YEREVAN — On the occasion of the first day of academic school year of 2011-2012, Papken Megerian, co-chair of the ADL District Committee of USA and Canada and a member of the Central Board of Tekeyan Cultural Association, visited the Vahan Tekeyan School and participated in the opening ceremonies of the school.
The first day of school in Armenia is a day of celebration, with the participation of the community. Rev. Diran Aroushanian, pastor of the nearby Holy Mary Church, blessed the school year. Two representatives of the Armenian air force as well as Lt. Maj. Nver Tavtian participated in the ceremony, along with the mayor of Sebastia and two local members of the Armenian Parliament, Samvel Alexanian and Goriun Nahabedian.
Megerian told those assembled: “I congratulate you all on this happy occasion. I thank Principal Anahid Khalatian for inviting me. I am very much moved, because this is the first time that I am participating in such a wonderful ceremony. I am very impressed by it. In the United States there are no such celebrations, and they don’t start the school year like this. On behalf of the Central Board of Tekeyan Cultural Association, I congratulate you all. By bringing you best wishes from your brothers and sisters I wish you to live up to the stature of the poet Vahan Tekeyan, by educating yourself under this roof and one day be a poet, scientist, doctor, educator or soldier.”
After the ceremony, Megerian toured the classrooms, making a stop in the classroom named for Hagop Boghosian, the former editor of the ADL newspaper Nor Or of California. After Boghosian died, his wife, Ani, and the TCA worked together to name a classroom after him.
Megerian then met with the mayor and others involved with the school, to discuss the infrastructure of the building.
On the same day, all Tekeyan schools whose staff receive annual stipends from the TCA, started their classes by remembering the words of Vahan Tekeyan “ I love you, Armenian language, like my….”
