STEPANAKERT (Tufenkian Foundation)—Longtime Tufenkian Foundation friends and supporters Judith Saryan and Victor Zarougian of Massachusetts have started a $10,000 matching fund for the ongoing campaign to equip all schools across Artsakh with portable science laboratories.
DONATE BY VISITING: rearmenia.com/en/fundraisers/science-labs-for-every-school-in-artsakh
In June, the Foundation announced the launch of its an online fundraiser, which will provide portable biology and chemistry laboratory kits to every school in Artsakh. The kits include microscopes, slides with specimen samples, blank slides, Petri dishes, a mortar and pestle, chemical cups, and other materials. The campaign was launched after the success of the Foundation’s biology laboratory kit distribution to all 29 schools across Artsakh’s Martuni region last year.
"We are grateful for this generous contribution by Judyith and Victor, who have supported the Foundation's work and mission for years," said Tufenkian Foundation director of public relations Rupen Janbazian. Unfortunately, schools in Artsakh are under-resourced, with most having no laboratory equipment for students to learn about the sciences first-hand through experimentation. To begin to address this issue, last fall, the Foundation donated biology laboratory kits to all 29 schools in the Martuni region. The Micro Lab 7 (ML7) kits, designed and built by Aleksandr and Tigran Yesayan, the grandson and great-grandson of famed Armenian writer Zabel Yessayan, were generously donated by Saryan and Zarougian.
“We visited Aleksandr’s laboratory at Yerevan State University (YSU) back in 2019. He and Tigran showed us the lab kits that they had developed for classrooms because only a handful of schools have lab equipment in Armenia. The kits will give students opportunities to use microscopes and experience how experiments are conducted. Experiential learning is extremely important in the sciences and needs to be emphasized in classrooms,” Saryan explained.
Educators worldwide recognize the importance of laboratory investigation as an essential method for students to learn about science. Integrating a laboratory experience with the instructional unit can significantly enhance students’ learning experience.
“Beyond the educational benefits, this program will reach into every community in Artsakh, sending the message that they are not alone and have not been forgotten and that Armenians outside of Artsakh continue to stand with them during these difficult times,” Janbazian explained.
Donations can be made through the reArmenia platform: rearmenia.com/en/fundraisers/science-labs-for-every-school-in-artsakh