Genocide Education Project Education Dir. Sara Cohan addressing Leadership Institute attendees

GLENDALE, CA – Sara Cohan, Education Director of the Genocide Education Project, spoke to a capacity audience attending the Armenian National Committee (ANC) Leadership Institute on May 11, 2005. The ANC Professional Network (PN) hosted the lecture in its ongoing effort to develop future generations of leaders to advance the interests of Armenian Americans by encouraging the emergence of an educated and politically active community.

Cohan presented the Genocide Education Project’s mission that aims to help prevent genocide by assisting educators, students, and educational organizations through education about genocide and other major human rights violations, with specific focus on the Armenian Genocide. The audience of young professionals, which included educators, learned of the Genocide Education Project’s development of a comprehensive teacher’s manual that includes one, two and 10-day lesson plans and how the organization trains teachers interested in educating their students about the Armenian Genocide. Complete lesson plans and other teaching tools are available online at www.teachgenocide.org.

“Incorporating the Armenian Genocide into public school curricula will help establish more understanding among a diverse student body so that all future acts of intolerance can be avoided,” commented Jeannine Topalian, President of the ANC-PN and a school psychologist in the Los Angeles Unified School District.

California Law mandates that the Armenian Genocide be taught in the state’s public schools. However, due to the overwhelming number of lessons that teachers have to plan and prepare, the Armenian Genocide is often omitted. The lesson plans in the teacher’s manual developed by the Genocide Education Project lift the burden placed on teachers and allow them to easily incorporate California’s mandated curriculum.

The ANCA is the largest and most influential Armenian American grassroots political organization. Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the United States and affiliated organizations around the world, the ANCA actively advances the concerns of the Armenian-American community on a broad range of issues.