Launched on July 10, the 2015 “Diaspora” Summer School Program of the RA Ministry of Diaspora continues as a very successful program. The program has brought together many young Diaspora Armenians and Armenian language teachers who wish to improve their knowledge of Armenian, learn about the changes in the language, return to their respective communities and continue their pro-national activities. Their common goal is to do everything they can to help Armenians preserve their Armenian identity.

One of these devoted teachers is Shura Simavonyan from New Nakhichevan. Simavonyan has been teaching several generations of Armenians and providing them with an Armenian education for 46 years. Mrs. Simavonyan teaches Armenian at School N 14 of Rostov-na-Don. She is also the founder of Aig Armenian Club and the director of a small museum presenting the history of the school. Mrs. Simavonyan proudly says that the Armenian school of New Nakhichevan has been around since 1882. “The school opened its doors for poverty-stricken Armenian children in accordance with the will of famous merchant Gogoyan. The Armenian language lessons lasted until 1941, after which the local Armenians were deprived of the opportunity to receive an education in Armenian for nearly half a century,” Shura Simavonyan says.

However, Shura Simavonyan, who had taught at other Armenian schools abroad and had graduated from Yerevan State University with the same vigor that she had back then, stayed at this school. She was concerned about the poor condition of the Armenian language and the fact that Armenian youth were detached from their roots. Not being able to come to grips with the situation and feeling the lack of “Armenianness”, Mrs. Simavonyan reestablished the nice tradition and started teaching Armenian in Rostov-na-Don in 1991. “At first it was hard to convince parents that teaching their children Armenian was easy. However, over time, more and more students started attending the school, and the members of the local Armenian community started getting involved in solving the problem with textbooks. It takes me an hour to get to the school every day. I didn’t spare any efforts and dedicated myself to teaching, which has become a lifestyle and the meaning of my life,” says the merited teacher.

About 100 children also learn about Armenian history, culture and literature. The Russian and Armenian children are also members of Simavonyan’s Arevik Ensemble. Mrs. Simavonyan said she was pleased with the fact that the singers of her ensemble achieve great heights and brought up famous pop singer Eva Rivas as an example, adding that Eva Rivas was one of her students. One of the teacher’s achievements is that Russian children want to come and learn Armenian. She visits classrooms and presents the heroic episodes of Armenian history. She recently finished her research and found all the veterans who had graduated from the school and had taken part in the Great Patriotic War. Their photos are posted on the school’s wall.

Besides teaching, Mrs. Simavonyan is also a reporter for the Russian “Zarya” and Armenian “Nor Nakhichevan” newspapers. She has also published the three-volume book “Doni Armenia” in three languages, including Russian, English and Armenian. “Another one of my achievements was the regional Armenian language Olympiad that the school has been hosting since 2011,” says Mrs. Simavonyan. She was also pleased to talk about her book entitled “Small Armenia of Doni”. In her book, the author shares her hopes, dreams, feelings and longing. It’s not by chance that this devoted teacher has received the title of “Ambassador of the Mother Language”, as well as numerous awards and certificates of appreciation and continues to help the school flourish and preserve Armenian children’s identity.

Amalya Karapetyan

4^th year student of the Faculty of Journalism of Yerevan State University