Four Veteran Teachers Honored

 

 

Some 175 people attended the Armenian Certified Teachers’ Association of Ontario’s celebration of World Teachers’ Day at the Magarios Artinian Hall of Toronto’s Holy Trinity Armenian Church on Oct. 7. The celebration, which honored four Toronto-based veteran Armenian teachers, was the second such event.
 

 

 

Some 175 people attended the Armenian Certified Teachers’ Association of Ontario’s celebration of World Teachers’ Day at the Magarios Artinian Hall of Toronto’s Holy Trinity Armenian Church on Oct. 7. The celebration, which honored four Toronto-based veteran Armenian teachers, was the second such event.
 

The four teachers honored were Moushegh Karakashian, Archalouis Kandaharian, Jeannette Kiredjian and Antranik Tchilinguirian. Together, the four honorees had dedicated more than a century to teaching.

Keynote speaker Dr. Isabel Kaprielian-Churchill, professor of Modern Armenian Immigration History, limned the history of Armenian teachers in Canada, going back to 1904. Prof. Kaprielian-Churchill, author of numerous books on Armenian immigration, talked about the Armenian-Canadian pioneer communities in southern Ontario (St. Catharines, Brantford and Hamilton) and of their dedication to education and to their heritage. She also described the difficult conditions which made the teaching of Armenian and Armenian history a heroic effort in small-town Ontario a hundred years ago… about the reading rooms, the lending libraries, amateur dramatic groups and more which kept the Armenian spirit alive far from the homeland.
 

Prof. Kaprielian-Churchill also talked about the fundraising campaigns of these nascent Armenian communities to raise money—especially for education—in Western Armenia. She said that influenced by the liberal ethos of Canada, these newly-settled Armenian who donated money to schools in their Armenian hometowns, insisted that schools admit girls and students from all classes.
 

The evening’s program included rousing Armenian music by the seven-member Horovel band. Dressed in traditional costumes, the group played songs by Sayat Nova, in addition to other standards and newer songs.
 

Badveli Hovhannes Sarmazian of the Armenian Evangelical Church in Cambridge, Ontario, concluded the evening’s gathering with appreciation and blessings to the four honorees of the evening. The MCs of the evening were teachers Christina Nshan and Eugenie Parseghian.