Category Archives: Principal & Teachers Corner

End of School Year 2019-2020

 

Dear Parents, 

We would like to sincerely thank all of you for your unwavering support, as we look back on the 2019-2020 academic year and its unique challenges. Your strong role in the education of your children allowed us to continue to stay connected with them and engage them in meaningful learning.  This support has its roots in our shared belief in the importance of preserving cultural heritage and passing it onto the next generation to equip them for the real world where cultural awareness is key to peace and prosperity.   

Transitioning from face-to-face to virtual instruction would not have been successful without your crucial support and the hard work of our dedicated instructional staff. Once it became evident that Maryland Schools would not open for the remainder of the academic year, the instructional staff, although with little or no experience in online language instruction, welcomed the challenge and worked tirelessly to provide their students with purposeful and engaging learning experiences. In this effort, they also identified and effectively used a variety of online authentic resources to enhance instruction. This resulted in students’ positive response to the new learning environment, as reflected by their perfect to near perfect attendance in most classes.  In light of this uplifting experience, we are convinced that regardless of what the Maryland School system may decide in the fall, our community will remain strong and continue to thrive.   

Looking forward, Iran Cultural and Educational Center (ICEC), the same as any other educational institution, will take advantage of the summer months to prepare for any possibility, i.e., face-to-face, online, or the combination of face-to-face and online instruction.  To this end, summer work will be a combination of teacher training, curriculum refinement, and sample learning plans development as listed below:

  • Review and revise the program of studies to make it more adaptable to online instruction;
  • Provide the instructional staff with ongoing professional development on learner-centered strategies;
  • Identify authentic resources to more effectively integrate culture, content, and language;
  •  Develop sample learning plans based on World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages.

Meanwhile, please do not hesitate to share with us your thoughts and suggestions. We value your input and look forward to it.  We will be in touch.  

Wishing you and your family a safe, healthy, and pleasant summer,

ICEC

Opening Status

Dear ICEC Family and Friends;

We at ICEC wish you warm regards and hope you are doing well.  As we find ourselves adapting to a new (but temporary) lifestyle, we hope that each and every one of you is taking the time to find comfort, joy and love with your family and friends, whether under your roof at home or remotely through technology.

As you may be aware, public schools, and the use of public-school facilities, in Montgomery County continue to be closed until at least April 24, 2020.  Consequently, ICEC must continue to suspend classes.  At this time, there is no fixed date as to when we may be able to resume classes.

We will provide regular updates as soon as we have more information.  Please do not hesitate to reach out to us if you have any questions.

Please be well and be safe. 

Donations

Dear Friends of Iran Cultural and Educational Center,

In the spirit of this giving season, if you plan to donate to some cause, you may wish to consider donations that benefit a Persian cultural or educational activity. There are a number of such organizations that are active and registered as non-profit organization in the Washington Metropolitan area.

As you are aware, one such organization is the Iran Cultural and Educational Center (ICEC), registered as a non-profit organization in the State of Maryland. ICEC is non-commercial, non-partisan and non-sectarian and with no political or religious affiliation to any group, party or government.  Since its inception in 1990, ICEC’s sole mission has been “to create a nurturing environment that strengthens the sense of connection, pride and appreciation of Iranian culture, heritage and history.”

ICEC is a registered member of the United Way of the National Capital Area (UWNCA) and Combined Federal Campaign (CFC). If you wish to make a contribution to ICEC through United Way campaigns, please visit https://unitedwaynca.org/nonprofit-partner-search  and enter designation number 8643 for ICEC as a non-profit partner. To contribute to ICEC through CFCNCA, please enter designation number 24136 on your CFCNCA form. All contributions to ICEC, according to Section 501(c)(3) of the United States Internal Revenue Code are tax deductible (consult your tax advisor).

ICEC Board of Trustees, Officers and Teachers

2019-2020 Scholarship Recipients

Iran Arbabi Scholarship Awardees

For 2019-2020 Academic Year

Iran Cultural and Educational Center (ICEC) is pleased to announce that, with a donation received from National University of Iran Alumni, it was able to increase the number of Iran Arbabi Scholarship recipients for the 2019-20 academic year.

A panel of independent experts, appointed by the ICEC Board of Trustees, reviewed all applications and supporting documents and recommended 3 applicants who received the highest scores to receive scholarship. The following three top applicants are awarded an adjusted amount of  $1,500, each:

 

Miss Tara Manzari

Miss Mana Mostofi-Tehrani

Miss Elica Semnani

 

ICEC would like to congratulate the awardees and wish them a very successful academic year.

ICEC Alumni-Yosmin Badie

Yosi Badie graduated cum laude from The University of Maryland with a major in Economics and Government & Politics, and a minor in Mathematics. As a daughter of Iranian immigrants, she served as the President of the Iranian Students’ Foundation, where she focused on building community amongst fellow Iranian-American students and connecting to the greater Iranian community.
Upon graduation, Yosi worked as a business development associate at Bloomberg. With the refugee crisis reaching its peak during this time, she decided to leave the corporate world to actively support communities fleeing their homes in search of safety. She moved to Thessaloniki, Greece to volunteer for Emergency Response Centre International, a Greek NGO.
There, she managed Elpida Refugee Camp, working alongside Syrian and Iraqi residents to improve the conditions of the camp and to transform it into a dignified community space.
After 7 months in Greece, Yosi returned stateside to run the Washington D.C. branch of The Petey Greene Program, where she supported the academic achievement of incarcerated people in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia by bringing university students to tutor GED students inside prisons and jails. Yosi worked to expand access to education on the inside and worked
alongside those incarcerated to establish the program at the Washington, D.C. Jail.
Yosi will be starting law school in the Fall at NYU as a Root-Tilden-Kern public interest scholar. At NYU, Yosi hopes to expand her capacity to not only mitigate the experience of oppression faced by refugees, immigrants, incarcerated individuals, and other marginalized communities, but to also leverage her education to dismantle these systems of oppression.

NCWIT Award

The National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) is a national non-profit organization that works to increase the amount of women and girls in computing. Recently, Auva Amirmokri, teacher’s assistant for the 5th grade class, received a Maryland Affiliate award through this organization. She was invited to the University of Maryland, where she was recognized for her efforts in getting girls more involved in computer science and programming. This is her second and highest award received from NCWIT.

2019 Picture Day

 

 ١١ مه ٢٠١٩ روز عکس

خانواده های گرامی
 
برای ماندگاری یاد روزهای شیرین کلاس های آموزش زبان فارسی دراندیشه کودکان دلبندمان، امسال نیز مانند  سال های پیش مرکز فرهنگی و آموزشی ایران، در روز شنبه ١١ مه ٢٠١٩   شماری عکس گروهی از هر کلاس و نیز یک عکس از تمام دانش آموزان مرکزتهیه خواهد کرد
 
.این عکس ها ٨در ١٠ وهر یک به بهای ١٠ دلار می باشد
 
،اگر مایل به دریافت عکس های گروهی کلاس و عکس گروهی مرکز می باشید
 .خواهشمند است فرم زیر را پر کنید و به همراه بهای عکس تا تاریخ ١١  مه ٢٠١٩ به مدرسه بفرستید
 
 یاد آوری می شود که عکس ها تنها برای دانش آموزانی که در خواست خود را به مرکز داده باشند چاپ  خواهد شد

May 11, 2019 Picture Day

Dear Parents,
 
ICEC annual class picture day will be on May 11, 2019.  If you are interested to receive your child/children class or/and school pictures, please fill out the form below and have your child return it with the picture fee to the classroom teacher on or before May 11, 2019.
 
Pictures are 8×10 for $10 each ($20 for both a class picture and school picture).
Pictures will only be ordered for those students who have returned completed form on or before May 11, 2019.  

picture day form

Roshan Institute- Celebration of Nowruz

In Celebration of Nowruz, Professor John Renard, Professor of Theological Studies at Saint Louis University gives a presentation on “A Life in miniatures: Visual Hagiography of Rumi”

The event will take place on Sunday, April 7th from 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm at H.J. Patterson Atrium at the University of Maryland,

More information and Link

 

 

Nowruz Message

Dear Friends,

Your collective work, high expectations, meticulous planning throughout the months leading to the event, and perfect coordination of backstage and onstage resulted in a magical evening that left us all in awe.  It resembled a painting where parts gradually meld to become a colorful whole, a masterpiece we don’t want to leave behind.

On an artfully decorated stage, the masters of ceremony, highlighting samples of rich Persian literature, set the tone for what to expect throughout the evening.  Exuberant class performances reflected students’ sense of pride in their cultural heritage and connection to the underlying meaning of the songs.  The play, adapted with great creativity, proved highly entertaining and uniquely instructive. Beautifully choreographed and harmoniously performed dances by students of different ages reflected the exceptional talent of both young leaders and performers.  As for the music, the conductor and musicians could have earned a standing ovation performing the pieces in the national music halls.   It was one of those evenings that when the program drew to a close, we longed for more.

Your sense of organization and high standards were also evident in the dining hall with the beautiful flower arrangements, plentiful food, excellent service, joyful music and many volunteers ready to help. You have provided the Iranian community with a most unique Nowruz celebration that puts children and cultural awareness in the forefront.  There was no better way to epitomize the ICEC core values. As a member of this community, I am grateful for your unwavering support and in awe of what your collective work can accomplish.  Together we have created a community with shared values evident in voluntarism and love of cultural heritage.

On behalf of Dr. Alizadeh Taeb and my colleagues at the Center, I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to the former and current students, and the Nowruz Committee members who made this uplifting event possible.

Wishing you all a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year!

Happy Nowruz

Iran Arbabi