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PRESS RELEASE
Monday, April 27, 2009
AGBU Sydney Celebrates: Australia Day, Australian of the Year & 40th
Anniv. of Saturday School
AGBU Sydney has a lot to celebrate as its marks a number of milestones.
On January 26, 2009, over 200 members of the Sydney-Armenian community
gathered for Australia Day at the AGBU Alex Manoogian Cultural Center to
celebrate the national holiday as a community.
In attendance at the event were several esteemed guests, including
Nathan Reese, representative of the premiere of New South Wales
territory, Gladys Berejiklian, the Willoughby MP, Jillian Skinner, the
North Sydney MP, and Varoojan Iskenderian, the Premiere Representative
of Nagorno Karabagh. Overall, 220 guests attended the breakfast prepared
by the AGBU Sydney Ladies Auxiliary Committee. Melissa Jamgotchian also
coordinated a special musical performance by singer Natalie Simonian and
celloist Miss Minassian.
The AGBU then honored Hagop Sebouhian, the English editor of the
Mioutune Monthly magazine, as the "Australian of 2009." Following the
award ceremony, student scholarships were awarded to local students who,
beaming with pride, took to the stage, full of appreciation, and shared
with the audience inspirational experiences from their lives as
Armenian-Australians.
AGBU Alex Manoogian Saturday School Celebrates 45 Years
While Australia Day was a large community event, a smaller celebration
took place last November which deserves equal praise; AGBU Sydney’s
Alex Manoogian Saturday School marked its 45th anniversary with a
year-end performance at the Alexander Hall Cultural Center.
AGBU Sydney’s Mioutune magazine dedicated an entire issue (Dec. 2008) to
the school and its beneficial role in the Armenian community. The
feature publication included testimonies from students and faculty, an
outline of the school’s evolution and a slew of congratulatory praise
from AGBU President Berge Setrakian, Archbishop Aghan Baliozian, Primate
of Australia and New Zealand, and Australian Parliamentarian Gladys
Berejiklian.
The Saturday School was founded in 1963, originally as a Sunday school
under the direction of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Sydney through
the efforts of Archpriest Aramayis Mirzayian and Gosdan Der Stepanian.
In 1971, then AGBU President Alex Manoogian became a trustee of the
school. By 1982, the school officially established itself at Mercy
College in the Chatswood area near Sydney and has continued to thrive
since.
Today, the school is made up of three kindergarten classes, seven
elementary-level classes and three transitional classes with a
curriculum prepared by Principal Silvia Aghabekian and her staff. After
the standard ten-year course of study, all students are prepared for a
secondary program in more advanced Armenian-language instruction that is
recognized officially by the Australian Ministry of Education.
"The 45 years of the Saturday School symbolize will, faith, perseverance
and unreserved dedication," said AGBU President Berge Setrakian. "It
fosters knowledge of the Armenian language and an understanding of
Armenian culture among successive generations."
Established in 1906, the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) is the
world’s largest non-profit Armenian organization. Headquartered in New
York City, AGBU () preserves and promotes the Armenian
identity and heritage through educational, cultural and humanitarian
programs, annually serving some 400,000 Armenians around the world.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress