Programs and Highlights
What's on this page?
Principal
Honored
2006 Kagham Games
Special Thank you
Armenian Cultural Month
Monster Bash
Community Involvement
Meet the Masters
Recycling Program
Childhood Sun Exposure
Tutorial Services
Learn
about our school library
Birthday books
Your shopping helps our school
Principal Honored
The Heritage Registry of Who's Who, a New York based biographical
publication, selects and distinguishes individuals throughout North
America who have attained a recognizable degree of success in their
field of endeavor and thereby contributing to the growth of their
industry. The directors of The Heritage Registry of Who's Who take
pleasure in October 2005 in announcing the inclusion of Mr. Assadour
Assadourian of Ari Guiragos Minassian Armenian School in the
forthcoming 2006-2007 Edition. The accomplishments and achievements
attained by Mr. Assadour Assadourian in the field of Education
warrants inclusion into The Heritage Registry of Who's Who.
2006 Kagham Games
A.G. Minassian will once again be participating in the Annual Kagham
Games scheduled for early 2006. This gives our students a
chance to have fun and show school pride while competing against our
sister Prelacy schools in Soccer and Basketball. Teams are now
forming, so Parents if you have not already done so please confirm
your Childs participation in this event by registering in the school
office as soon as possible.
Special Thank You
Look for five new computers in addition to last years six in our
computer lab and classrooms. A special thank you to Garo
Hagopian for his continued volunteer support in maintaining and
updating our computers and computer lab.
Thank you also to Arpi Melkonian and Hratch and Araz Ghazarian for
their recent donations of our classroom computers.
First
Semester Activities
Armenian Cultural Month
Learning about Armenian culture is a part of our students daily
education, but events during Octobers Armenian Cultural Month give
them additional opportunities to learn about their heritage.
Highlights this year included a presentation about the history of
rugs and rug making by Leon Alexander, and a cooking lesson in
making traditional mante soup, by the ARS Sevan Chapter.
Thank you to all parents and community members who participated.
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Monster Bash
Our annual Halloween party was a great success! We had a great turn
out with many new faces. Students came dressed in a variety of
original costumes and played organized games. DJ Joe Bitar provided
the scary tunes for atmosphere. Students participated in art
activities and ate the night away! The PTO members were
dressed as construction workers and built a spectacular and fun
event! Thank you!
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Community
Involvement
At
the beginning of the school year, students, parents and teachers
from Ari Guiragos Minassian School participated in the 21st Annual
Coastal Cleanup Day.
This event is organized in an effort to clean up California's
coastlines and waterways and bring about greater awareness about how
human waste by-products pollute our coastlines and waterways.
Our school sponsored the cleanup of Crystal Cove State Park in
Newport Beach. Students collected bags of trash and
recyclables, including glass bottles, cans, plastic containers and
paper. More importantly, students learned a great deal about
being careful with their trash. Every student commented about
how much trash there was along the beach and how wrong it was for
people to not throw things away or to recycle. The adults
swore they would never buy another Styrofoam cup again for as long
as they lived based on all the fragments washed up on the shore!
The California Coastal Commission reported that
50,000 volunteers picked up a total of 715,652 pounds of trash and
recyclables from California's waterways, including cigarette butts,
bits of Styrofoam, broken plastic, oil and pesticide containers and
more. Those who participated learned a great deal about the
environment and had a wonderful time as well.
With their participation, our students represented the largest
single volunteer group at Crystal Cove State Park.
Participants included: Talia Ghazarian, Ari Gulugian, Anayis
Malazian, Ms. Michelle, Alina Ghazarian, Knar Oozoonian, Eliz
Ghazarian, Shaunt Oozoonian, Karine Codilian, Araxi Malazian, Armen
Oozoonian, Lee Codilian, Talin Ghazarian, Ava Malazian and Ara
Malazian.
This event is one of many in which our students learn the value of
volunteering in their communities to help make a difference in the
quality of life for themselves and others.
Meet the Masters
A new art program is currently being used at our school, courtesy of
our PTO. Meet the Masters is an interactive, computer-based
course that teaches students about master artists.
The course guides students through a survey of art history, focusing
on master painters in each period of art. Students in first
through sixth grades receive one hour of art instruction per week.
Students learn about an artists life and through discussion and lessons learn art history, forms, terms and techniques. Our students don't realize it, but this course of study (especially the vocabulary and art history) is also preparing them for questions they will have on higher-level educational tests, such as the SAT.
Instruction is tailored for the educational level of each grade, but all students get to meet the masters and participate in various projects. Some of the artists presented in the course include: Claude Monet, Mary Cassatt, Homer Winslow, Piet Mondrian and Pablo Picasso.
Part of the course includes preparing art projects based on the techniques used by each master artist. A favorite artist among the students was Vincent Van Gogh. Students had a fun time creating their version of his famous Starry Night as one of their projects.
A colorful and starry Thank You to our PTO for providing this important educational and fun tool for our students. Who knows? The seeds of a future master may be sown here at Ari Guiragos Minassian Armenian School.
Recycling Program Good for the Environment, Good for our School
We began a recycling program that not only taught our students about
the importance of recycling and its benefits to the environment, but
made money for the school, too! We are continuing the program
this year as well.
Currently we are accepting donations of old cell phones and used printer cartridges. These will be recycled and funds will be earned for the school.
Childhood Sun Exposure and the Possible Links to Skin Cancers
Research is showing that people suffering from skin cancer
experienced most of the skin damage leading to the disease during
their childhood.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
More than one half of a person's lifetime UV exposure occurs during
childhood and adolescence because of more opportunities and time for
exposure. Exposure to UV radiation during childhood plays a role in
the future development of skin cancer. Studies indicate that
protection from UV exposure during childhood and adolescence reduces
the risk for skin cancer. These studies support the need to protect
young persons from the sun beginning at an early age. School
staff can play a major role in protecting children and adolescents
from UV exposure and the future development of skin cancer by
instituting policies, environmental changes, and educational
programs that can reduce skin cancer risks among young persons.
To teach our students healthy habits and to encourage sun-safe behaviors, we are promoting a healthy skin campaign at Ari Guiragos Minassian School. We ask that you send waterproof sunscreen with a sun protection factor (SPF) of 15 or more to school with your child as soon as possible. Students can keep the sunscreen at their desks or lockers and will be reminded to put it on their faces, ears, necks and other exposed areas before recess, lunch break and physical education class. Students can also bring hats to school to wear during breaks and P.E. as added skin protection.
The safety and good health of our students is a priority at A.G. Minassian School. Prevention is key to protecting skin from sun damage. We encourage you to practice sun-safe behaviors at home, too.
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Tutorial Services
As part of A.G. Minassians commitment to meet the needs of every
student, a special Tutorial Services committee (lead by an Education
Committee member) is being established to assist teachers who may
have students who need extra attention with basic skills
development. Under the guidance of the Principal and the
individual students teacher (and with the parents knowledge), tutors
will meet individually with students and review reading, math or
other specific areas that may be necessary.
The tutoring sessions will be:
Scheduled by
the teacher and Principal
Follow the teachers guidelines and lesson plans
Confidential.
Volunteer tutors will be invited to participate in teachers enrichment and development sessions if appropriate.
Ari Guiragos Minassian Schools Library A Rare
Gem
The Ari Guiragos Minassian School library has been in existence
since the opening of the school 16 years ago. Although a library in
an elementary school is not a requirement or deemed a necessity, we
feel that it is vital to our students overall educational experience
and creative development. Our library is scaled with respect to its
physical size and the reading grade level of its books to serve a
small, bilingual elementary school. It provides a cozy and inviting
atmosphere in which students can readily get their bearings to
search and find books. An early map of a library layout is imprinted
in their minds as they find books with relative ease and confidence.
Each student has a personal library card. When students check out (and return) five books, they get a trip to the "grab bag" for a small gift/reward. It is always filled with things that children love and that are educationally oriented and safe. Overdue notices are sent out regularly when needed. Individuals who have lost a book are held financially responsible and pay the library the proper fee for replacement of the book. The "grab bag" reward serves as an added incentive to read and return books on time.
The library is a beloved
and integral part of our school. Continuously improving it and
adding valuable books to its collections is a process that never
ceases. Organizing and updating information is the support tended to
by volunteers, the Education Committee and the staff of A.G.
Minassian.
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Birthday Books
Donate a book to Ari Guiragos Minassian Armenian Schools library in
honor of your son or daughters birthday.
For a minimum donation
of $20, a book will be purchased celebrating your childs birthday
and added to the library's collection. A dedication plate featuring
your child's name will be placed inside the cover. (For students in
our1st through 6th grades.)
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Shop Til You
Drop!
. . . Check out our shopper program . . .
Target & e-Scrip Make It Easy for Family and Friends to Support Our
School
Just a reminder of two easy ways you can support your child's
education.
Target stores donate up to 1% of all purchases made by your red
Target charge card. We encourage all parents to participate in this
program. There is no cost to cardholders. You can designate
our school in one of three ways.
Visit http://www.target.com/tcoe, select the Find or Designate Your
School link and continue from there.
Stop by the kiosk in your favorite Target store.
Call 1-800-316-6142.
We are also participate in eScrip fundraising. eScrip and more than
150 merchant partners have created a system that rewards customer
loyalty by contributing a percentage of purchases to our school.
Once you register your grocery club card or debit/credit card(s),
you shop the way you normally do for groceries, clothing, etc., and
the school will receive a percentage from merchant partners. Some
partners include Vons, Pavilions, Macys, MCI, Big 5 Sporting Goods,
Carrows and Cocos restaurants, Office Max, Pep Boys and Eddie Bauer.
Again, there is no cost to register.
Registration for e-Scrip is also simple.
Log on to http://www.escrip.com
Click on the Sign Up - Its Free link
Under the Search instruction, select Group ID and enter
the Minassian
School ID# 158434510 to designate our school to receive
contributions.
Continue by following instructions; you will be given an e-scrip identification number at the end.
Thank you for your continued support.
Education Committee
