From the outset of the 2017-18 School Year, the Mesrop Mashtots Armenian Cultural Center of Tyumen announced the “Ari Tun” (Come Home) intellectual game/competition devoted to Armenian studies. The announcement read that the student who scored the highest points in the three stages of the competition would receive a pass to Armenia to participate in the “Ari Tun” Program organized by the Ministry of Diaspora of the Republic of Armenia.

As reported Head of the Mesrop Mashtots Armenian Cultural Center Ruzanna Danielyan to Hayern Aysor, the students of the Center’s Armenian school worked hard to participate in the competition. They didn’t spare efforts and attended the Armenian cultural center’s Armenian language, Armenian history and native studies courses throughout the year with great willingness and a high sense of responsibility, enriched their knowledge with the help of experienced pedagogues and participated in the first and second stages of the competition with great excitement.

The first stage (“Recitation Competition”) was held on February 24. There were 23 students from different age groups. They showed their knowledge of Armenian literature with expressive pronunciation, as well as exact and literate pronunciation. The jury also rated their acting skills and knowledge of additional information about great Armenian poets.

The second stage (“Recognize your Homeland”, a competition devoted to Armenian studies) was held on April 8 in the form of multiple-choice tests. There were 21 participants. The results were quite satisfying, and this was the result of the efforts of the cultural center’s experienced pedagogues Alvan Poghosyan and Manushak Hambaryan, whose efforts helped increase the number of children who had expressed the desire to participate in the lessons devoted to Armenian studies. With their teaching methods, they enhance the children’s mental capacities and make the lessons interesting. Thanks to that, the participants showed their knowledge to the jury in the third stage.

The third stage (“Armenian Expert”) was held on May 27 and was dedicated to the 100^th anniversary of the First Republic of Armenia. The competition was organized at a high level and held through the use of state-of-the-art technologies.

The illustrated Armenian alphabet on the screen served as a code for the questions. The eight students who had made it to the final stage actively answered the questions and added to their answers, and thanks to that, by the unanimous decision of the jury and under the sponsorship of benefactors S. Stepanyan and A. Hoveyan, all the participants received passes to Armenia to participate in the “Ari Tun” Program for homeland recognition.