SANTA ANA, Calif.—Senator Lou Correa held a special reception on Thursday, March 27, at the Westminster Civic Center to continue the annual tradition in celebrating Women’s History Month, where 100 “Women Making a Difference” were honored for their contributions in improving the lives of their community members.
The tradition began in the State Capitol in 1987 and continues in central Orange County. Each year, remarkable women making a difference in the youth and family in their community receive special recognition at a special reception. Their efforts have promoted happiness, comfort, security, welfare, safety and wholesome goodness of individuals and entire families throughout the region and state.
Among the women receiving this special recognition award was Ani Shahinian Sarkissian who has been giving back to her community whether it has been through volunteer work or throughout her professional career. After graduating from UCLA magna cum laude with a Sociology degree, she immediately began her teaching career at Ferrahian Armenian School as a fourth grade teacher. After two years, she decided to take a break from teaching and try a different arena of work. She took on the position of Editorial Assistant at Asbarez Armenian Daily Newspaper where she helped write, edit, and proofread articles for the English section. While working there, she was afforded the opportunity to become a daily news anchor for Horizon Armenian Television, where she reported on news from Armenia.
Though her time and experience at Asbarez and Horizon were invaluable, she decided to return to work at Ferrahian Armenian School where she taught fourth grade again for the next ten years. In the meantime, she returned to school to obtain a Master’s degree in Education with a psychology emphasis from Pepperdine University. After making the move to Orange County, she took a teaching position at Ari Guiragos Minassian Armenian School in Santa Ana. She is now in her second year there teaching fourth grade Language Arts and 3rd-6th grade Social Studies. Though her schooling and professional career have been spent at Armenian schools, Ani was also a member of the Armenian Youth Federation (AYF) from an early age. While a member, she served as a leader for the younger division of the organization.
Impressive…!