050223 - Melkonian Students and American Academy in Nicosia

MELKONIAN STUDENTS VISIT THEIR NEW ADOPTED HOME AT THE AMERICAN ACADEMY IN NICOSIA
By Apisoghom Aga - www.SaveMelkonian.org Special Correspondent

The Melkonian students were invited to visit the American Academy the other day in order to see for themselves the AGBU’s new adopted school. They went in two groups, as Gordon and his bozos feared rebellious reactions from hot-headed students.
The whole exercise proved to be a flop for the AGBU puppy dogs. When the Academy’s Principal welcomed our boys and girls, he addressed them saying “When you come here next Fall...” to which they responded “you mean IF we come here.” Students were flabbergasted by what they saw, with some expressions ranging from the spartan “KANELIK!” to a simple “Tbrotz... yeghadzov... lesh...” in the style of “Veni, Vidi, Vici”.
The Academy is a depressing place, compared to the majestic buildings of the historic Melkonian. Classes are half the size at the MEI and the main auditorium felt like the roof was about to cave in. Maybe it had...
However, to give credit where this is due, our students liked the Academy’s laboratories and were equally impressed by the enthusiasm of most of the teachers there. (At least the French teacher spoke... French!)
The Academy has a well equipped computer room, which raises questions about the 70,000 pounds promised to the Melkonian for the “new” computer lab two years ago that never materialised. Did somebody embezzle that money as well?
One point of concern at the Mission-operated Academy was the Bible class, which Gordon Anderson, not being of the Armenian Apostolic faith, could never comprehend. Does he belong to any faith or is he a true believer of the American Greenbacks, just like his bosses.
Was this “bible brainwashing” part of the deal that Berg Setrakian and Carol Aslanian had agreed to with the Academy? Was this on the advice of the Catholicos, or is the Armenian identity and Berg’s “azka-bah-ba-noom” not valid for Armenian students in Cyprus. Try this at the Manoogian-Demirdjian and Setrakian and his chums would be lynched by the parents in no time.
The visit coincided with Gordon’s threatening letters demanding that parents agree to their child’s move to the Academy by February 21, while discriminating between students of upper classes, who were offered bribes of “free boarding” and students of the lower classes who will have to pay the full fee, with no subsidy from the AGBU or the Cyprus government.
What is worse, is that where upper class students would pay the corresponding amount of the minimum registration fee, plus 10% a year, the boarders are now being asked to “pay something” towards the boarding expenses. Is the AGBU bankrupt already, or have the commissions from the potential sale of the Melkonian estate not yet come through.
As regards the obnoxious phone calls that parents of day students have been receiving from school staff, reporting their children’s “achievements” in school (late in class, uniform policy, etc.), these have been on the increase lately, possible for a certain few to be able to justify their salaries. What else? Will the gardener now be asked to take over Chemistry classes, while the cook will give Accounts lessons? He may even do better than the present one.
from the pages of www.savemelkonian.org

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