Starting today, the Gishi village of Martuni region of Artsakh will host the two-week “Knowledge is Power” summer school/camp, which is part of the “Knowledge is Power” educational initiative.

As reported the creators of the “Knowledge is Power” educational initiative to Hayern Aysor, the summer school program has gathered 125 pupils from the city of Martuni, Gishi village and nearby villages between the ages of 10 and 15. The initiative is the idea of a group of educators from Armenia and Artsakh.

“We are pleased with the fact that the pupils of several villages of the Martuni region have the opportunity to learn and spend their vacation at the same time. We have high-quality specialists, and we are certain that this summer school program will serve as a serious impetus in terms of increase in the level of education and professional orientation,” head of the administration of Martuni region Karen Tovmasyan said.

The creators of the summer school program have prepared a special program of lessons and activities that is mainly aimed at enhancing the children’s skills in conducting research and working together while they learn and spend their leisure time. The educational part of the program is based on the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) approach to education. The participants’ knowledge of physics, math, engineering, the arts and history will be enhanced and advanced through the application of modern educational methods and technologies, as well as through research and interesting and entertaining tasks. There will also be a major focus on the teaching of the history of the Armenian people and the history of the Armenian Church.

“The idea of organizing the summer school program was actually the idea of one of the children of the Gishi village. We specialists of Armenia and Artsakh decided to turn the idea into a reality and set up a camp that would truly help children, ensuring their leisure and transmitting helpful and necessary knowledge to them. The program was developed by the top field experts. The top pedagogues of Armenia and Artsakh will work with the children and share their experiences with the local teachers,” Anush Yedigaryan, author of the initiative, said.

“Although this is a summer school program and the overriding part is education, while developing the program, we tried to focus on leisure as well. Thanks to this program, the children will be able to have a better picture of all they have learned and the phenomena presented in their textbooks, as well as understand that those phenomena are actually important for them,” said the content representative and coordinator of the initiative Tatevik Nalbandyan, who is also the program consultant of the junior school of the Office of the International Bachelor’s Degree in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

The summer school program will also engage teachers who participated in the teacher training courses organized for the teachers of Martuni region through the “Knowledge is Power” educational initiative.

The summer school program will provide the participants with the opportunity to conduct their small research projects based on their interests and present them to their friends and teachers. The organizers expect the pupils to be more inclined to receive a professional education in the field of science.

There will also be games and drills aimed at enhancing the children’s communication skills, as well as athletic games, dance lessons and film screenings. The campers will also meet with celebrities who will share their success stories. They will also visit a military unit and interact with soldiers and officers.