April 2009
Issue # 8
"The sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of
mere being." - Carl Jung, Memories, Dreams, Reflections
Special Points of
Interest:
• Looking Ahead:
…details of the changes
we are anticipating and
the rationales behind
them… will effect our pre-
school; our class sizes
(teacher-student ratio);
the Armenian
Department; subjects
such as music, art, and
physical education; school
security; and, aspects of
our middle school.
• Trends in Education:
Our society has achieved
a high level of material
comfort, yet there has
not been a commiserate
lessening of inner
dissatisfaction.
• Alumni News – Raffi
Bandarian: The kids had
grown so much since I
had last seen them, but
the teachers hadn’t aged
one bit!
Editorial Board
Adina Haun, Editor and
Trends in Education
Yeprem Mehranian,
Administration Speaks
Tutu Heinonen, News
Around the School
Garine Panossian,
Armenian Corner
Hasmik Mehranian,
Layout/Publisher
Administration Speaks
Looking Ahead
By Dr. Yeprem Mehranian
Dear KZV Parents,
As the school year 2009-10
begins to appear on the
horizon, KZV will have to
make sure it has a budget
that can withstand the
challenges of the
economically tumultuous
times our communities are
facing at the moment.
During this process, it is
important that both the
Administration and School
Board remain fully
cognizant of the need to
strike a balance between
the school’s educational
and financial well-being.
Moreover, it is equally
important that thoughtful
cooperation amongst all
KZV’s adult constituents,
Trends in Education
Spirituality in Education
By Adina Haun
Just as Paulo Freire’s
Pedagogy of the
Oppressed was designed
to liberate individuals and
societies from injustice
and inequality, the goal of
spirituality in education
has been to liberate
individuals from the notion
that all problems can be
including administrators,
school board members,
teachers, parents, donors
and supporters, remain
the paramount maxim of
our actions.
From my viewpoint
effective cooperation
means that the broader
goals and objectives of
the school and its
community override short-
term disagreements on
details of priority.
Disagreements, however,
are an integral part of
human attempts at
communication and as
such unavoidable. What
matters is not why but
how we disagree. All of
this with the aim in mind
solved and happiness
achieved solely through
material and technological
advances. This erroneous
viewpoint undermines the
need for individuals to
develop positive inner
qualities. Our society has
achieved a high level of
material comfort, yet there
has not been a
commiserate lessening of
inner dissatisfaction.
KZV Armenian School, SF, CA © 2008
of enabling KZV to continue
with its mission of offering a
well-rounded educational
and cultural experience to
its students and their
families.
On May 4-5, 2009, the KZV
Office will mail out next
school year’s (2009-2010)
registration packets. There,
you will find a letter, which
delves into the details of the
changes we are anticipating
and the rationales behind
them. These changes
encompass a broad range
of issues—from
organizational to curricular
to financial—and will effect
our pre-school; our class
sizes (teacher-student
ratio); the Armenian
Department; subjects such
as music, art, and physical
education; school security;
and, aspects of our middle
school.
Cont. on page 7
Both these approaches
complement each other in
the pursuit of furthering
democratic ideals, a
greater sense of
community, and the
creation of life-enhancing
values in the world.
Cont. on next page
 April
Trends in Education:: continued
Spirituality in Education
Back to the Future with Paulo Freire
In the forefront of this impetus
to bring spirituality into
education is Distinguished
Professor of English at City
College in New York bell hooks
(her spelling preference). She
eloquently espouses her ideas
in the essay, Embracing
Freedom: Spirituality and
Liberation, from a compilation
of essays by various spiritual
leaders and educators titled
The Heart of Learning, edited
by Steven Glazer.
Spirituality in an educational
context is not dogmatic, nor the
domain of any organized
religion. The emphasis is on
bringing the universally
recognized human values of
acceptance, compassion, and
love into all classrooms. These
values have been deemed
essential for individual
happiness, as well as, human
survival.
Professor hooks touches on
three aspects that define a
spiritual classroom:
Community: The focus of this
aspect is providing learning
experiences that embrace a
way of life which includes
others unlike us. This
orientation is a challenge, as
constant review is required to
push ourselves past our
comfort levels due to familiarity.
Professor hook suggests that
we ask ourselves: “What are
the actions I will concretely do
today in order to bring myself
into greater community?” This
is a path of inclusion, bringing
in those who may not be
physically with us. Since the
classroom is a small
community, all who desire
spirituality in education must
make it a core practice of
guiding children lovingly,
excluding none. As a
corollary, all imperfections of
the students and teachers
must be allowed. In other
words, a loving, inclusive
classroom atmosphere allows
the teaching of the curriculum
to unfold in the most beneficial
manner. The creation of this
context is the necessary pre-
condition for optimal learning
to take place. Our current
educational classrooms focus
almost exclusively on
curriculum, without considering
the emotional needs of the
students.
Mindfulness: This inherent
ability to be aware promotes a
nonjudgmental, moment-by-
moment determination of what
it means to create a loving,
inclusive classroom. Spiritual
accountability (as opposed to
academic accountability)
involves making amends and
reparations for those we have
hurt by a careless comment or
a lapse in ethical responsibility.
Accountability also fosters a
more cohesive sense of
community as all members
recognize their impact upon
one another. It is crucial that
mindfulness be nonjudgmental,
for judgment plunges one in
guilt and makes the likelihood
of beneficial solutions to
problems more remote. It is in
the seeing (awareness) alone
that positive resolutions can
occur.
Interbeing: (a term coined by
Zen teacher Thich Nhat Hanh):
This realization has far-
reaching consequences for the
survival of our planet, as
students and teachers practice
Page 2 of 7
the deep acknowledgement
that all life is connected—
because of this, there is that.
No phenomenon exists
independently, from its own
side. I am reminded of Dr.
Martin Luther King’s
assertion that no one is free
until all are free; more
poetically expressed as the
“dream of beloved
community.” The community
of which he spoke was the
human collective, not a
narrow parochial vision.
Given the fact that our
children will face many
challenges, both personal
and societal, it behooves us
as guiding adults to provide
them with spiritual tools
which move them from the
short sightedness of
exclusive self-interest toward
an attitude of taking care of
others and the planet. These
three tools support each
other as the understanding
of any one of them expands
the effectiveness of the
others. For example, when
one is mindful there is a
greater chance for a loving
classroom community to
develop. Ultimately, we want
our children to realize that
their self-interest and the
welfare of others cannot be
separated.
Page 3 of 7 April

News from Around the School

Pennies for Peace and Three Cups of Tea
By Tutu Heinonen

The co-operation between 6th and 7th

grade continues with a new book and
unit. Dr. Mehranian, Mr. Armstrong
and Ms. Heinonen are reading the
book Three cups of Tea by Greg
Mortenson and David Oliver Relin with
the 6th and 7th graders. The focus
during this new unit is on the English
Language Arts aspect, such as
comprehension and different literary
elements and techniques found and
used in the book, and Social Studies
facets such as history, geography,
language, and the political
environment.
The reading of Three Cups of Tea is
complemented by the school wide
Pennies for Peace fundraiser headed
by the Student Council.

News from Around the School: continued

Նահատակներու Յիշատակին

Ամէն տարի, Չորրորդ Կարգի

աշակերտները, դպրոցի բակին մէջ
ծառ մը կը տնկեն, մեր 1.5 միլիոն
Նահատակներուն յիշատակին:
 April
Alumni News
Raffi Bandarian
I attended KZV from 1995 to
2005. After I graduated KZV, I
felt sad to leave the community
and family I had been a part of
for most of my life, but at the
same time I was excited to move
on to high school. I was confident
that I would excel in high school
because of the amount of
knowledge that I had gathered,
skills I had learned, and sense of
pride that I acquired from KZV.
What makes KZV special is the
family oriented atmosphere and
the closeness between the
students and staff. The teachers
were like second parents, and
your classmates were like
brothers and sisters. We all were
together in and out of school;
whether it was Homenetmen,
AYF, church or other Armenian
community gatherings and
activities. I made friends for life
at KZV. Trips like 5th grade
Outdoor Education, Yosemite,
and Washington DC made us
even closer.
I am thankful that KZV taught me
everything about my heritage. I
am glad that I know the
thousands of years of Armenian
history, how to read, write, and
speak Armenian, and Armenian
traditions. Now that I am in high
school and I have met many
people from different cultures, I
really see why I am lucky to have
all of the knowledge about my
heritage. Many people that I
have met from other cultures and
ethnicities know hardly anything
about their heritage. When
others ask me about my
heritage, I am glad that I can
explain to them anything they
want to know about
Armenians, and I am proud of
that.
After I graduated KZV, I
attended City Arts and Tech
High School. I am graduating
high school this June and will
attend San Francisco State
University in the fall. As a part
of my 12th grade year, it is a
requirement to intern at a place
of your choice. The internship
is called a “Work Learning
Experience” or WLE. My last
year’s WLE was at the
Exploratorium, where I worked
in the workshop where the
exhibits were made. I helped
make some exhibits that were
being shipped out to various
science museums around the
world. I also worked in the
museum itself as an
“Explainer”, or tour guide, and
operated some of the exhibits.
For this year’s WLE, I
volunteered at KZV. I was
happy to volunteer at KZV
because it gave me a chance
Page 4 of 7
to give back to the
community that has done so
much for me and made me
who I am today. It was a
pleasure to help the
students and teachers who I
was with when I was at
KZV. The kids had grown so
much since I had last seen
them, but the teachers
hadn’t aged one bit! I was
very happy to work at KZV
for my WLE. It was also a
pleasure to meet Dr.
Mehranian. He helped me
so much during my WLE at
KZV. We discussed my
schedule and various
projects, tasks, and ideas
he had that we could work
on together and everything
went smoothly. He is an
excellent principal and I was
impressed by his
compassion for the
students. I would like to
thank Dr. Mehranian and
the staff for welcoming me
back into KZV to help. It
was a great experience.
Page 5 of 7 April

Armenian Corner
 Page 6 of 7

News from Around the School: continued

Pre-K News
Knarik Shahijanian, Pre-K Director

Hello again, parents!

As we all know, April is a

very important month for all
of us.

We first celebrated Easter.

On our Easter celebration
day, we arrived in our finest
Easter clothes ready for a
big day. We colored Easter
eggs and had a great time
on our PreK Easter egg
hunt! We then had our
Easter party with lots of
wonderful goodies provided
by our dear room mothers. It
was such a fun day and a
great way to start off our
Easter vacation.

We returned to school ready

to “Learn As We Play”. In
continued celebration of
spring, we have decorated
our classrooms with
beautiful ladybugs, flowers,
and plants! We water our
plants every day and as a
special treat, we are As we approached the commemoration of April 24, the
watching our caterpillars children were taught that it is a very important day in
growing bigger and stronger our Armenian history. As we grow older, we will learn
everyday. Our teacher has more about this important day but in the meantime, we
read the book, The Very should be proud of our Armenian heritage, proud that
Hungry Caterpillar, to us we attend an Armenian school, proud of our beautiful
and we are so excited that language, and always be proud to celebrate our culture
our caterpillars will turn into through beautiful songs and poems.
beautiful butterflies just like
the caterpillar in the book! Until May…
 Page 7 of 7 April

Administration Speaks: continued

Looking Ahead
By Dr. Yeprem Mehranian
KZV Armenian School
825 Brotherhood Way
San Francisco, CA 94132
PHONE: (415) 586-8686
FAX: (415) 586-8686
E-MAIL: kzvoffice@kzv.org
We’re on the Web!
See us at:
www.kzv.org
As is the case with most
processes of change, we
expect a complex mix of
advantageous and
disadvantageous outcomes to
ensue from the decisions we
have had to make in
preparation to meet the
challenges ahead. What is
clear in all of this is that we
have had no choice but to
trim our budget on the
expenditure side.
What is also clear is that in
doing so we have made
certain to take all
precautionary measures to
ensure that the curtailments
do not undermine the
educational quality as well as
professional integrity of the
services you have come to
expect of KZV.
Lastly, what remains in the
balance is that the two goals
of increasing enrollment and
securing sources of funding
will have to become the main
focal points of the drive to
stabilize the school
financially, thereby creating
future opportunities for
educational innovation and
excellence.
In the wake of receiving the
aforementioned letter, there
will be an opportunity for all of
you to meet and discuss the
school’s plans for next year
when we hold our last
session of “Meet with
Administration” night, on May
15, 2009, at 7:30 pm. We
encourage you to attend this
meeting and allow the
members of the KZV
administration and school
board an opportunity to
respond to your questions
and receive your ideas and
suggestions. Until then,
please also make sure to
complete and submit the brief
online survey sent to you
recently by Ms. Bavoukian,
KZV Community Outreach
Coordinator.
We look forward to our
cooperation during the
remainder of the current
school year.

Editorial Board Notes:

The Editorial Board welcomes comments and suggestions from all readers. We are
especially interested to receive feedback on the new addition to each newsletter, Quote of the
Month (under the masthead).

Thanks!