Gavar Special School

Are you in New York City on February 2, 2007? If so, the Armenian Relief Society “Mayr” Chapter of NY and the NY Armenian Students Association will hold an event at Sortie (329 West 51st) to help with the Gavar Special School roof repair fund. If you are in the area, be sure to drop in as there is no RSVP!

Gavar Special School is back in session but sadly, Mother Nature has not been nice to the Gegharkunik community this January. On the first day, 38 students were able to make it to the school from the snowy corners of Gegharkunik Marz but they were met with a few difficulties.

This December and January have been some of the coldest weather in many years. Even with the winterization of the School, most of the indoor and outdoor sewer pipes were frozen as well as the freshwater supply. With many four days of work, the administrative staff was able to find all the frozen areas to get most all of the water system working.

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Gavar Special School cannot act alone to improve special needs education for the 650+ special needs children of Gegharkunik. It needs the help of a community of caring people to help it reach its goal of providing modern special needs education. The Staff and Volunteers of Gavar Special School are very thankful for all the support that has been given. Tremendous help has been given but a long road remains to be traveled. There are many more people who have not heard of Gavar Special School and we, the Volunteers of Gavar Special School, are asking you to help us spread the news of the activities of Gavar Special School across the internet. Many people have blogs or websites on which they post journals. We are asking you to write a short entry about Gavar Special School and link back to http://www.GavarSpecialSchool.org informing others about Gavar Special School. This will allow people who are wishing to find more information about Gavar Special School or Armenian Special Needs Education to find the information more easily as there will be a web of links giving information about the school. We thank you in advance for your help and please be sure to give http://www.GavarSpecialSchool.org a trackback or ping.

Also, please do not hesitate to contact us if you have questions or concerns. We would love to provide you as much information as needed to answer any questions you may have. Thank you for caring and being part of Gavar Special School’s Community!

Gavar Special School wrapped up the Fall semester with its annual holiday party. Most all of the children participated as they preformed skits, recited poetry and sang traditional Armenian holiday songs. For a few of the children, this was the first time that they spoke in front of a group which was a major step in their learning!

A highlight of the day was that Hye Medznank gifted to every student of Gavar Special School a Praying Hippo for Christmas. The plush toy recites the prayer “Տեր Իմ Աստված” (translation: Oh My God). This was a wonderful gift for the children as Armenian language toys do not exist in Armenia. Also, Hye Medznank donated to Gavar Special School an art desk which has Armenian and English numbers as well as numbers. The art desk, coupled with a donation of educational blocks, will be wonderful learning tools for the first, second, and third form students as they strive to learn Armenian and a little English! Gavar Special School Staff and Volunteers would like to thank Hye Medznank for their kindness and generosity this holiday season in providing both fun and educational toys for the children. Please see the photo gallery for pictures of all the fun!

The new courtyard wall was dedicated in a short ceremony with Vice Marzpet (governor), the Regional Director of Education, representatives from Save the Children and USAID. Gavar Special School won the grant through the Community Self Help Fund that is sponsored by USAID. The project totaled roughly $26,000 and required two and a half months work by 14 men to complete the 422 meter wall.

The new courtyard wall will allow Gavar Special School to accept more special needs children because it will provide a much needed safety measure. Due to the nature of the population of special needs children, in order to allow the children to have some amount of freedom, there needed to be a way to ensure that they cannot leave the school and endanger themselves. A substantial portion of the children that will come to Gavar Special School in 2007 will have mental deficiencies that cause them to be unaware of their surroundings and these children tend to bolt from the school trying to run back to their families. The courtyard wall has struck a balance between safety and access and is truly an important tool.

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The IREX UGRAD Alumni, Anna Shahazaryan and Hayk Ghazaryan with Program Coordinator, Zahaneta Khachatryan came to Gavar Special School to teach the children to finger paint. Finger painting is a new concept to the children of Gavar Special School and they were very delighted to have Anna and Hayk put on a new activity that they have never done. We happily report that the program was a success and that most of the paint made it onto paper and not the children. Be sure to view the gallery for more pictures of the day!

Gavar Special School has recently completed the remodel of the shower room and the laundry room with though the support of Mission East that will provide great improvement to the sanitary conditions of the school. There was a severe health issue because there was not a facility in which a child could be properly bathed. Previous to this project, the school only had the ability to fill one old bathtub and one 75 liter tank with hot water. This meant that children could bathe at best, once a month. This was not acceptable and the situation had to be improved .

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Ms. Varsik Kroyan has been accepted as the director of the Արեվշատ Հիմնադրամ (Lots of Sun Foundation) in Support of Gavar Special School. Ms. Kroyan is a graduate of Gavar State University’s Accounting Faculty where she graduated with high honors. After her time at Gavar State University, she worked at the Gegharkunik Chamber of Commerce and Industry as a project assistant. When Mr. Lavrik Arevshatyan accepted the job as director of Gavar Special School, he sought out Ms. Kroyan to work Gavar Special School because of her reputation of excellence. Currently, she serves as the office manager for Gavar Special School. The Board of Lots of Sun recognized that Ms. Kroyan is a very capable professional and believe that this leadership position will give her an opportunity to expand her skill set and make a sustainable impact for the special needs children of Gegharkunik Marz.

If you have questions regarding the Lots of Sun Foundation, you may contact Ms. Kroyan through the contact page. Ms. Kroyan is an Armenian and Russian speaker but is currently studying English. She welcomes all questions and inquires! Please join with us in welcoming Varsik to this new position filled with opportunity!

Saint Sarkis Armenian Apostolic Church of New York held a raffle in support of Gavar Special School. Congregation member, Mr. Jiri Dersarkisian donated the Persian carpet for the raffle and it was held in conjunction with the Ladies Guild bazaar. Mr. Krikor Marcarian was the winner of the carpet and also donated additional money to Gavar Special School. Much work and effort was put forth by Saint Sarkis’ Ladies Guild for the event. The Staff, Students and Volunteers of Gavar Special School thank the congregation of Saint Sarkis for their kind support especially Mr. Jiri Dersarkisian, Ms. Mary Arslanian, President of the Ladies Guild, and Mr. Krikor Krikorian. They were instrumental in organizing the raffle in support of Gavar Special School. The funds collected will be held for the future $75,000 roof remodeling project of Gavar Special School. Please see the photo gallery to see pictures of the Saint Sarkis.

Gavar Special School for a week during October, was visited by a United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) mission group from Western Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church. The group, lead by Dr. Richard Funt, had the purpose of remodeling the Կարմիր Անկյուն (translation: Red Corner) and make it much more comfortable for the students. The trip and work was organized by Ms. Pamela Karg, Volunteer in Mission. The Կարմիր Անկյուն is the section of Gavar Special School where the students spend their free time after they are finished with their studies and before sleeping which has never been remodeled and was dark, cold and decrepit.

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The Gavar Special School Fall 2006 Newsletter is here! The newsletter highlights the changes and the activity in the Gavar Special School Supporter Community. Please feel free to distribute it to all interested people and organizations.

Gavar Special School Fall 2006 Newsletter

The newsletter is in Adobe PDF format. Download the viewer from here if needed.