GLENDALE, Calif.—In the past two months, the Armenian National Committee of America – Glendale Chapter in partnership with the Glendale Unified School District and the Committee for Armenian Students in Public Schools (CASPS), hosted the Path to College Community Forum, a series of successful seminars and workshops for high school and college students at the Krikor and Mariam Karamanoukian Glendale Youth Center. ANCA Glendale has hosted the program every year to educate high school students, community college students, and their parents about High School Graduation Requirements, four year plans, ELD classes, A-G college admission requirements, college application process and deadlines, financial aid, scholarships, SAT and ACT college admission exams, lessons on how to write personal statements, and the difference between community colleges and certain types of four year universities. The seminars are primarily held in Armenian and the workshops are open to all students.
The first seminar regarding High School Graduation Requirements took place on September 26th, followed by a College Admissions workshop on October 3, and a seminar on Preparing to Transfer on November 7.
Over forty students and parents benefitted from the seminars and over twenty students attended the Saturday seminars to get help on personal statements for college applications and the private and public application process online. Local counselors and college representatives offered their time to help, including Nare Garibyan, a counselor at Glendale Community College and Karineh Turdjian, a counselor at Clark Magnet High School. Many students received help by submitting their statements online as well.
“I emailed ANCA Glendale to get help on my applications because I could not make it to a Saturday workshop. I received detailed notes within a day. It was such great feedback,” said Ani from Glendale Community College.
The last seminar regarding Financial Aid and scholarships will be held on February 5, 2014, followed by Saturday workshops on February 8 and February 15 for students who need assistance with filling out the FAFSA and applying for scholarships.
“We really enjoy hosting the Path to College Community Forum. Students from Glendale Unified School District, private schools and other school districts join us. The parents like the detailed seminars and the students get the one-on-one review that makes their personal statements and their applications successful,” said ANCA Glendale Education Committee Chairperson Marisa Sarian.
Contact ANCA Glendale with any questions at 818.243.3444 or admin@ancaglendale.org
The ANCA – Glendale advocates for the social, economic, cultural, and political rights of the city’s Armenian American community and promotes increased civic participation at the grassroots and public policy levels.
I am glad that ANCA is concentrating efforts on the education of our youth, we now have one of the highest %percentage of college graduates as an ethnicity in California. In order to sustain the economy in our communities like Glendale, Van Nuys, North Hollywood, Fresno, we must stress education and business ownership.
We have so many professors and teachers in our community, there is no excuse for Armenian children to not pursue a college degree. Bravo to ANCA for supporting this event.