WATERTOWN — Organizations and individuals from throughout the Greater Boston Armenian community came together over the past months to support and expand the Armenian language program at Watertown High School.
Dozens attended and testified at a meeting of the Watertown School Committee last spring, successfully appealing for the addition of a second Armenian class for the coming year in response to the increasing number of students registering. The speakers, who included Watertown High parents and alumni, stressed that having more than two dozen students, with beginning to intermediate to advanced levels of Armenian comprehension, could not possibly be effectively taught in a single class.
The ad hoc committee, the Friends of the Armenian Language Program, then continued the discussion with the Superintendent of Watertown Schools, Dr. Deanne Galdston. They pointed out that, since the new upper-level course would still have students at three different levels of ability, the need for a teaching assistant was evident. Galdston was not opposed to the idea but indicated that the school budget had already been approved and that there was no money in it to cover the salary of an additional teaching assistant.
Undeterred, the committee decided to provide a community grant to the Watertown Public Schools to cover the first-year salary for the part-time teaching assistant, with the expectation that it could work with the School Committee to have the position funded in next year’s budget.
A fundraising appeal was made to organizations and individuals across the Armenian community and was met with an immediate and enthusiastic response. Within a week, the committee was able to make the grant to the school system and the position was posted, candidates interviewed, and the teaching assistant hired in the first month of the school year.
“Our work is not done. The task going forward is to sustain and further grow the program, which requires increased student interest and participation,” stated Hasmig Mardiros, one of the committee members. “We need to show that the demand for more classes is real, and this burden lies on us.”
