FRANKLIN, Mass. — The AYF Camp Haiastan Board of Directors is pleased to announce that Nareh Mkrtschjan of Cranston, Rhode Island has been selected as the 2022 Summer Camp Director. Ani Changelian will return to AYF Camp Haiastan this summer to direct the week-long day camp for the younger children.

“We are pleased to have Nareh lead the overnight camp and Ani the day camp this summer. Their extensive knowledge and experience with the Camp and our youth will be of great benefit to the Camp,” stated Board chairman Hratch Najarian.

Nareh Mkrtschjan

Mkrtschjan has a long history with Camp Haiastan, first as a camper through the 2000s, then a  participant in Staff in Training in 2011, a camp counselor in 2012, and an Armenian school teacher from 2012 to 2014. Last spring and summer, she was the assistant to the executive director. In addition to her clerical responsibilities, Mkrtschjan worked on incoming Sundays to help with the complicated registration process due to COVID regulations.

In 2015, she traveled to Armenia with the AYF Internship Program and worked at the widely praised TUMO Center for Creative Technology. She designed and implemented the Center’s first music theory workshop, which later became a permanent course offering. Prior to her tenure at TUMO, she was a counselor at Camp Javakhk, located in the Armenian-populated region of the Republic of Georgia, (Akhalkalaki). Mkrtschjan also served on the AYF Central Executive for four years. During that time, she was the AYF representative to the AYF Camp Haiastan Board of Directors. She was a major contributor to the syllabus and resource catalog produced by the Board’s Educational Committee and helped with the implementation of the Armenian educational and cultural program. “Nareh exemplifies the AYF Camp Haiastan tradition of giving back. This position is the culmination of her two-decade-long affiliation with the Camp,” said AYF Camp Haiastan executive director Kenar Charchaflian.

In 2016, Mkrtschjan received a Bachelor of Education and Music degree from Rhode Island College.  She has been teaching violin, recorder, orchestra, chorus and other small instrumental ensembles at the Blackstone Valley Prep Elementary 1 School since 2017. Mkrtschjan also works with the Blackstone Valley Prep Upper Elementary School’s after-school band program. Ultimately, it is the interaction with the students and helping them gain an understanding and appreciation for music that she finds satisfying. “I am grateful for the opportunity extended to me by the Board of Directors. I look forward to helping create a positive, memorable experience for all of the campers and staff. We will continue the Camp’s tradition of mentoring, teaching and nurturing our youth, as well as help them develop and strengthen their Armenian identity,” said Mkrtschjan.

Ani Changelian

Changelian was the co-director of the summer program at AYF Camp Haiastan for the past three years. Prior to that position, she had served as day camp director for several years. She received her Masters in Education from the New York Institute of Technology, Downing College. Changelian lives in Bedford, Massachusetts with her husband Andrew and their two children, who have attended Camp Haiastan and served on staff. She previously worked as a kindergarten teacher at St. Stephen’s Armenian Elementary School in Watertown, MA.