First published in the Aug. 27 print issue of the Glendale News-Press.
Marking its 48th school year, Vahan & Anoush Chamlian Armenian School re-opened its doors last week to new and returning TK-8th grade students.
More than 2,000 parents and families attended the opening ceremony to share their well wishes for the new school year. Elementary Western Armenian teacher Arpi Dabbaghian opened the ceremony with welcoming remarks, speaking about the joy and pride filled in parents’ and teachers’ hearts as they watched the happy faces of children returning to school. She also noted that in the last 48 years Chamlian Armenian School has become a little Armenia, where the minds and souls of future successful Armenian American generations are shaped.
Elementary Eastern Armenian teacher Linet Aboolian led students in the “Armenian Student Pledges” ceremony, after which Eastern Armenian Department Chair Vahan Mehrabian presented a tribute in honor of Vahan Chamlian’s legacy, the school’s founding benefactor who passed away last week.
Head of School Talin P. Kargodorian directed her remarks to the students, reminding them of the school’s core values and empowering them to “work towards achieving academic excellence, to be inspired by innovation, to uphold the collective integrity and to cherish their Armenian heritage.” Kargodorian invited a procession of the youngest TK and kindergarten students, led by their teachers, into the ceremony. In longstanding tradition, the graduating 8th-grade class escorted the incoming 1st-grade students, passing on the torch of becoming future Chamlian Tigers.
In closing, the Rev. Father Zareh Sarkissian followed the procession with a prayer to bless the school, its students, teachers and families for a successful, healthy and happy school year ahead.
Vahan and Anoush Chamlian Armenian School began with eight students in 1975 and today serves 700 students in Glendale and surrounding communities. It is one of 12 Armenian schools throughout California governed by the Board of Regents of the Western Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America.
