WATERTOWN, Mass. — Tekeyan Cultural Association (TCA) of Armenia’s Executive Secretary Gayane Muradian will be the guest of honor at a Sponsor a Teacher in Armenia and Karabagh fundraiser and 10th anniversary celebratory receptions organized by the seven Canadian and USA Chapters of the TCA, to be held between May 10-23, in the TCA Centers and community halls.
Sponsor a Teacher in Armenia project was established in 2000 by TCA of US and Canada by the Board of Administrators to supplement the meager salaries of teachers in schools sponsored by the TCA. Presently five schools named after the late poet, educator, editor and community leader Vahan Tekeyan are sponsored in Yerevan, Garpi, Gumri, Stepanavan and Berdzor (Lachin Corridor), where 300 teachers and 75 non-teaching staff educate 2,972 children. Since the inception of the program close to $395,000 have been raised and entirely allocated to the teachers and staff of the Vahan Tekeyan Schools to encourage them to stay in Armenia and to keep their teaching positions. Administrators of these schools attest that the help extended to the teachers have made a difference in raising the caliber of the teachers and the standard of education.
Encouraged by the positive response of the program by our North American Armenian communities, the TCA Board of Administrators, headed by Maro Bedrosian, has decided to establish an Endowment Fund to assure the continuity of the project and to place this worthwhile project on secure foundations.
Muradian is a graduate of Yerevan State University as business manager and economist. Until 1992 she was employed as head of economics department of the Ministry of Governmental Planning. She took over as the executive director of the TCA Armenia in 1993. In 2003, she was a candidate in the parliamentary elections of Armenia. In 2005, she was also appointed as the representative of the Iraqi Armenians Fund of California in Armenia and expert advisor for the Armenians fleeing Iraq, to the United Nations representative in Armenia.
Muradian will arrive in New York on May 6 and will attend fundraising programs in New York, Philadelphia, Montreal, Toronto, Detroit, Chicago and Los Angeles. Those who wish to donate to this worthy cause, can visit http://yp.agbuchicago.org/component/content/article/5-fundraiser/13-sponsor-a-teacher.
