The partnership between the Indiana School for the Deaf (ISD) and Ararat School #2 after Paruir Sevak is slightly different that the partnerships previously set up by Project Harmony in that there are three teachers involved. At ISD, Jim Frenchik teaches English and journalism; at Ararat N2, Tatevik Petrosyan teaches history, while Naira Muradyan is the Internet Computer Center (ICC) monitor. Naira and Jim planned the projects with Tatevik’s history class in mind. We have two projects planned which should take us from mid-September through mid-December.

The first project was designed so that students can discuss topics that they know well while they get used to using the web discussion forum. They will use information that they find out about the likes, dislikes, hobbies and interests of their counterparts to create a guidebook to their home state (for the Americans) or home country (for the Armenians) that a visitor to the region might use.

The second project is designed to incorporate more history knowledge and to tap the students’ artistic sides. The students will study abstract monuments in the partner countries and the symbolism incorporated into their design. After doing their research and sending their findings to the students in the partner country to evaluate, all students will design a monument to a person or group of their own choosing whom they feel deserves recognition. They will not only design the monument, but also write a descriptive essay explaining the symbolism used in the monument’s design. The students will design a website to showcase their work.

View the Online Web Forums for this project

Below are some pictures of this partnership project. Click on the thumbnail to view the full-size image.