Knights, Facing History Announce Winners of Essay Contest

NEW YORK—High school and college students nationwide were invited to address the question, “Why Is it Important for Schools Nationwide to Include the Armenian Genocide in the Core Curriculum?” in the 6^th Annual Armenian Genocide Commemoration Essay Contest co-sponsored by Knights and Daughters of Vartan and Facing History and Ourselves. A distinguished panel of judges this month announced first place to Charlotte, N.C. resident Artur Minasyan, a student at University of North Carolina at Charlotte; second place to Franklin, Mass. resident Ariana Ferraro, a student at Mount Saint Charles Academy in Woonsocket, R.I.; and third place to Ridgefield, N.J. resident Christopher Markosian, a student at Bergen County Academies in Ridgefield.

The winners were recognized in the company of over 2,000 supporters during the Armenian Genocide Commemoration in Times Square (at 46^th/47^th and Broadway) on Sun., April 21.

In his essay, Minasyan wrote, “The pressure of the past has been a heavy load for us to carry for almost one century and it is time to spread this load and share it with the world. Our children are ignorant of the Armenian Genocide and have only been taught to hate the offender. It is our moral duty to teach and inform the younger generation of this major part of global history.”