Kzv Newsletter - April

April 2009 Issue # 8

Special Points of Interest: • Looking Ahead: …details of the changes we are anticipating and the rationales behind them… will effect our preschool; our class sizes (teacher-student ratio); the Armenian Department; subjects such as music, art, and physical education; school security; and, aspects of our middle school. • Trends in Education: Our society has achieved a high level of material comfort, yet there has not been a commiserate lessening of inner dissatisfaction. • Alumni News – Raffi Bandarian: The kids had grown so much since I had last seen them, but the teachers hadn’t aged one bit!

"The sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being." - Carl Jung, Memories, Dreams, Reflections

Administration Speaks Looking Ahead By Dr. Yeprem Mehranian Dear KZV Parents, As the school year 2009-10 begins to appear on the horizon, KZV will have to make sure it has a budget that can withstand the challenges of the economically tumultuous times our communities are facing at the moment. During this process, it is important that both the Administration and School Board remain fully cognizant of the need to strike a balance between the school’s educational and financial well-being. Moreover, it is equally important that thoughtful cooperation amongst all KZV’s adult constituents,

including administrators, school board members, teachers, parents, donors and supporters, remain the paramount maxim of our actions. From my viewpoint effective cooperation means that the broader goals and objectives of the school and its community override shortterm disagreements on details of priority. Disagreements, however, are an integral part of human attempts at communication and as such unavoidable. What matters is not why but how we disagree. All of this with the aim in mind

of enabling KZV to continue with its mission of offering a well-rounded educational and cultural experience to its students and their families. On May 4-5, 2009, the KZV Office will mail out next school year’s (2009-2010) registration packets. There, you will find a letter, which delves into the details of the changes we are anticipating and the rationales behind them. These changes encompass a broad range of issues—from organizational to curricular to financial—and will effect our pre-school; our class sizes (teacher-student ratio); the Armenian Department; subjects such as music, art, and physical education; school security; and, aspects of our middle school. Cont. on page 7

Trends in Education Editorial Board

Spirituality in Education

Adina Haun, Editor and Trends in Education

By Adina Haun

Yeprem Mehranian, Administration Speaks Tutu Heinonen, News Around the School Garine Panossian, Armenian Corner Hasmik Mehranian, Layout/Publisher

Just as Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed was designed to liberate individuals and societies from injustice and inequality, the goal of spirituality in education has been to liberate individuals from the notion that all problems can be

solved and happiness achieved solely through material and technological advances. This erroneous viewpoint undermines the need for individuals to develop positive inner qualities. Our society has achieved a high level of material comfort, yet there has not been a commiserate lessening of inner dissatisfaction.

Both these approaches complement each other in the pursuit of furthering democratic ideals, a greater sense of community, and the creation of life-enhancing values in the world. Cont. on next page

KZV Armenian School, SF, CA © 2008

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April

Trends in Education:: continued Spirituality in Education Back to the Future with Paulo Freire In the forefront of this impetus to bring spirituality into education is Distinguished Professor of English at City College in New York bell hooks (her spelling preference). She eloquently espouses her ideas in the essay, Embracing Freedom: Spirituality and Liberation, from a compilation of essays by various spiritual leaders and educators titled The Heart of Learning, edited by Steven Glazer. Spirituality in an educational context is not dogmatic, nor the domain of any organized religion. The emphasis is on bringing the universally recognized human values of acceptance, compassion, and love into all classrooms. These values have been deemed essential for individual happiness, as well as, human survival. Professor hooks touches on three aspects that define a spiritual classroom: Community: The focus of this aspect is providing learning experiences that embrace a way of life which includes others unlike us. This orientation is a challenge, as constant review is required to push ourselves past our comfort levels due to familiarity. Professor hook suggests that we ask ourselves: “What are the actions I will concretely do today in order to bring myself into greater community?” This is a path of inclusion, bringing in those who may not be physically with us. Since the classroom is a small community, all who desire spirituality in education must

make it a core practice of guiding children lovingly, excluding none. As a corollary, all imperfections of the students and teachers must be allowed. In other words, a loving, inclusive classroom atmosphere allows the teaching of the curriculum to unfold in the most beneficial manner. The creation of this context is the necessary precondition for optimal learning to take place. Our current educational classrooms focus almost exclusively on curriculum, without considering the emotional needs of the students. Mindfulness: This inherent ability to be aware promotes a nonjudgmental, moment-bymoment determination of what it means to create a loving, inclusive classroom. Spiritual accountability (as opposed to academic accountability) involves making amends and reparations for those we have hurt by a careless comment or a lapse in ethical responsibility. Accountability also fosters a more cohesive sense of community as all members recognize their impact upon one another. It is crucial that mindfulness be nonjudgmental, for judgment plunges one in guilt and makes the likelihood of beneficial solutions to problems more remote. It is in the seeing (awareness) alone that positive resolutions can occur. Interbeing: (a term coined by Zen teacher Thich Nhat Hanh): This realization has farreaching consequences for the survival of our planet, as students and teachers practice

the deep acknowledgement that all life is connected— because of this, there is that. No phenomenon exists independently, from its own side. I am reminded of Dr. Martin Luther King’s assertion that no one is free until all are free; more poetically expressed as the “dream of beloved community.” The community of which he spoke was the human collective, not a narrow parochial vision. Given the fact that our children will face many challenges, both personal and societal, it behooves us as guiding adults to provide them with spiritual tools which move them from the short sightedness of exclusive self-interest toward an attitude of taking care of others and the planet. These three tools support each other as the understanding of any one of them expands the effectiveness of the others. For example, when one is mindful there is a greater chance for a loving classroom community to develop. Ultimately, we want our children to realize that their self-interest and the welfare of others cannot be separated.

April

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News from Around the School Pennies for Peace and Three Cups of Tea By Tutu Heinonen The co-operation between 6th and 7th grade continues with a new book and unit. Dr. Mehranian, Mr. Armstrong and Ms. Heinonen are reading the book Three cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin with the 6th and 7th graders. The focus during this new unit is on the English Language Arts aspect, such as comprehension and different literary elements and techniques found and used in the book, and Social Studies facets such as history, geography, language, and the political environment. The reading of Three Cups of Tea is complemented by the school wide Pennies for Peace fundraiser headed by the Student Council.

News from Around the School: continued

Նահատակներու Յիշատակին

Ամէն տարի, Չորրորդ Կարգի աշակերտները, դպրոցի բակին մէջ ծառ մը կը տնկեն, մեր 1.5 միլիոն Նահատակներուն յիշատակին:

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April

Alumni News Raffi Bandarian I attended KZV from 1995 to 2005. After I graduated KZV, I felt sad to leave the community and family I had been a part of for most of my life, but at the same time I was excited to move on to high school. I was confident that I would excel in high school because of the amount of knowledge that I had gathered, skills I had learned, and sense of pride that I acquired from KZV. What makes KZV special is the family oriented atmosphere and the closeness between the students and staff. The teachers were like second parents, and your classmates were like brothers and sisters. We all were together in and out of school; whether it was Homenetmen, AYF, church or other Armenian community gatherings and activities. I made friends for life at KZV. Trips like 5th grade Outdoor Education, Yosemite, and Washington DC made us even closer. I am thankful that KZV taught me everything about my heritage. I am glad that I know the thousands of years of Armenian history, how to read, write, and speak Armenian, and Armenian traditions. Now that I am in high school and I have met many people from different cultures, I really see why I am lucky to have all of the knowledge about my heritage. Many people that I have met from other cultures and ethnicities know hardly anything about their heritage. When others ask me about my heritage, I am glad that I can explain to them anything they

want to know about Armenians, and I am proud of that. After I graduated KZV, I attended City Arts and Tech High School. I am graduating high school this June and will attend San Francisco State University in the fall. As a part of my 12th grade year, it is a requirement to intern at a place of your choice. The internship is called a “Work Learning Experience” or WLE. My last year’s WLE was at the Exploratorium, where I worked in the workshop where the exhibits were made. I helped make some exhibits that were being shipped out to various science museums around the world. I also worked in the museum itself as an “Explainer”, or tour guide, and operated some of the exhibits. For this year’s WLE, I volunteered at KZV. I was happy to volunteer at KZV because it gave me a chance

to give back to the community that has done so much for me and made me who I am today. It was a pleasure to help the students and teachers who I was with when I was at KZV. The kids had grown so much since I had last seen them, but the teachers hadn’t aged one bit! I was very happy to work at KZV for my WLE. It was also a pleasure to meet Dr. Mehranian. He helped me so much during my WLE at KZV. We discussed my schedule and various projects, tasks, and ideas he had that we could work on together and everything went smoothly. He is an excellent principal and I was impressed by his compassion for the students. I would like to thank Dr. Mehranian and the staff for welcoming me back into KZV to help. It was a great experience.

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Armenian Corner

April

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News from Around the School: continued Pre-K News Knarik Shahijanian, Pre-K Director

Hello again, parents! As we all know, April is a very important month for all of us. We first celebrated Easter. On our Easter celebration day, we arrived in our finest Easter clothes ready for a big day. We colored Easter eggs and had a great time on our PreK Easter egg hunt! We then had our Easter party with lots of wonderful goodies provided by our dear room mothers. It was such a fun day and a great way to start off our Easter vacation. We returned to school ready to “Learn As We Play”. In continued celebration of spring, we have decorated our classrooms with beautiful ladybugs, flowers, and plants! We water our plants every day and as a special treat, we are watching our caterpillars growing bigger and stronger everyday. Our teacher has read the book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, to us and we are so excited that our caterpillars will turn into beautiful butterflies just like the caterpillar in the book!

As we approached the commemoration of April 24, the children were taught that it is a very important day in our Armenian history. As we grow older, we will learn more about this important day but in the meantime, we should be proud of our Armenian heritage, proud that we attend an Armenian school, proud of our beautiful language, and always be proud to celebrate our culture through beautiful songs and poems. Until May…

April

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Administration Speaks: continued Looking Ahead By Dr. Yeprem Mehranian KZV Armenian School

825 Brotherhood Way San Francisco, CA 94132 PHONE: (415) 586-8686 FAX: (415) 586-8686 E-MAIL: [email protected]

We’re on the Web! See us at:

As is the case with most processes of change, we expect a complex mix of advantageous and disadvantageous outcomes to ensue from the decisions we have had to make in preparation to meet the challenges ahead. What is clear in all of this is that we have had no choice but to trim our budget on the expenditure side. What is also clear is that in doing so we have made certain to take all precautionary measures to ensure that the curtailments do not undermine the educational quality as well as professional integrity of the services you have come to expect of KZV.

www.kzv.org

Lastly, what remains in the balance is that the two goals of increasing enrollment and securing sources of funding will have to become the main focal points of the drive to

stabilize the school financially, thereby creating future opportunities for educational innovation and excellence. In the wake of receiving the aforementioned letter, there will be an opportunity for all of you to meet and discuss the school’s plans for next year when we hold our last session of “Meet with Administration” night, on May 15, 2009, at 7:30 pm. We encourage you to attend this meeting and allow the members of the KZV administration and school board an opportunity to respond to your questions and receive your ideas and suggestions. Until then, please also make sure to complete and submit the brief online survey sent to you recently by Ms. Bavoukian, KZV Community Outreach Coordinator. We look forward to our cooperation during the remainder of the current school year.

Editorial Board Notes: The Editorial Board welcomes comments and suggestions from all readers. We are especially interested to receive feedback on the new addition to each newsletter, Quote of the Month (under the masthead). Thanks!