Derick Aghamalian Won 3-rd Place in 2010 Ontario Chess Championships

A soon to be 10 year old, Derick Aghamalian, a sport loving fourth grader, a member of Holy Trinity Armenian Church and a student at A.R.S. Armenian Day School from Toronto, Ontario, was was the 3-rd place winner in the 2010 Canadian Chess Challenge Ontario Championships, which took place on April 18, 2010 in Concord, ON.  Players were chosen by either the result of the qualifying tournaments that took place in early April or they were automatically qualified based on their chess ’n math ratings. Derick received his invitation letter to take part in the Ontario Chess Challenge earlier this year based on his rating of 1224, which made him an automatic qualified player.

His proud parents hoped he would end up in the Ontario top 10 and encouraged him to practice hard and do his best.
On the day of the final championships, 442 enthusiastic students ranging from Kindergarten to grade 12 started a long day of competition. In a group of 51 fourth graders, Derick played against some of the highest rated players. After four wins and a loss, he shared the second place with seven other opponents. In the play offs, he won two out of three games, becoming the third place winner in Ontario’s Grade Four Group. The first place winner in the same category was Joseph Bellissimo followed by Wenlu Yu in second place.

Derick’s hard work and countless hours of practice finally paid off when he earned the trophy he had been dreaming about for months. We hope that the great passion he has for the game of chess will lead him to higher achievements in the future and that his biggest dream of becoming a Grandmaster, like his role models, Tigran Petrosian and Levon Aronian, will come true. Congratulations, Derick, for a job well done and good luck with the Canadian Youth Chess Championships in Windsor, Ontario, and the North American Youth Chess Championships in Montreal, Quebec in July and August of 2010.

Athina Ani Babayan with The Ottawa Bach Choir   By: R. Sarkissian               Born in Athens, Greece, to Armenian parents, Athina Ani Babayan, has always had music as a big part of her life ever since she was young. The current York University, Faculty of Fine Arts student, fluent in Armenian, English, and French, initially started by singing in her elementary school choir at the age of eight. Joining the junior and then the senior choirs of the Holy Trinity Armenian Apostolic Church as a choir member and soloist, as well as singing at various community events and cooperating with Komitas Musical Association as a soloist, were the next steps she later took.

Athina graduated from Cardinal Carter Academy for the Arts Secondary School with Honors where she performed leading roles in various musicals, participating in choral competitions as well as numerous music festivals. She completed both Grade Ten level in voice and the Grade Eight level in piano at the Royal Conservatory of Music with First Class Honors.   Read more...

Meet Stephany Boyadjian, a 12 year old bright girl who has such a beautiful smile. She has written a touching poem called "What has this world become?”. Enjoy…

What has this world become?

There are people in this world with no food, water, clothes, money, shelter and so much more.

What has this world become?

There are people in this world who have all the money in the world, are spoiled and get whatever they want and are still not satisfied with what they have got.

What has this world become?

There are people in this world that suffer because of terrible diseases and some doctors will

probably not even find a cure.

What has this world become?

There are people in this world who live on the street. We see people who are unfortunate and

then there are other people who just walk by and don’ think about what these people go through each day.

What has this world become?

There are people in this world who don’t even care if they go to jail by killing and murdering,

etc. children, adults, teens and even seniors without taking a second thought about what they are doing.

What has this world become?

There are people in this world of different race, colour and cultures and that are shot, killed and taken away from their loved ones because of their background.

What has this world become?

There are people in this world who are teased because of how skinny or how fat they may be.

What has this world become?

There are people in this world that have to change because people at school are teasing them.

What has this world become?

But then there are people who don’t do anything and are not involved in anything but are still

treated differently because of their disability.

What has this world become?

Written by Stephanie Boyadjian

For the sixth year, York University traces the paths of York’s top academic achievers in each undergraduate Faculty as they enter third year. There are nine this year.
Read more /YorkU Magazine, December 2008/

Sarah Shahmuradyan - Glendon -  GPA:8.5

Living as an Armenian refugee in Germany instilled Sarah Shahmuradyan with a burning desire to make the world more just and fair. While her parents, both ethnographers whose jobs disappeared when the Soviet Union imploded, waited in vain for German citizenship, they encouraged their bright daughter to excel at school. “Education is one door you want to fling wide open,” they told her. Shahmuradyan was 10 when Canada threw open its doors to her family. Fluent in Armenian, Russian and German, she felt at home in multicultural Scarborough and soon soared to the top of her class – in English.

Grade 11 law sparked her interest, but the teenager involved with the student council, school newspaper and Amnesty International aimed to pursue social work until she realized politics could correct injustice. Now the politics and sociology student , who has added French to her arsenal, plans to study law, then become an international legal policy analyst> Last summer, she worked with new immigrant programs for Ontario’s Ministry of Education and tasted her future. “Law, like education, is one of the great equalizers,” says the 20 year old “CSI” fan who likes to dance to CHUM-FM. “Regardless of your background, you should be treated the same. Rights are the same everywhere. Freedoms should be the same everywhere.

Young, talented and driven Garen Boyajian is an ambitious actor with a bright future in film and television. His latest achievement was winning the Best Male Actor Award for his leading role in the film Cross Road at 2008 MONACO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL which was held in Monte Carlo December 4-7.    As Garen could not attend the Award Ceremonies, Cross Road Director Alex Thompson, on behalf of Garen, received the award and thanked the producer and organizers of the MIFF, as well as the members of the jury and the sponsors of the prestigious film festival. Cross Road also received two additional awards: Jordana Aarons as Best Producer, and the Best Ensemble Cast.

We would like to congratulate Garen and his family in Toronto on his success and wish him all the best in the future.

On Sunday, February 24, 2008 Rev. Archpriest Zareh Zargarian welcomed Edvin Ghahramanyan to the Holy Trinity Armenian Church, introduced him to the parish and gave him his blessing, praying he will have success in his future path and profession.   Edvin Ghahramanyan a boxer from Mississauga, Ontario is a Junior Heavy weight champion. Competing at the 2008 Cadet C & Junior Nationals in Windsor last month, Edvin Ghahramanyan earned the right to wave the Canadian flag with fervour. Ghahramanyan, 16, took on a heavier load in winning the 91 kilogram Junior Heavyweight class in the Junior Nationals division for 16-18 year-olds.  Read more...    See photos...

On Sunday, August 12, 2007, Holy Trinity Armenian Church was filled with faithful who gathered to celebrate one of the most important Feast Days of Armenian Church, the Feast of the Assumption of St. Mary. By the invitation of our Pastor, Rev. Father Arch. Zareh Zargarian, Sarmen Sinani was present at the church during the Divine Liturgy.  He was introduced to all present and blessed by Rev. Father Sarkis Gulian. Read more about Sarmen Sinani...