PRESS RELEASE
Eastern Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America
138 East 39th Street
New York, NY 10016
Tel: 212-689-7810
Fax: 212-689-7168
e-mail: [email protected]
Website:
Contact: Iris Papazian
September 27, 2004
Eastern Prelacy’s Pashalian Fund
Announces Grants for Education
The Eastern Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America recently
announced the granting of awards totaling $8,000.00 to various Armenian
Schools and educational programs, from the Pashalian Family Education Fund.
Since the inception of the Fund a total of $73,439 has been distributed to
educational institutions.
The 2004 grants, awarded by the Fund’s Board of Trustees which include
Archbishop Oshagan Choloyan, Prelate of the Eastern Prelacy, Ms. Gloria
Tarsy, Dr. George Dermksian, and Mr. Michael Derian, were as follows:
St. Illuminator’s Day School $2,500.00
St. Sarkis Suzanne & Hovsep Hagopian Saturday School 1,500.00
St. Gregory of Datev Institute 2,000.00
Siamanto Academy 1,000.00
Armenian Sisters Academy (Radnor, PA) 1,000.00
“The Pashalian Family Fund is a model example of the good that can be
accomplished by foresighted individuals. Through their benevolence the
Pashalian Family has left a lasting impact on Armenian education in the
United States while perpetuating the memory of their family,” said
Archbishop Oshagan.
The Pashalian Fund was established in the early 1990s, through the
foresight and benevolence of devoted parishioners of St. Illuminator’s
Cathedral, Mr. Levon Pashalian and his wife Margret. Mr. Pashalian was born
in the historic Armenian village of Palou-Havav. He survived the Genocide,
emigrated to the United States, and like many of his fellow villagers opened
a small grocery store on the east side of Manhattan. With a limited command
of English Levon Pashalian built a successful business. He worked long hours
every day of the week and together with his wife raised a family, a son John
Levon, and a daughter, Siroon. True to his Armenian heritage and the
American dream, he provided both children not only with a college education,
but also post-graduate studies. The family faced a tremendous tragedy when
son John was killed in an accident in 1973.
In spite of the tragedy that befell the family, Mr. Pashalian had the
goodness of heart to provide financial support, in the name of his son and
the Pashalian family, for the Armenian Church, Armenian educational and
relief organizations, and needy Armenian students in the United States and
Canada.
The Pashalian Family Education Fund was established with an initial
contribution of $138,000 with the stipulation that the earned proceeds from
the investments be used to “promote and support Armenian language schools”
and their students in the United States and Canada who were in financial
need. According to the stipulations of the Fund, 50% of the earned income
must be distributed to St. Illuminator’s School, Woodside, New York and St.
Sarkis Saturday School, Douglaston, New York. The remaining 50% can be
distributed to other educational institutions at the discretion of the
Trustees.
This year’s grant recipients are:
St. Illuminator’s Day School
St. Illuminator’s Day School, located in Woodside, New York, provides
elementary bilingual education from Nursery through Grade Six. The students
consistently outperform public school students in New York State
Standardized Tests. “We are grateful to the Pashalian Fund for its
continuing support,” said Dr. Herand Markarian, chairman of the Board of
Trustees. “This grant will help us provide scholarship aid for qualified
students whose families cannot afford a private school education.”
St. Sarkis’ Suzanne and Hovsep Hagopian
Armenian Saturday School
The Suzanne and Hovsep Hagopian Armenian Saturday School, Douglaston,
NY, has grown in attendance and educational excellence in recent years
thanks in part to the support they have received from the Pashalian Fund.
The school is named in honor of its faithful benefactors, the late Suzanne
and Hovsep Hagopian, who believed wholeheartedly in the value of Armenian
education. The support of the Hagopians during their lifetime and after
their death through a generous bequest is another factor in the continuing
challenging and high caliber educational opportunity provided by the school.
St. Gregory of Datev Institute
Now in its 18th year, the St. Gregory of Datev Institute is a weeklong
summer program in a pleasant, nurturing environment where young students
experience worship, learning and fellowship. Promoting healthy minds in
healthy bodies, the Institute provides a faith-based four-year program of
studies for youth ages 13 and older. Many of the teens who complete the
program return for postgraduate studies. The Institute is organized by the
Eastern Prelacy’s Armenian Religious Education Council (AREC). Natalia
Sadaniantz, a third level Datevatzi from Providence, Rhode Island, noted,
“This is my third year at Datev and each year it has been getting better and
better. I have learned so much and this year I am learning Krapar. I love
learning languages and classical forms of languages.”
Siamanto Academy
The Siamanto Academy is designed for high school students who are
graduates of Armenian schools. The Academy offers accredited, college-level
courses in Armenian studies and history, as well as Christian studies.
Organized by the Armenian National Education Committee (ANEC), the Academy
serves as a gateway to higher cultural awareness, preparing students for
effective leadership. The Academy meets every Saturday during the school
year in Woodside, New York. The Siamanto Academy is a prime example of ANEC’s
mission of maintaining the Armenian language and culture in America. ANEC is
a co-sponsorship of the Eastern Prelacy and the Armenian Relief Society.
Armenian Sisters Academy
For more than 35 years the Armenian Sisters Academy in Radnor,
Pennsylvania, has been providing exceptional Armenian American education to
students in the Philadelphia area. The Academy is a fully accredited
Pre-Kindergarten through 8th grade school that teaches Armenian language,
culture, and history as part of its core curriculum. More than half of the
Academy’s seventh and eighth grade students are invited to participate in
the Johns Hopkins University Academic Talent Search each year. A
prerequisite of the search is that the students selected score 97% or better
on National Standardized Testing. The Armenian Sisters Academy team was the
winner of this year’s Jeopardy Tournament sponsored by the Armenian National
Education Council (ANEC).
Donations to the Pashalian Fund, which is part of the Eastern Prelacy’s
Endowment Fund, can be made at any time. For information about this Fund
contact the Prelacy at 212-689-7810.