GLENDALE—The Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region’s Education Committee announced that the 2018 National Teacher of the Year Mandy Manning will deliver the keynote address at the 3rd Annual Armenian Genocide Education Awards Luncheon on Saturday, March 23.

“The ANCA-WR Education Committee is proud to have the National Teacher of the year Mandy Manning, as a keynote speaker and honored guest at the 3rd Annual Armenian Genocide Awards Luncheon.  Mandy began her career as a Peace Corps volunteer in Armenia and continues her interest on Armenian issues” said Alice Petrossian, Chair of the ANCA-WR Education Committee.

As an educator with 19 years of experience, Mandy Manning has taught across the curriculum, worked with students of various grade levels, and has even taught in different countries, including Armenia and Japan. Currently, Manning is an English and Math teacher who teaches refugee and immigrant students in Spokane, Washington. According to the Council of Chief State School Officers website, in her classroom, Manning uses experiential projects like map-making to help her students process trauma, celebrate their home countries and culture, and learn about their new community.

Manning began her career as an educator in the Peace Corps in Armenia, and has taught in Japan and in schools across the U.S. Over the years, she has taught students who have arrived from diverse populations including the war-torn countries of the Middle East.

Manning is a National Board Certified Teacher. She has previously been awarded with the National Education Association Foundation’s California Casualty Award for Teaching Excellence in 2017 and the Kim Plemons Leadership Award from the Spokane Education Association in 2015. She earned a Bachelor of Arts from Eastern Washington University, a Masters of Arts from West Texas A & M University, and a Masters of Fine Arts from Northwest Institute of Literary Arts.

All community members are invited to the 3rd Annual Armenian Genocide Education Awards Luncheon, to show their appreciation, celebrate and honor educators for their dedication to teaching about the Armenian Genocide. This year’s luncheon is scheduled to begin at 11am at De Luxe Banquet Hall in Burbank. Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available online. Please reserve your tickets immediately as last year this event sold out early. For additional information, visit the ANCA-WR website or call (818) 500-1918.

The Armenian National Committee of America- Western Region (ANCA-WR) is a grassroots public affairs organization devoted to advancing issues of concern to the Armenian American community. For nearly a century, the ANCA-WR has served to educate, motivate and activate the Armenian American community in the Western United States on a wide range of issues.