Datev Institute instructors and staff.
It is “meet and right” to express gratitude to the instructors and counselors of the St. Gregory of Datev Institute Summer Program for the services they rendered to our youth as a labor of love. They taught. They mentored. They counseled. They supervised. They nurtured. They donated—time, energy, money, and talent. During its week long Summer Program, the Institute, under the auspices of His Eminence Archbishop Anoushavan, offered about one hundred hours of instructional sessions, 20 classes for each of the five levels. The Institute also observed morning and evening prayer-worship services, affording our youth a unique exposure to the treasury of the Armenian Church worship. And to temper the daily schedule, the Institute incorporated a healthy dose of recreational and sports activities in the afternoons, including excursions to a bowling alley and Marsh Creek Pool. All this was made possible through the collaborative efforts of the Eastern Prelacy, instructors and counselors, parishes and parents, and friends and supporters of the Institute.
The instructors and counselors of the Institute this year were Archpriest Fr. Antranig Baljian (Director of the Program); Archpriest Fr. Gomidas Baghsarian; Rev. Fr. Sarkis Aktavoukian; Rev. Fr. Nareg Terterian; Rev. Fr. Stephan Baljian; Rev. Fr. Hrant Kevorkian; Rev. Fr. Mikael Der Khosrofian; Rev. Fr. Dr. Vahan Kouyoumdjian; Archdeacon Shant Kazanjian; Dn. Harout Takvorian (counselor); Dn. Dr. Ari Nalbandian (instructor and counselor); Yn. Maggie Kouyoumdjian (instructor and counselor); Anoosh Kouyoumdjian (instructor and counselor); Aram Kouyoumdjian (counselor); Tamar Lakissian (counselor), and Ani Nalbandian (instructor and counselor).
The Institute extends its appreciation to those parishes that subsidized a portion of the expenses by providing scholarships to church-server participants (in some cases churches provided full tuition scholarships), and to the following for their generous donations: Ani Chapter of the Armenian Relief Society (Pennsylvania); Artemis Chapter of the Armenian Relief Society (Pennsylvania); Rev. Fr. Nareg and Yn. Annie Terterian; Rev. Fr. Mesrob and Yn. Ojeen Lakissian; Dn. Dr. Ari and Ani Nalbandian; Ara Bederjikian; Aram Kouyoumdjian; Tamar Lakissian; Dr. Alta Mekaelian, and Cynthia Papazian. Special thanks to Rev. Fr. Vahan and Yn. Maggie Kouyoumdjian for their generous donations and for sponsoring the two excursions, and to Fr. Torkom Chorbajian, pastor, and the board of trustees of St. Gregory the Illuminator Armenian Apostolic Church of Philadelphia for their hospitality.