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HomeThe Turkish School project started in 2004, when the majority of the Turkish American community stated they wanted a Turkish School in San Diego during a survey ATASC-SD had conducted. The board asked for volunteers to work in the project. In March 2004, a committee was formed solely for this project. The meetings began immediately. The group consisted of people with various backgrounds and they all brought their own skills and experience in different fields to make this big project happen. After working for 8 months, all the preparations were in place and the first day of school was announced. The school got a lot of attention from the community. The school aims to bring Turkish pre-school and school children together to teach Turkish as well as our traditions, history, geography, and culture. It also brings a lot of Turkish friends and adults together so that they can communicate better with their Turkish spouses, significant others, and friends. National Anthems of both countries were sung at the beginning of the ceremony which is always a very emotional moment for all us who live so far away from Turkey . After the opening speech the short introduction of the school and its objectives were given. Since the opening day coincided with Halloween and Ramadan, and it was also 2 days after The 81st Anniversary of Republic Day all of these important days were mentioned, remembered, and celebrated briefly. The ceremonies ended with a well known Turkish children's song “Daha dun annemizin” when all the children were holding the red and white balloons with the Turkish flag on them. The new ATA-SC San Diego Turkish School also had the pleasure of having Aynur Uzer, Education Attache as an honorary guest at the opening ceremonies. The founding members of the ATASC-SD Turkish School are: Alanur K Fisch, Ahmet Ilkgun Ike Cark, Dogan Seber, Gokhan Gulec, Gulbin Boz, Hulya Saygin, Meral Akman, Ozlem Erol, Reha Celikel, Ilkay Altintas and Seckin Ozturk. The first semester classes started as of Nov 7th, 2004. The school already has close to 50 students who have signed up for classes. This project is a very good example of reaching success when a community comes together to work with their hearts and souls to reach a common goal. We all wish the school will have the support of the community for the coming months and years. We also want to thank everybody who supported the school with their donations, kind words, their hard work and volunteerism. ATA-SC San Diego is very happy and proud to get a lot of support from the Turkish American Community in San Diego County in its various events and projects like this one. We all expect to see more of these projects to happen as we become a stronger community in US.
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