August 20^th marked the start of the 2016-17 School Year at the Armenian Saturday Schools of the U.S. Western Diocese. The schools had made preparations over the summer and had equipped the schools with new, state-of-the-art equipment, textbooks and other accessories. The teachers of the 11 schools of the Diocese started fulfilling their pro-national service with joy and excitement in order to provide Armenian children with an Armenian education and help them preserve the Armenian identity. This is what Principal of Little Angels Armenian Saturday School, Deacon Hovhannes Goumrouian told Hayern Aysor.

On August 13, 2016, ahead of the start of the school year, teachers of the Armenian Saturday schools took an annual training course that was held under the direction and with the blessing of leader of the U.S. Western Diocese, His Eminence, Archbishop Hovnan Derderian.

At the initiative of one of the members of the academic and educational committee, highly experienced educator, Dr. Ellie Andreasian, this year’s topic was devoted to Armenian identity issues.

In his opening remarks and while giving his blessings, His Holiness cited the words of the late Catholicos Vazgen I about the national identity that still serve as a unique message and a brilliant ��?lighthouse’ in our struggle to exist as a nation forever.

Theologian Mashtots Chobanian, who is a member of the Diocese and is responsible for providing a Christian education, touched upon national identity issues and compared them to the standards of religion, theology and morality. The logical continuation was the lecture entitled “The role of the Armenian history subject in shaping the identity of an Armenian” by notable scholar, Professor Karo Momjian. The speaker engaged in a pleasant dialogue with the educators under the famous principle of Aristotle, presented the history and present of Armenian national identity and attached importance to international experience and the current approaches.

The last speaker of the day was Dr. Ellie Andreasian, who drew parallels between practical work and teamwork and conducted a question-and-answer session.

At the end, General Vicar of the Prelacy and chairman of the board of trustees of the Armenian Saturday schools, Supreme Archimandrite Bagrat Berjekian expressed his kind wishes to the over 50 teachers from different areas of the Diocese and ended the event with a prayer. His Holiness also gave the latest books of His Holiness Hovnan to the attendees as gifts.

The Western Diocese, staying true to its Christian and national mission, continues to do everything it can to make sure the nearly 1,000 students of Armenian Saturday schools learn the Armenian language, love and always stay in touch with the homeland and the Armenian Church.

Good luck to the students in the 2016-17 School Year.