Submitted by Vahram Shemmassian
Pictured from left to right : Dr . Vahram Shemmassian, Mrs. Lisa Gaboudian, Dr. Kaloust Agopian, Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian, Archpriest Fr . Razmig Khatchadourian, and Dr. Hasmig Baran. Photo courtesy of Khajag Jamgotchian, Board of Regents Western Prelacy.The Board of Regents of Prelacy Armenian Schools-a federation of PK-12 schools founded and sustained in promoting Armenian values and preservation of the heritage, language, culture, tradition, history, and religion of Armenian people held its Annual Professional Development Day conference at California State University, Northridge (CSUN), on October 15. This was the second consecutive year that CSUN's Armenian Studies Program co-sponsored and hosted the daylong conference.
Workshops were attended by some 400 educators and administrators from Armenian day schools throughout California, some as far away as San Francisco and Fresno. The keynote speaker during the breakfast and opening session was California Assembly member Adrin Nazarian. As a product of one of the schools represented at the conference, he thanked all present for their commitment to educating the future generation of leaders. He encouraged them all to be active participants in the political process as examples for their students .
Among the experts who presented that day were two faculty members from the CSUN Armenian Studies Program. Dr. Vahram Shemmassian, director of the Armenian Studies Program, led two sessions on "Teaching Armenian Culture in an Interdisciplinary and Relevant Approach. " Dr. Hasmig Baran, a part-time faculty member in the program, conducted two sessions on "Motivation and Student Engagement."
The funding for the co-sponsorship was made possible by a grant from the TF Educational Foundation . Organized to promote Armenian principles and heritage, TF Educational Foundation also awarded $250,000 in 2015 to CSUN's Armenian Studies Program to promote teaching excellence by and for Armenian students throughout the region.