November 22, 2006 - 18:36 AMT
Continuing to Teach Genocide in Illinois
Skokie, IL- A professional development teachers' institute day took place to help Illinois educators expand Armenian Genocide education offerings. The two-hour session at Niles North High School in Skokie was in response to interest from the teachers and a request from an Armenian teacher who works at the school, reported the Genocide Education Network of Illinois. The ongoing ANC-Illinois initiative to meet the newly created genocide education mandate -HB0312, led to the establishment of the Genocide Education Network of Illinois (GENI), which acts as a clearinghouse to disseminate information to teachers about genocide. Co-founder of GENI, Karine Birazian presented for over two hours to teachers on the history of the Armenian Genocide, the current denial existing in Turkey, and even the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. An educational resource CD was distributed to each teacher that included various documents on the Armenian Genocide provided by Richard Kloian from the Armenian Genocide Resource Center, reports the Armenian National Committee of America.