In 2019, online Armenian education became available for students of the Topalian School in Geneva within the framework of the hybrid education program thanks to their established cooperation with the AGBU Armenian Virtual College.
2022 has been a significant year for the effective long-term partnership. 10-yeard-old students Alek Enksezyan and Tsolak Tiostato de Gaso are graduates of the Topalian school who also successfully completed the first level of AVC's Western Armenian language course. During the End of School Year ceremony on June 8, they were awarded certificates of completion from both the Topalian School and AGBU AVC.
“I have been attending the Topalian School with great pleasure for seven years. Today, I am grateful the school and the Armenian Virtual Collage because, during these years, I have made Armenian friends and learned the Armenian alphabet, how to read, write and sing in Armenian," says Tsolak.
"I also loved coming to the school, and thanks to the AVC program, I learned about the Armenian language and culture, which I am very grateful for," adds Alek.
According to the teacher at the Topalian School, Maral Wurry, both students are hard workers and can already speak Armenian very well. The Armenian language courses were organized with the direct participation and support of the school teacher and the AVC Western Armenian affairs coordinator and online instructor Zepyur Kheblikian. Along with the multimedia classes, students also got to participate in interesting online social events about the traditions of the New Year, Carnival and Holy Easter, Armenia's Independence and Translator's Day, the memorial day of Saint Hakob of Mtsbin, and more.
On the occasion of International Mother Language Day, the Topalian School joined a number of other schools from different countries for a special project initiated by the AVC hybrid education program, in which students from around the world created drawings inspired by Vahan Tekeyan's poem "Close to the Armenian Language." Watch the video.
The Topalian School was founded in 1994 through the efforts of the great patriot and philanthropist Hagop Topalian, whose main goal was to preserve Armenian culture and national identity in the Diaspora.
