Since its inception in 2011, TUMO has been recognized for its educational model and comprehensive program in various pedagogical initiatives and innovation-centered platforms. Following this tradition, TUMO was recently featured in HundrED, a mission-driven organization specializing in innovative education for K-12 (kindergarten through grade 12).

The organization envisions helping kids become global citizens through quality education. HundrED researches and identifies organizations and institutions that have made an innovative impact in the education sector globally. In their evaluation they focus on aspects of the institutions such as assessment, project-based learning, creative thinking, mental health, collaborative learning, learning environments, digital skills, literacy, educational equity and many more.

Within the scope of its mission, every year HundrEd acknowledges and celebrates 100 initiatives that have made a difference in their communities and the world. Many globally acknowledged programs, such as Room to Read (improves literacy and gender equality in education) and Compass Education (focuses on implementing sustainability in the curriculum) are featured in the HundrED Global Collection 2024.

This year, TUMO was selected as one of the 100 most groundbreaking and innovative educational initiatives in the HundrED Global Collection. The accolade acknowledges TUMO’s unique self-learning approach and its vision of giving teens the capacity to dive into their desired fields of study without any pressure. The publication also talks about how the impact of our program has taken it abroad, mentioning our international centers in countries such as France, Germany, Switzerland, and more.

The report considers TUMO’s model unique because of the coach-supported independent learning activities, engaging workshops taught by the center’s savvy staff, and learning labs led by experienced professionals and industry leaders from around the world. Another aspect HundrEd finds fascinating about TUMO is that the students here can work together in various workshops and labs regardless of their age groups, social backgrounds, and interests which means this eliminates the possibility of forming student cohorts. They also tip a hat to how the “reward system” at TUMO is not about grades but rather getting access to the students’ desired workshops and learning labs.

We’re honored to be one of the initiatives that make a change for the better in the world. We would like to see how HundrED motivates educators to dive into life-changing initiatives around the world and thus uncoiling a chain of opportunities for younger kids.

December 28, Yerevan – TUMO Center for Creative Technologies announces a significant milestone: the TUMO network has now covered the entire Tavush marz. TUMO’s tech and design education is now available to all young people throughout the region — including the most remote, border communities, and a number of communities in neighboring regions.

The journey to making 21st century education available to the youth of Tavush began 10 years ago with the opening of TUMO Dilijan, established through a partnership with the Central Bank of Armenia. The launch of TUMO Koghb was a long-awaited milestone in this journey. Even though it was revealed just recently, the center already has 300 students. The realization of TUMO Koghb was initiated in collaboration with the Koghb Foundation and was made possible by donors to the TUMO Armenia project, in addition to generous donations from the JHM Foundation, the Mission Enfance humanitarian association, as well as Judith Saryan and Victor Zarougian.

The expansion of the TUMO educational program in the region of Tavush is special for a few reasons. First, the road to implementing the TUMO model in every corner of Armenia began in this region; TUMO Dilijan was the first center to open outside of Yerevan.

Further, it was in Tavush as well that the method of connecting TUMO boxes to centers was first attempted and proven successful. The students of the first TUMO Boxes, which opened in Gavar and Berd in 2020, were the first to engage with their self learning activities in their communities and head to their nearest center, TUMO Dilijan, for their workshops and learning labs.

And finally, Tavush is the first region where graduates of TUMO Academy, another program aimed at securing quality education in the regions, have started teaching. The first group of students that successfully completed the tuition-free program at TUMO Academy have now joined the teams at the TUMO centers in Dilijan and Koghb.

“Establishing all the centers and boxes in the Tavush region holds immense significance for us. TUMO Dilijan led the way as our inaugural regional hub in 2013, while the TUMO box in Berd was the first of its kind in 2020. As this network extends across Armenia, it remains a driving force for empowering youth and sparking significant change within communities,” said TUMO CEO Marie Lou Papazian

Thanks to the interregional network comprised of the Dilijan and Koghb centers along with the boxes connecting to them in Ijevan, Berd, Azatamut, Artsvaberd, Sevan, Gavar, Shnogh, Jambarak, Odzun and soon, Tsovagyugh, there are now not only more educational and job opportunities, but also more social and collaborative connections between youth from different regions.

“TUMO was the beginning of everything for me. The moment I stepped into the Berd TUMO Box and took part in workshops at TUMO Dilijan, my whole outlook on life changed. It made me more independant, responsible, and I’m already seeing the impact of what TUMO has taught me. It’s been two years since I was introduced to graphic design at TUMO, and today, I’m actively working as a graphic designer, handling my own projects and securing orders,” says Nelly, one of the first students of Berd TUMO Box.

Tavush is the second region to be fully covered by the TUMO network; the first was Shirak. Continuing its mission to secure equally available innovative education all throughout Armenia, TUMO plans to complete the eventual network of 16 centers and 110 boxes in 2026. The next region to be covered will be Syunik.

This achievement wouldn’t have been possible without the donors to the TUMO Armenia campaign and the collaboration with the colleagues, instructors, and supporters who share TUMO’s vision.

The TUMO Center for Creative Technologies is expanding its multi-year initiative to capture detailed 3D scans of hundreds of Armenian heritage sites.

In 2018 and 2019, TUMO students made their first 3D scans of Armenian historical and cultural heritage monuments in a series of special learning labs. They used laser scanning and photogrammetry to document sites including the Matosavank monastery in Dilijan National Park, Amberd Fortress on Mount Aragats, the Dadivank monastery in Karvachar, and Ghazanchetsots Cathedral in Shushi. Since then, the number of scanned sites has reached 230, and will now expand to include all of Armenia’s important monuments over the coming years.

 

St. Hovhannes Church, Sisian

TUMO’s digital preservation initiative includes a large number of important monuments in Artsakh. In the weeks immediately following the 44-Day War in 2020, TUMO teams carried out high-resolution 3D scans of 46 historical monuments in Martuni, Martakert, Askeran and Berdzor. These included archeological sites such as Tigranakert, churches and monasteries such as the Tsitsernavank monastery, and historic monuments such as the Hak bridge. In November of 2022, TUMO scanned over 30 additional heritage sites in Artsakh and on Armenia’s borders.

The resulting high-resolution 3D data sets and visualizations make it possible to document and study cultural monuments in detail, contributing to long term preservation. They also provide material for educational and cultural activities as well as digital media production. Just as importantly, they allow scholars and institutions to monitor cultural heritage sites and eventually carry out preservation and restoration projects as needed.

Holy Savior Poghosagomer, Artsakh

The initiative is now continuing in Armenia at a rapid pace, with multiple sites being scanned every month, both through laser scanning and photogrammetry. It is expected to cover a total of 300 major monuments over the next two to three years. In parallel, the captured data is being processed to produce high-resolution, full-color 3D renderings that users can interact with, walk through, measure, and examine in detail. These interactive renderings, along with historical overviews and other associated data, will be made available on an open-access online platform to be launched in 2024 and continuously updated thereafter.

Process of 3D scanning

“It is very important that this digital archive will be available to the public and that it includes detailed documentation of the sites both in Armenia and Artsakh,” said TUMO CEO Marie Lou Papazian. “This will allow experts in the field to better monitor cultural and historical heritage monuments that are at risk of damage and destruction, and will help them in any future work of restoration and reconstruction.”

TUMO will continue to announce project developments, including updates on the publication of the online platform.

Holy Mother Church, Areni

3D virtual tour of Dashtadem fortress

The story behind the stunning structure above started in 1985 and didn’t start as beautifully as in this picture. The building now referred to as the Tirana Pyramid was originally designed as a tribute to the communist dictator Enver Hoxha. It’s said that more than $4 million went into the cost of building the pyramid in a time during the 80s when Albania was experiencing the peak of national poverty.

After the fall of the dictatorship, the 11,835 sqm pyramid has served various purposes ranging from a temporary NATO base to a nightclub. But more than anything, the pyramid has served as a hangout spot for the youth of Tirana and has adorned itself with the signs of wear and street art typical to abandoned urban structures.

Photo by TUMO Tirana

For some Albanians a symbol of victory against the regime, and for others an unwelcome reminder of it, the building’s fate has been at the center of public disagreement for years. The debate, “to rebuild or to take down” was resolved in 2015; a national poll showed that the majority of Albanians were against the demolition of the pyramid.

The road to realizing the public’s wish in keeping the pyramid alive started in 2017 when the Albanian government publicized the initiative of transforming the building into an educational and cultural center.

A few years later TUMO became one of the institutions being considered in the discussion on the Pyramid’s future. Thanks to the efforts of the Albanian-American Development Foundation and the Municipality of Tirana, TUMO Tirana opened in October of 2020 and was temporarily housed in the Arena center, patiently waiting for the epic transformation of the Pyramid.

TUMOians of TUMO Tirana at the Tirana Arena.

Through the joint financing by the Albanian-American Development Foundation and the local and state government, and the architectural solutions of MVRDV (renowned design studio from The Netherlands), the building with a dark past has undergone a dramatic transformation to serve the country’s bright future.

The Pyramid that once looked down upon the people from above now has staircases on all sides, allowing the new generation to step over a dictatorial past — both symbolically and literally.

Photos by TUMO Tirana

These stairs which take the country towards further progress are also the path to the TUMO Tirana center. Adorned with colorful TUMO Boxes inside, nearly half of the interior is already home to the TUMOians of Albania.

It’s quite fitting that the teens of Albania will be getting an innovative education and continuing their TUMO journeys in such an uber-innovative environment.

 

Standing at the intersection of Aram and Teryan streets in Yerevan, at 44 Aram Street, is an early 20th century landmark. This beautiful building, built in 1910 out of local black tuff stone, was originally named “Fadey Thadevosyan House” after its first owner, a wealthy entrepreneur in the business of flour distribution. At that time, it had two floors, and a third floor was added in the 1930s to serve as additional living quarters.

1930s photo of building

Throughout the years, the building has seen a number of interesting proprietors and served different cultural purposes. One of its functions was as a music studio, owned and operated by composer Romanos Melikyan. It is this studio, a hub for musical innovation in 1920s Yerevan, that turned the building into the first home for the Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan in 1923. Composers such as Romanos Melikyan himself, Alexander Spendiaryan, Konstantin Saradzhev, and many others worked and taught at 44 Aram Street until 1948. Since then, the building has served as a branch of the Armenian State Pedagogical Institute, and its most recent occupant, the Yerevan Institute of Philosophy, Sociology, and Law, which had been located there since 1969, recently moved its offices to the National Academy of Sciences building.

And now, it’s the turn of the TUMO Studios to continue the tradition of education and cultural production at 44 Arami Street, soon to be its new location. TUMO Studios is a non-profit educational program implemented by the TUMO Center for Creative Technologies with the generous support of the John and Hasmik Mgrdichian Foundation. Its mission is to empower the next generation of Armenian designers and artisans with a commitment to revitalize local craft traditions and raise the quality of locally produced design goods.

In the six years since its inception, TUMO Studios has operated on the second floor of another historic building at 38 Pushkin Street, where it has provided technical courses and product design workshops to over 750 young professionals. This has resulted in a large and growing collection of student-designed ceramics, embroidery, prints, fashion, accessories, wood and carving products, and even culinary works and perfumes.

But the center is running out of space. Currently, over 600 young people have applied for 165 learning spots at TUMO Studios, its shop can no longer hold student productions that are in high demand, and its growing operations have outgrown the existing workshop spaces. The addition of the new location will more than quadruple its facilities, addressing all of these challenges.

TUMO is restoring the 44 Arami Street building with minimal interventions designed to maintain intact all the original architecture of the building. The new TUMO Studios location will open its doors to the public in April of 2024. In addition to its regular educational program,this new location will also host lectures and other events around design, arts and crafts. 44 Arami Street will help realize the vision of TUMO Studios, allowing more young Armenians to master Armenian artisanal traditions, and enabling a new generation of designers and craftspeople to create the future of Armenian design.

No matter where you are now, you can stay connected to the TUMO experience and community! tumo.alumnifire.com is a special platform for all former students 16 and above to stay connected to TUMO, explore career and networking opportunities, and much more. Keep reading to find out more about how to join and what you’ll find on the platform.

Here are the sections of the platform:

Feed and Groups

The feed and groups section is your virtual hub for staying connected and informed on all things TUMO. Here, you can catch up on the latest TUMO-related news, read blog posts about fellow students, collaborate on professional projects, and reconnect with the TUMO community.

Events

The events section is where you’ll find special events, learning labs, and other gatherings. You’ll be the first to know about all the opportunities to further your knowledge, network with experts in various fields, and more.

Job Opportunities and Employers

Check out the job opportunities and employers section to find job listings, hear about career development opportunities, and access a list of employers that have posted about their open positions.

How to Register

Please register with your personal email. If you have provided TUMO with your personal email, you will automatically be approved.

IMPORTANT: If your email address was not in the pre-approved list, please provide your full name, birthday, and father’s name in the space provided at Step 5 of registration.

Check out this video tutorial for the entire registration process.

You can also get a glimpse of what your profile will look like and how to navigate it.

If you have any questions about the platform, feel free to reach out to the TUMO alumni relations team at alumni@tumo.org.

Stay tuned for more updates, we look forward to seeing you on the alumni platform!

On November 1st, TUMO participated in “Realization of the Right to Education In the Face of the Crisis Situation in Artsakh” forum, organized by the “Civil Initiative for the Right to Education (CIRI)” and member organizations.

As one such organization, TUMO also participated in the panel discussions of the forum, represented by none other than our CEO, Marie Lou Papazian. She briefed attendees on the TUMO for Artsakh Teens (T4AT) initiative, the opportunities it provides, as well as how it, along with the efforts of our TUMO Armenia campaign, can address the logistic hurdles we’ve seen for our TUMOians forcefully displaced from Artsakh in continuing their TUMO education. We need to do everything in our power to uphold our children’s rights to a smooth integration into society and their right to an education — a plight that is essentially an effort to uphold their human rights.

Speakers included representatives of the state — namely Araxia Svajyan, Deputy Minister Education and Culture —, the public sector, and member organizations like AGBU, Teach for Armenia, the Ayb Education Foundation, COAF, and others. The panel topics they discussed were: “Challenges and Programs in the Field of Education as a Result of the Forced Displacement of Armenians From Artsakh” and “Obstacles in Ensuring the Involvement of Teaching Staff and Students Forcibly Displaced From Artsakh and Suggested Solutions.”

This unique format harboring open dialogue and cooperation was the first in a series of conferences on the right to education being upheld for children forcibly displaced from Artsakh and the strategies and joint measures aimed at solving obstacles that stand in the way.

The TUMO Center for Creative Technologies is announcing a new initiative, TUMO for Artsakh Teens, aimed at meeting the needs of young people between the ages of 12 and 18 who have been forcibly displaced from Artsakh. The multi-year, holistic initiative will accompany displaced adolescents throughout their teenage years, helping them gain access to the different types of resources they need to ensure their well being and their healthy integration into their new home environments. The T4AT initiative is part of the TUMO Armenia campaign, which aims to make the TUMO program accessible to all Armenian teenagers by 2026.

TUMO has worked with tens of thousands of Armenian teenagers for the past 12 years, including thousands in Artsakh, through a center in Stepanakert and boxes in Askeran, Martakert and Martuni, and will now take responsibility of assessing their needs and family circumstances in coordination with relevant partner organizations, and will facilitate and monitor the provision of services to them by governmental and international agencies and NGOs. A dedicated team set up within TUMO will collaborate closely with partners specializing in data collection, social work, and support services.

The key components of the initiative include:

1. Tracking and maintaining contact with every displaced teenager from Artsakh, from today through their 19th birthday or until they no longer require assistance.
2. Facilitating their entry into the TUMO program in Armenia wherever facilities are available.
3. Monitoring their evolving needs for services such as housing, healthcare, mental health support, scholarships, access to equipment, university admissions support and career counseling.
4. Acting as an advocate for the teenagers, connecting them with service providers, and monitoring the provision of those services through regular check-ins.
5. Raising funds, channeling them to third party service providers and ensuring adequate reporting to donors.

“We consider all young Armenians as our children,” said Marie Lou Papazian, “Our Artsakh teens need our help more than ever, but we also need them. If we help them recover and reach their full potential, we will all benefit from the addition of so many bright young minds working for a prosperous and secure future.”

The cost of administering the T4AT initiative will be covered by the TUMO Armenia campaign, ensuring a dedicated team of project managers, social service specialists, and call center operators. Applications to join the team are being accepted at tumo.org/jobs/.

Those wishing to support the initiative can contribute in various ways, including offering professional skills and donations. Please contact TUMO at artsakh.teens@tumo.org or donate via armenia.tumo.org/t4at. When donating, please mention “For Artsakh teens” in the comments.

Forcibly displaced teenagers and their parents who have not already been contacted by TUMO are encouraged to call +37410398413 or send a message to artsakh.teens@tumo.org.

TUMO plans to build a network of 16 centers and over 100 boxes to reach every corner of Armenia through the TUMO Armenia campaign. Each TUMO box provides tech and design education to approximately 320 students weekly. Students alternate between self-learning exercises in their box and workshops and project labs at the nearest center.

Armenia is participating in the Rise program for the second year in a row and TUMO is an official partner! If you’re 15 to 17 years old (or turning 15 as of July 1, 2024), are proactive and creative, have an intermediate level of English, and would like to suggest a project that will solve humanity’s most pressing issues, then this is an exceptional educational opportunity for you.

What is Rise?

In 2019, Schmidt Futures (a philanthropic initiative of former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and his wife Wendy Schmidt) partnered with the Rhodes Trust (an educational initiative based at the University of Oxford) to create the Rise program with a financial commitment of $1 billion.

The program aims to support 15 to 17 year olds from over 170 countries, including Armenia. Rise Global Winners have lifelong access to benefits such as scholarships, mentoring, funding, and career development opportunities. Teens must complete a project application and implement a project aimed at solving society’s most pressing problems.

What benefits does Rise offer?

• Residential Summit
• Programming & Education
• Global Winner Network
• Higher Education Scholarships
• Technology Package

Prerequisites for participation

– Be between 15 to 17 years old (as of July 1, 2024)

– Be proficient in English

IMPORTANT NOTICE

You should start implementing your project from the moment you apply for the program. The later you apply, the less time you will have to implement the project. You can edit the video clips required for the three phases of the project until January 17th. However, by January 17th at 20:59 (local time), your project should be finalized entirely.

How will program winners be selected?

– In the first stage, the projects are evaluated by other participants

– The applications with the highest scores are then reviewed by the committee, which includes global experts working in fields like education management, non-profit organizations, and more.

– Afterwards, a maximum of 500 teens move on to the final stage where they’ll participate in a series of events and interviews.

– In the final round, these applicants are evaluated by the Schmidt Futures and Rhodes Trust review committee, which selects 100 winners.

Application deadline

The deadline is January 17, 2024.

Winners will be announced on or before September 2024.

Apply to the program through this link.

The link to recordings of previous Rise events can be found here.

Register for the upcoming program events here, don’t forget that the events are listed in Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).

Check out the program rules here.

You can find informative videos about the program on the Rise YouTube channel.

Volunteering

If you’d really like to participate in the program but cannot do so because of the age limit, then we have good news for you! The project also needs volunteers over the age of 21.

Volunteers have two main responsibilities:

– Reviewing the projects included in the applications

– Evaluating the 500 finalists

Prerequisites for participation

– Be over the age of 21

– Have previous selection experience

– Be proficient in English

– Not be a relative of, or have a close relationship with (such as family friends, student,

intern), a current Rise applicant due to conflict of interest

– Not have applied to be a Rise Global Winner in the past two years

Benefits

– Training and development: learn about the innovative tools Rise uses for selection

– Connect with peers and industry professionals from across the globe

– Have fun engaging in interactive activities (mixed resource games, group

problem-solving, etc.) during Finalist Days

– Be invited to thought-provoking events via the monthly Selector Convenings

– Help identify the youth who may one day change the world!

​If you have any other questions, please email us at rise@tumo.org

“Don’t miss this opportunity to take part in a writing lab by Columbia University, in which you will gain insight into poetry, literary and documentary works, and many other writing genres. Hurry up and put your creativity to pen, to paper.” It’s been a few years now that TUMO students from Artik to Kapan have been seeing this announcement in their Paths, and it’s grabbed their attention — to say the least.

Columbia University is considered one of the best in the world and it’s known that the TUMO Learning Labs team never misses an opportunity to bring in the best for our students to expand their knowledge. 9 learning labs, 15 experts, and 90 TUMOians that have successfully completed the lab — all of this is the results of a 5-year long collaboration, the continuation of which guarantees that these numbers have yet to grow.

^{TUMOians in the creative writing lab with Elias Sorich and Alex Ulloa met up for a reading in Tumanyan Park, 2019}

Writing is one of TUMO’s 14 learning areas, but this lab is different from typical writing workshops and self-learning exercises at TUMO. Let’s discover why.

This workshop, dedicated to literature, can stretch from 6 to 9 months, in which time TUMOians go through a long creative process with experts at Columbia University, learn about different genres, conduct extensive research, improve their English, and more.

Matthew Gonzalez is a graduate student at the Columbia University School of the Arts; his focus is on poetry and literary translations. With him, dozens of students who have connected online from Armenia and Artsakh have uncovered the principles of poetry, their role in any literary composition, the secrets of combining more than one language in one piece, and much more.

“My favorite lesson and the lesson that I think the students really love the most, is one called ‘Nonsense’. I think the students really like it, too, because it is itself kind of a synthesis of so many other genres like surrealism, symbolism, dadaism. The students are really good at nonsense, because it allows them to play with language like a texture,” recounts Mathew.

Matthew describes his poetry as an admixture of the tentacles of the Information Age, French Symbolism, and the scale, proportion, and myth of the cosmos down to the subatomic microcosmos. For Matthew, poetry is everywhere. “When something is really, really beautiful or artistic, you could say it’s very poetic… I don’t teach how to write a poem. I teach how to write the idea of poetry or turn anything that is beautiful into something poetic. I allow students to write whatever they want, helping them along the way in one of the most important aspects — applying metaphors. Since metaphors have a significant role in poetry, I teach the techniques of using them,” says Matthew.

Matthew really loves TUMO and TUMOians. Besides the two online workshops, he has also been to Armenia twice and led learning labs that allowed him to interact with the students in Yerevan and Gyumri in person. He is impatiently waiting to return this summer. He says that from the first lesson at TUMO he was already impressed by how prepared the students were, by how they supported him during the classes, and by how much potential and desire to learn they possessed.

^{Matthew Gonzalez’s lab at TUMO Gyumri, 2022}

“I’ve learned so much and gained many benefits from my students. They are very honest and will sense if you don’t know what you’re talking about. Teaching is also like seeing the world through new eyes, and the students from TUMO have really, really enthusiastic and artistic eyes too,” Matthew describes the workshop participants.

Over the past few years, this workshop has formed a bridge between Yerevan, Gyumri, Stepanakert, Kapan, Artik, and a list of other Armenian communities and New York. Maria Melik-Karamyan from the TUMO Box in Kapan, for example, says that for her the workshop was an opportunity for self-discovery. “I’ve started to write in a more distinct and interesting way. Soon, the three stories I’ve written throughout the workshops will be published in the online journal that my friend and I started,” she says.

TUMO Gyumri student Marianna Harutyunyan notes that, besides her writing skills, the worksop has developed her time management skills, and Ruzanna Sargsyan of the TUMO Box in Artik says, “For me, the most important achievement from this workshop was that I was able to develop the characters in my head and put them to paper. I started to see my stories from a different perspective, and was better able to make decisions when writing and understand what was working well for me and what I still needed to work on.”

Three Columbia University workshops have played a pivotal role in TUMO Yerevan alumnus Ani Sarafyan’s life. 17-year-old Ani says that the workshop helped her break the stereotype that “writing is a gift given from above”. “I understood that writing is serious, systematic work; a means of continuously working on yourself”, shares Ani. She adds that, as a result of the workshop she gained new friends and mentors from the other side of the world, who, despite the linguistic and cultural differences, are able to understand her with just one glance.

^{Rachel Keranen’s lab at TUMO Yerevan, 2020}

“They’re young, impressionable, and free. A little guidance to help them find their artistic vision and their direction; my work is a service meant to accomplish just that, which I love to do”, concludes Matthew.

Year over year, the results from these workshops — workshops led by experts from one of the best arts departments in the world, from one of the best universities in the world — point to the strength of this collaboration. It also guarantees a whole army of young contemporary artists that are bound to emerge in the field of literature. If you’re looking for proof, we suggest taking a look at the student’s writing compositions in the TUMO Portfolio.