NORTHRIDGE, Calif.—The Board of Regents of Prelacy Armenian Schools held its 2015-2016 Annual Professional Development Day (APDD) conference on Saturday, January 23 at California State University, Northridge.
This year’s APDD, which has been taking place for over fifteen years, was organized in cooperation with the university’s Armenian Studies Program.
Alongside the Prelacy Armenian Schools and Preschools, this year teachers and faculty from the following Armenian schools attended the conference: Charlotte & Elise Merdinian Armenian Evangelical School, Sahag Mesrob Armenian Christian School, St. Gregory Alfred and Marguerite Hovsepian Armenian School, Armenian Sisters Academy and Charlie Keyan Armenian Community School of Fresno.
The total number of educators who participated in the conference reached 400. Joining the educators this year, the Board of Regents had also extended invitations to School Board members and Parent Organization representatives of Prelacy Armenian Schools.
Dr. Hasmig Baran, Board of Regents member, welcomed all the participants to this year’s APDD and commenced the conference by inviting Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian, Prelate of the Western Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church, to deliver the invocation. In his address, the prelate emphasized that teaching is one of the noblest professions, and one of the most challenging, yet one of the most rewarding. He stressed the enormous responsibility placed on teachers to develop young minds and shape their character. Archbishop Mardirossian concluded his remarks by stating, “As you may know, His Holiness has proclaimed 2016 as the Year of Service. Therefore, more than ever, let us commit ourselves in service for a greater cause, for in the words of our Pontiff, “service is the expression of the love and dedication we have for othersâ€
