truly a life-changing experience for the Armenian students and teachers, but its power is also in enriching both sides of the exchange. Not only do all the students learn a tremendous amount about a different culture, they also develop strong friendships that last a lifetime. "The two boys that are staying with us," said CYSCA Board Member Jirair Babikyan, "get along like brothers with my two boys at home." "I didn't have any expectations for Zara's arrival in America--I really didn't know what to expect," said host student Lauren Palmer. "The Host Family Orientation gave us some idea, but it didn't prepare me for the experience we had staying up at night in my attic bedroom talking about our lives and our cultures." Patsy Muldoon said, "Having Nune stay with us was a lot of fun. We taught each other card games and it was nice having her with us. I enjoyed volunteering and being with the group. It was a good experience'' Diane Spera, former CYSCA Teacher in Residence in Armenia said, "Heghine and Gohar were very happy young people and they were a pleasure to have stay with us. They were talking about what they could do to help their country when they returned."

Rev. Hartunian gave a few final reflections: "One thing they did do which was very concrete, immediate and reinforced the spirit of volunteerism, was that each participant returned to Yerevan with one suitcase. The second suitcase, which they were allotted by the airlines, went to the ASAP project to transport computers to Armenia which were donated through contacts of Saro Katchikian, a former CYSCA Board Member. It may seem like a small contribution, but these kids who had hopes of returning with gifts and presents for all their family members, teachers and friends willingly gave up the space in order to benefit other students not so fortunate to come to America." "After such a difficult 2001, hosting this group from Armenia with such fresh and happy perspectives, has given those they have touched an overwhelming sense of hope and appreciation," remarked Art Queenan, who drove the group to Sturbridge Village. "Witnessing how much the kids and teachers appreclate and learn from their experiences here we are, in fact, viewing our own culture through their eyes... it is this gaining of new knowledge that, I believe, is the highest testament to the power and success of these programs." According to CYSCA President Suzanne Pearce, "The continuing success of this program is due to the enormous dedication and hard work of Project Director, Rev. Joanne Hartunian who, one minute is negotiating the visit with school superintendents, and the next minute is closing the deal on the donation of 350 stuffed animals for an orphanage in Armenia." Hartunian is quick to deflect credit: "It is a team effort that makes these exchanges a success - it's the host families, the teachers, the mentors, the drivers, the many volunteers, and the businesses that support the program."

In a second, follow-up portion of this program, five additional students and two teachers from Schools 190 and #65, led by computer specialist Anna Karakhanyan, arrived here on December 26 for a three-week workshop on desktop publishing. This exciting project, coordinated by CYSCA Board Member Seta Sullivan, was designed to connect the participating schools through the Internet and promote ongoing contact. Two bilingual student-run newsletters have now been launched. HYE-Light from School #65 and HYE-Views from School # 190. They are available through CYSCA, and will also be online soon, linked to CYSCA's new website.

An Outbound group of students from Belmont and Arlington High Schools is now being finalized for an exchange visit in Armenia this summer They will attend summer school, continue this winter's projects and maintain the school to school relationships.