HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT EDUCATES HUNDREDS OF CLASSMATES ON THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
ArmRadio.am
15.05.2007 10:33
On Wednesday, May 9, student’s grade 9-12 of Souhegan High School,
gathered in the school’s theater to watch Armenian student Rachel
Manoogian-Brayman video, break the silence of her descendants and
share the stories that have haunted her cultures past for a long time.
The video was originally made for the schools graduation requirement,
"Senior Project". The goal of the project is to make students pick a
topic that they are passionate about, create an essential question
and produce and applied piece that will answer it. Souhegan High
School is apart of the Coalition of Essential Schools and has been
doing senior project for many years.
Manoogian-Brayman picked the topic of the Armenian Genocide and her
essential question was; "What are the inter generational effects of
genocide on a culture?" As for her applied piece, she answered her
question through a video that made its way through the generations
to show how it affects every Armenian. "My Dad is Jewish and his
family was apart of the Holocaust, and my Mom is Armenian, and her
family endured and survived the genocide. I really wanted to stress
that because I think the world has cast a real dark shadow on the
massacre of the Armenians" explains Manoogian-Brayman.
Manoogian-Brayman and mentor Pam McGrath started forming and
researching her essential question and ideas for the video in
November. In December, she began filming Armenians all over her area
(New Hampshire and Massachusetts). "It was really interesting to see
how the silence became less as you went through the generations,
you can tell that every person is eager to spread knowledge about
this" says Manoogian-Brayman. The video is 20 minutes long and
includes authentic footage of the emotions, effects and issues
that connect with the Armenian Genocide. The schools world studies
classes, film seminar and ethics seminar viewed the video first,
and Manoogian-Brayman received very positive feed back. "It was very
informative. The pictures were real moving and the personal stories
were very engaging" comments 11th grade world studies teacher Gavin
Sturges. Ethics teacher Chris Brooks said that "It was outstanding work
and there is a lot that can be done with this." Film student Ali Bower
said "It was unbelievable how she really captured the best parts of
the interviews and got the best emotional standpoints." Students said
that this was interesting to watch, especially because they had no idea
this ever happened. "I didn’t even know about the Armenian Genocide,"
says World Studies student Andew Beliveau, "it was really moving."
The faculty and student body was invited to watch the final showing;
two were shown during the school’s lunch periods. She received
a standing ovation and had over one hundred viewers for both
sessions. "My Grandfather was in the first audience, he needed to see
the school honoring his past and our culture" said Manoogian-Brayman,
"I hope that he and my family left the theater knowing that more than
100 people were now more knowledgeable about the genocide then they
were before they came into the room."
Although many people were not familiar with the Armenian Genocide,
they had a great response to the movie. "This was so amazing" says
11th/12th grade biology teacher Melissa Chapman, "Rachel really
set the bar for senior project applied research. I wanted to go
congratulate her afterwards, but I was reduced to a puddle of tears
after seeing her work." 9th grade teacher Tom Sawyer mentioned "It
was the most amazing senior project I’ve ever seen in the 12 years
I have been here." Manoogian-Brayman also found that silence was an
equivalent to a compliment too. "So many people were just silent after
she finished. They needed time to digest it, and then after awhile,
vocalize their thoughts" said Ethics teacher Amy Pham. Student Carly
Walker said "It was so amazing! I cried!" Other students such as
Evan Ommundsen said "I had no idea who ‘the Armenians’ were before
seeing this." School nurse said "I still get chills when I think
about it. "Teachers and students both said that this has not only
raised awareness by interests in this topic as well.
Manoogian-Brayman will be presenting her complete research and project
on May 16th in front of the official panel. However, she strongly
feels that this project will be continued and built upon far beyond
the project date. "I owe this to my family, my grandparents and to all
the Armenians. The survivors are old, but I am young, and I want to
work hard to make sure they get to experience a sense of recognition
and honor before its too late."