AFG: Projects: Children: Education
The American Academy
Personal Observations from the Executive Director: In September 2001, Constantine and Anne Sidamon-Eristoff and I attended the opening of the new American Academy in Tbilisi. Sitting behind us were 50 Georgian high school students who had passed fiercely competitive entrance examinations to be admitted to the first class of the Academy. The American Academy is the brainchild of Guivey Zaldastani and the Georgian Association in the U.S. It is funded by the U.S. State Department. The Academy is a high school for Georgian children modeled on the American private school Phillips Exeter. Georgian teachers are brought to the U.S. for special training at Phillips Exeter, Harvard or Simmons. The success of this school is crucial to Georgia’s future because it means that the brightest students will not be sent to boarding schools in Europe to be educated. They can stay in Georgia and be educated in a Western way of thinking because for Georgia to become a real democracy and have a market economy, the mentality from Soviet thinking must be changed. The importance of this to Georgia is shown by the fact that this is the first big project funded by Georgian businessmen.
Tuition to the Academy is $3,000 a year, which is beyond the reach of most Georgian families. AFG’s participation in this project is to raise the tuition money for scholarships for two Georgian children who pass all the rigorous admission tests, but whose families cannot pay the tuition. You can read more about the Academy on the Georgian Association website at www.georgianassociation/assnactivities.htm.
AFG Accomplishments: David Khurodze, director of Chevron in Georgia, asked AFG to help provide scholarships so that two bright Georgian teenagers without funds could benefit from this education.
AFG has yet to accomplish this goal.
Current Needs: The American Academy needs funds to:
- Raise $6,000 per year to pay for two scholarships for bright children who cannot afford to attend the American Academy
- Purchase a new school building for 200 children outside Tbilisi because the current school is housed in a rented building
- Obtain University books in English for the students