Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region
104 North Belmont Street, Suite 200
Glendale, California 91206
Phone: 818.500.1918 Fax: 818.246.7353
[email protected]
PRESS RELEASE
Friday, May 13, 2005
Contact: Armen Carapetian
Tel: (818) 500-1918
ANC LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE HOSTS TALK ON GENOCIDE EDUCATION PROJECT
GLENDALE, CA – Sara Cohen, Education Director of the Genocide
Education Project, spoke to a capacity audience attending the Armenian
National Committee (ANC) Leadership Institute on May 11, 2005. The ANC
Professional Network (PN) hosted the lecture in its ongoing effort to
develop future generations of leaders to advance the interests of
Armenian Americans by encouraging the emergence of an educated and
politically active community.
Cohen presented the Genocide Education Project’s mission that aims to
help prevent genocide by assisting educators, students, and
educational organizations through education about genocide and other
major human rights violations, with specific focus on the Armenian
Genocide. The audience of young professionals, which included
educators, learned of the Genocide Education Project’s development of
a comprehensive teacher’s manual that includes one, two and 10-day
lesson plans and how the organization trains teachers interested in
educating their students about the Armenian Genocide. Complete lesson
plans and other teaching tools are available online at
“Incorporating the Armenian Genocide into public school curricula will
help establish more understanding among a diverse student body so that
all future acts of intolerance can be avoided,” commented Jeannine
Topalian, President of the ANC-PN and a school psychologist in the Los
Angeles Unified School District.
California Law mandates that the Armenian Genocide be taught in the
state’s public schools. However, due to the overwhelming number of
lessons that teachers have to plan and prepare, the Armenian Genocide
is often omitted. The lesson plans in the teacher’s manual developed
by the Genocide Education Project lift the burden placed on teachers
and allow them to easily incorporate California’s mandated curriculum.
The ANCA is the largest and most influential Armenian American
grassroots political organization. Working in coordination with a
network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the United
States and affiliated organizations around the world, the ANCA
actively advances the concerns of the Armenian-American community on a
broad range of issues.
Editor’s note: Photos attached. Photo caption for Photo 1: ANC Western
Region Chairman Steven J. Dadaian introducing Sara Cohen to
audience. Caption for Photo 2: Sara Cohen addressing Leadership
Institute attendees.
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