ASA Rounds out Speaker Series with Trip to Colonial New England

LEXINGTON, Mass.—On June 13, the Armenian Sisters’ Academy (ASA) of Lexington completed its spring 2011 Visiting Speakers Series with a presentation on colonial New England. Guests from the Billerica Historical Society visited the school and engaged students with costumes and artifacts from a bygone era. While the elementary classes at the ASA have on many occasions read about colonial life in small New England towns, the dynamic presence of the historical actors and their demonstrations brought history to life.

Billerica Historical Society historians demonstrate old-style bread toaster.

Students had the chance to see demonstrations up close, including antique foot-powered toaster and candle-making tools, which left them with a stronger sense of how past generations appreciated every item in their homes, as most were grown, built, or made by families themselves. In this way, the concept of “reduce, reuse, and recycle” really hit home.

“The students loved learning about the daily lives of children in colonial America,” said Cathy Izzo, a social studies teacher at the ASA. “After the presentation, students were able to compare their lives to children living in colonial times.”

Throughout the spring, the ASA hosted several guest speakers as part of its Visiting Speakers Series. These guests presented on a wide range of topics that complemented the classroom curriculum and allowed students to interact with experts from outside the school. The children were thus able to enhance key learning skills, such as listening and visualization techniques, and to take part in group collaboration exercises and question/answer sessions. Topics covered this spring included: world geography with the EarthView Project out of Bridgewater State University; chemistry with graduate students from the MIT department of chemistry; classical Armenian instruments with musician Mari Bertlizian; meteorology with Chris Lambert of WHDH TV; and sociology with Dr. Susan Pattie, author of Who are the Armenians? The ASA’s Visiting Speakers Series will resume in September with the start of the 2011-12 school year.

The Armenian Sisters Academy is a school open for children of both Armenian and non-Armenian heritage, and focuses on nurturing each student to motive their learning of the Armenian language and culture. Our commitment is to work hard to ensure that students leave the school as ethical and responsible young adults with a deep passion for learning and an eagerness to work hard, take risks and make a difference. The school is located at 20 Pelham Rd. in Lexington.

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