Here on the Bosporus
An Armenian-American poet honeymoons in Istanbul
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April 27, 2009
Sydney Celebrates: Australia Day, Australian of the Year and 40th Anniv. of Saturday School
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AGBU Sydney board members and guests of honor gather around for a special cake cutting during the festive Australia Day event that attracted over 200 individuals from the local community. -
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The English editor of AGBU Sydney's Mioutune Monthly magazine, Hagop Sebouhian, receives an award from Vahe Artinian of AGBU Sydney designating him as "Australian of 2009." -
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AGBU Sydney scholarship recipients on stage during the January 26 event in Sydney, Australia.
AGBU Sydney has a lot to celebrate as its marks a number of milestones. On January 26, 2009, over 200 members of the Sydney-Armenian community gathered for Australia Day at the AGBU Alex Manoogian Cultural Center to celebrate the national holiday as a community.
In attendance at the event were several esteemed guests, including Nathan Reese, representative of the premiere of New South Wales territory, Gladys Berejiklian, the Willoughby MP, Jillian Skinner, the North Sydney MP, and Varoojan Iskenderian, the Premiere Representative of Nagorno Karabagh. Overall, 220 guests attended the breakfast prepared by the AGBU Sydney Ladies Auxiliary Committee. Melissa Jamgotchian also coordinated a special musical performance by singer Natalie Simonian and celloist Miss Minassian.
The AGBU then honored Hagop Sebouhian, the English editor of the Mioutune Monthly magazine, as the "Australian of 2009." Following the award ceremony, student scholarships were awarded to local students who, beaming with pride, took to the stage, full of appreciation, and shared with the audience inspirational experiences from their lives as Armenian-Australians.
AGBU Alex Manoogian Saturday School Celebrates 45 Years
While Australia Day was a large community event, a smaller celebration took place last November which deserves equal praise; AGBU Sydney's Alex Manoogian Saturday School marked its 45th anniversary with a year-end performance at the Alexander Hall Cultural Center.
AGBU Sydney's Mioutune magazine dedicated an entire issue (Dec. 2008) to the school and its beneficial role in the Armenian community. The feature publication included testimonies from students and faculty, an outline of the school's evolution and a slew of congratulatory praise from AGBU President Berge Setrakian, Archbishop Aghan Baliozian, Primate of Australia and New Zealand, and Australian Parliamentarian Gladys Berejiklian.
The Saturday School was founded in 1963, originally as a Sunday school under the direction of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Sydney through the efforts of Archpriest Aramayis Mirzayian and Gosdan Der Stepanian. In 1971, then AGBU President Alex Manoogian became a trustee of the school. By 1982, the school officially established itself at Mercy College in the Chatswood area near Sydney and has continued to thrive since.
Today, the school is made up of three kindergarten classes, seven elementary-level classes and three transitional classes with a curriculum prepared by Principal Silvia Aghabekian and her staff. After the standard ten-year course of study, all students are prepared for a secondary program in more advanced Armenian-language instruction that is recognized officially by the Australian Ministry of Education.
"The 45 years of the Saturday School symbolize will, faith, perseverance and unreserved dedication," said AGBU President Berge Setrakian. "It fosters knowledge of the Armenian language and an understanding of Armenian culture among successive generations."
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