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AYF/ANC Reach Out to Educators at National Social Studies Conference

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  • AYF/ANC Reach Out to Educators at National Social Studies Conference

    Armenian National Committee of Greater Washington
    Washington AYF "Ani" Chapter
    4906 Flint Drive
    Bethesda, MD 20816


    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
    December 7, 2004
    Contact: Arsineh Khachikian
    Email: [email protected]


    AYF/ANC Educate over 1,000 Educators about the Armenian Genocide
    at National Social Studies Conference in Baltimore, MD

    Baltimore, MD- Armenian National Committee and Armenian Youth
    Federation activists once again spoke with over a thousand social
    studies teachers and handed out over hundreds of educational
    packets about the Armenian Genocide at the 84th National Council for
    the Social Studies (NCSS) annual conference held at the Baltimore,
    MD Convention Center on November 20 & 21.

    During the two-day conference, teachers attended a variety of
    educational panels and workshops. The conference and exhibit show
    attracting over 4000 NCSS members, making it one of the largest
    social studies conferences across the nation. Members of the
    Greater Washington, DC ANC and AYF as well as the Chicago AYF were
    among the 300 exhibitors present at the trade show. For the second
    time in as many years, the ANC/AYF participation was made possible
    through a generous grant by the Armenian Youth Foundation.

    The ANC/AYF booth at the exhibit primarily focused on educating
    history teachers about the Armenian Genocide and informing them of
    the available resources to help them include this vital topic in
    their lesson plans. Over 1000 teachers avidly approached the booth
    gathering materials including a folder with information about the
    Armenian Genocide provided by Richard Kloian, Director of the
    Armenian Genocide Resource Center (AGRC). Several teachers engaged
    in conversation with ANC, AYF and history teachers helping with the
    booth asking a variety of questions including where to get
    additional materials, maps and books about the Armenian Genocide.
    Others simply asked what more they can do to help stop the denial
    and several teachers commented that they were happy to see the
    Armenian Genocide has not been forgotten.

    Making the conference a huge success was a postcard campaign
    encouraging teachers to log onto TeachGenocide.org, a website
    created by ANC of San Francisco as part of its Genocide Education
    Project. The website, created specifically for teachers, allows
    them to download teaching guides, maps, videos and primary
    documents related to the Armenian Genocide as well as the
    comprehensive 190-page lesson plans created specifically for public
    schools by the ANC-SF and sponsored by the San Francisco Unified
    School District.

    Also on the website, is information about Facing History and
    Ourselves new resource guide: Crimes Against Humanity and
    Civilization: The Genocide of the Armenians. This new resource
    book gives teachers the opportunity to help their students
    understand the dilemmas as well as failure of the international
    community to protect Armenians and to later prosecute the
    criminals. Furthermore instructional posters on the Armenian
    Genocide are now available for viewing and free download on the
    site.

    The booth was eye-catching with enlarged documents of New York
    Times articles from 1915, pictures from Armin T. Wegner's
    collections of genocide victims and maps showing the routes of
    deportation and areas in present day Turkey where most Armenians
    perished between the years 1915-23. The booth also had a
    continuous video playing of various genocide films including Peter
    Jennings April 1999 segment on the Armenian Genocide, PBS
    documentary on the Armenian Genocide from the Great War Series, and
    the BBC Broadcast Armenia: The Betrayed. The booth also had a sign
    up sheet asking teachers to tally their state they teach the
    Armenian Genocide. Over 30 states were marked including such
    states as Alabama, North Carolina and even Hawaii.
    Founded in 1921, the NCSS has grown to be the largest association
    in the country-devoted entirely to social studies education. The
    NCSS engages and supports "educators in strengthening and
    advocating social studies."

    This year's theme of the conference was "Democracy and Diversity:
    Social Studies in Action." The conference focused on "democracy in
    a culturally diverse United States, highlight efforts by groups and
    individuals to establish and promote democracy in other parts of
    the world, and draw attention to the tragedies that seem to be part
    of the human experience as peoples across the globe attempt to find
    niches that offer peace, freedom, and opportunity to improve their
    circumstances in the world."

    AYF/ANC activist Karine Birazian commented on the impact of the
    weekend as follows: "This is the second year that we were
    exhibitors at the NCSS conference and once again it was a huge
    success. Many teachers from all over the United States and Canada
    approached the booth, taking information about the Armenian
    Genocide as well as signing up sheets to receive additional
    information. It was such a great feeling to know that we were
    making a difference. We were giving them to tools they need to
    incorporate the Armenian Genocide in their classrooms. We are
    looking forward to attending the conference in Kansas City next
    year as well as even having an educational panel about the Armenian
    Genocide.

    Ronald Levitsky a board member of NCSS as well as a social studies
    teacher at Sunset Ridge School in Northfield, IL actively promotes
    genocide awareness at his campus. Levitsky states: "Who today
    still speaks of the massacre of the Armenians?" Hitler's infamous
    words uttered in 1939 helped to justify the genocide he was already
    perpetrating on the Jews. Yet, with the horrors of Cambodia,
    Rwanda, Bosnia, Kosovo, and Darfur, will students learn only that
    genocide is inevitable? Samantha Power, author of A Problem From
    Hell, speaks of "upstanders" -- those few individuals who,
    throughout history, fight against genocide. Educators need to
    teach about the Armenian Genocide so that, through awareness and
    the strengthening of moral conviction, our students will become
    "upstanders" and the words "Never again," can finally become a
    reality."

    In closing, AYF Washington Ani Chapter chairwoman Tsoghig
    Margossian noted that "overall, this weekend was a huge success in
    that our efforts to promote genocide awareness were spread amongst
    educators across the country. None of this would have been possible
    without the help of Richard Kloian from the Armenian Genocide
    Resource Center who supplied us with information made available to
    the teachers. We would also like to thank Raffi Momjian and the
    members from the ANC of San Francisco who supplied us with the
    curriculum materials, as well as the ANC Eastern Regional
    headquarters for their invaluable support, and the local members of
    the Armenian community of Washington, DC. Finally a special thanks
    to the Armenian Youth Foundation, without whose generous grant,
    participation at this conference would not have been possible. We
    look forward to working with all these activists and organizations
    in the future to attend similar conferences and to expand our
    genocide awareness efforts."

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