Armine Gabrielyan is a professional fellow from Armenia. She arrived in Longmont on Sept. 11 and has learned how the Innovation Center and St. Vrain Valley School teach technology to students. Her observations have influenced her to propose an artificial intelligence education week in her home country.
Gabrielyan is the program management team lead at the Armenian Code Academy. After students study some basic subjects in a higher education setting, they can decide to expand their knowledge in focus areas.
In Armenia, the IT industry is one such area. Over the last two years, the IT industry has grown considerably in Armenia from 1,500 tech companies to over 4,000 in 2023. The increase in companies has also created an increase in demand of students who want to study something in a technical field, Gabrielyan said.
The Armenian Code Academy helps students learn the skills they need to become successful in the tech industry. Gabrielyan visited the Innovations Center and focused her attention on how SVVSD students and staff establish career connections.
Gabrielyan noticed a big difference in the opportunities of equality SVVSD students had versus students in Armenia. While her company works to engage the tech industry community, public schools in Armenia do not. She hopes that that will change one day.
Gabrielyan was in the U.S. as part of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs Professional Fellows Program. As part of the program, she was able to create a proposal that could result in funding that would bring education to students in Armenia. The proposal included a week-long study of artificial intelligence which would include a representative from SVVSD to facilitate the initiative’s rollout.
It will be some time before Gabrelyan will know if the proposal will be funded, however, she is hopeful.
