On May 25 and 26, the second two-day meeting of BootCamp community youth programs was held within the framework of “UPSHIFT Gavar and Ijevan” Cultivating Adolescents Growth and Engagement in Community Development program at YSU Ijevan Branch.

Fifty teenagers from Ijevan and nearby villages worked on their project ideas and prepared presentations of their project ideas to solve community problems with innovative approaches.

On the second day of the BootCamp, ten teams presented their project ideas to the jury. The five teams that scored the highest points received 120.000 AMD funding within the framework of the project to make their ideas a reality.

The start of the project implementation phase has been given.

“UPSHIFT” Cultivating Adolescents Growth and Engagement in Community Development program is implemented by Gyumri Youth Initiative Center NGO in cooperation with the Armenian office of UNICEF and with the support of the European Union.

This time the discussion topic is about physical education and sports in Tavush, our successes, and problems in the field. The guests of the discussion are Hamlet Atoyan, the coach of the Berd Branch of the Professional ArmFighting Federation; Garik Tovmasyan, the founder of Dilijan Gym Sports club; Vahe Khachatryan, the head coach of ‘Utik’ Football Club, and Mher Petrosyan, the coach of ‘TaUzh’ Ijevan School.



Ijevan Branch of the European University of Armenia hosted a workshop on the “Security problems of north-eastern borders of the RA in current conditions “dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the European University of Armenia.

Deputy Director for Education, EUA Ijevan Branch, Ph.D. Kamo Ayvazyan and university lecturers made reports at the workshop.

Complex security issues of the RA Tavush region, including community enlargement issues, water resources, socio-economic, financial, democratic, and other directions, were presented and discussed at the meeting.

At the end of the workshop, a decision was made to complete the results obtained during the discussions in order to transfer them to the responsible bodies.

Social-educational Center Paponts Tun has been operating in Noyemberyan since 2015. The opening ceremony of the new building of the center took place on May 5. The people of Noyemberyan call the center “Paponts Tun” (Grandfather’s house) as they love the center like their grandparents’ house.

The construction of the new building started in 2019; before that, the center was operating in a dilapidated building.

“Paponts Tun” will contribute to the acquisition and strengthening educational, cultural, and spiritual values of 200 children of Noyemberyan and neighboring villages.

The center will also serve families in the region, especially those with social issues. The center has groups of pottery, painting, carpet weaving, chess, foreign languages, and national and church songs. “TaUzh” school was also established recently. There are also courses for parents. 

From the history and traditions of Tavush to traditional Tavush dishes: on May 3, with the joint efforts of lecturers and students of Berd Multifunctional State College, an event entitled “Tavush crossroads” took place.

During the event, the students of the State College presented the history and traditions of Tavush, folklore, traditional cuisine, historical monuments, sights, and cultural values.

At the end of the event, the guests tasted traditional dishes of Berd area cooked by the students. 

With the initiative of the Koghb Foundation, and by the decision of the Noyemberyan community council, on May 1, Koghb Music School was named after the great composer Tigran Mansuryan.

Maestro Manustyan was present at the nomination ceremony. During the event, the students of the school presented Tigran Mansuryan’s biography and the way he passed. 

At the end of the event, Koghb Foundation awarded a number of grants and scholarships to the teachers and students of Koghb public and music schools for the success and achievements of the first quarter of 2022. 

The nomination ceremony ended with the announcement of the Koghb Foundation announcing the annual Tigran Mansuryan Music Award.

The teachers and students of the renovated, furnished, equipped with new musical instruments and already named after Tigran Mansuryan will continue their work and education with greater responsibility. 

Dilijan Geological Museum was crowded on April 26. Dilijan Central School organized an Exhibition of Art projects. The works created by the students during the classes of fine arts taught at Central School were presented at the exhibition.

Design project teacher at Dilijan Central School Hasmik Soghomonyan says, “For two years now, our school has been conducting project-based learning, and in the case of art subjects, children should choose which subject they want to study. I think it is a wonderful opportunity for free choice, and it can also be used for their professional orientation in the future.”

The students chose the version of the design work, then the topic, and created within that framework. Both people from Dilijan and foreign guests were present at the exhibition. 

Art design enables the students to express themselves and create through art, discovering their talents.

The director of Dilijan Central School, Naira Daluzyan, presented the one-year process of reaching this exhibition, “In September, we offered children five different branches of art and children themselves chose which branch of art they want to do this year. The groups were recruited from 7th, 8th, and 9th-grade students. The condition was that all the students should choose a branch of art. They have been working for two years and today is the exhibition of their works: we have performance arts, music, as well as fine arts and design.”

140 participants from 17 countries; on March 15-16 Ijevan Branch of Yerevan state university held a “Social-pedagogical innovations in education” international scientific conference. Young lecturers and scientists, undergraduate and graduate students of different specialties attended the conference.

According to the acting director of YSU IB Anushavan Makaryan, “Ijevan Branch of YSU organizes such a large-scale scientific conference for the first time. The aim is to discuss the changes occurring in the education system at the current stage and the new technologies used. The future of our country is being shaped in schools and universities.”

The aim of the international scientific conference was: promoting students’ research, discovering the creative potential of post-graduate students, developing the intra-university and inter-university cooperation of students and lecturers, the focus of the youth’s attention on modern pedagogical research.

The directions of the conference were:

1. Trends in the development of professional-pedagogical education today and tomorrow.
2. The professional competencies of future pedagogues.
3. Innovative principles and approaches of the organization to pedagogical activities.
4. Information technologies in education.
5. Design and development of educational environment at school/university.
6. Educative work in the education system.
7. The role of culture in upbringing and education.
8. Synergetics: a new direction for spiritual and mental education.
9. Pedagogy, psychology, information-communication environment as sources of new opportunities.
10. The education and upbringing of those with limited health opportunities.
11. The ecological aspects of education in modern conditions.
12. The teaching methods of literature, foreign languages, and intercultural communication.

 

The conference was the first event of the long-term project “Project Ijevan Valley Ed Tech.” It will become regular and national and international cooperation shaped within its framework, Ijevan branch will develop different research projects in education and will participate in international projects developing the popularity of pedagogical professions among the youth, expanding the existing graduate project based on research, laboratory work, and experiments.

On March 13, the Armenian final round of the Diamond Challenge youth entrepreneurship competition took place in Dilijan Community Center. During this round, the teams of Goris, Meghri, Yerevan, Dilijan, and Ijevan presented their ideas to the selection committee.

According to Armine Hovhannisyan, the president of the “Dilijan Community Center” NGO, Dilijan Community Center has been hosting the final round of the competition in Armenia for five years now. “Year by year, we try to expand our scope to include more high school students as we are very interested in transferring our entrepreneurial skills and knowledge to them. The students have come to compete today. However, it is more important to me that they learned and understood what the business idea is, and they were able to define a business idea, understood their customers and buyers, got budget, problem-solving, public speaking, and several other soft skills. This is the real victory for me.”

The small Business team representing Yerevan won the competition with their idea of edible flowers menu for a café receiving 250 $ from the Dilijan community Center and an invitation to participate in the final round of the competition at the University of Delaware  in the USA.

The competition was created by Horn Enterprise, the cornerstone of business established at the University Delaware in the USA.

The Head of UWC College Dilijan, Gabriel Abad Fernández, says he is happy to participate in this event: “This is a wonderful opportunity to see the entrepreneurial spirit of the Armenian youth, who try to find new ways to impact and realize their ideas.”

The purpose of the competition is to develop the entrepreneurial skills of high school students enabling them to start their businesses. “Even if we do not win, this will be a great experience, and what we couldn’t do now we will be able to use in our successful business plans,” says Ruslanna Dilbaryan, one of the competitors.

In previous years, the winning teams represented the cities of Dilijan, Yerevan, and Yeghegnadzor in the final. The “Papuk” team from Dilijan, which was recognized as the winner in 2021, represented the idea of recycling furniture within the framework of which soft furniture was made of used and unfit wheels. “Papuk” team has already sold its product, which can also be seen in Dilijan city park.

According to Varda Avetisyan, a member of the competition jury and the founder of “Kchuch” and “Tava” restaurants; such events are very important and inspiring for the youth, “I remember, when I was at this age, I had a business idea, but it was the 90s, and unfortunately, nothing was organized like this. I think that it is very important for the community to encourage young people to think constructively and organize big and small games in which they’ll participate and show their talent.”