From Bridgeport to Bahrain, business as usual is no more.
The old is shaking out. The present belongs to creative, enterprising, sharp and adaptable people. More than one entrepreneur is looking at a Blackberry today and wondering, “What is the next big thing?” And that”™s universal from Bethel to, yes, again Bahrain.
Seated in a serene townhouse development in Danbury, one woman knows the definition of success will change, but the path to its door has always wended through the corridors of education.
She has already played a role in the vision of education-fueled change in the Middle East. It remains to be seen if her Bahraini success will find a local outlet for her considerable energies.
Halfway across the world, individuals from the public and private sectors are working toward an “Economic Vision 2030” for Bahrain, the Arabic island microstate in the Persian Gulf. They”™re members of the Economic Development Board, a public agency that promotes economic development for Bahrain, the “Kingdom of Two Seas.”
The board has outlined a direction for Bahrain”™s economy and society and part of the vision is an increased emphasis on quality education.
Adrine Katchadurian has not exactly sat around waiting for that proclamation. The educator and entrepreneur recently “retired” and, back in the U.S., Katchadurian is ready for a new adventure.
“There is so much new information out there,” Katchadurian said. “I honestly think that one lifetime is not enough to learn and see everything you want to do.”
A glimpse of her CV indicates otherwise. Her talents range from a high school biology teacher to founder of the first all-girls private school in Bahrain.
An American citizen of Armenian descent, Katchadurian was born in Jerusalem. She has traveled extensively, worked as both an educator and student, managed an arts business and raised a family.
She continues to reinvent herself.
During a recent interview at her Mill Road home, Katchadurian talked about changes in the Middle East, economic concerns here and abroad, a passion for teaching, a bond with her family and friends, and a love of cooking, entertaining and collecting Middle Eastern artwork and artifacts.
The walls of her townhouse are bedecked with brilliant paintings and other works of art. Each room hosts a collection of treasures ”“ too many to note. Aromatic, spicy scents fill the air; home-made potato soup simmers on the stove.
Katchadurian is fluent in English, Armenian, Arabic and French. She was educated in Beirut, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree and did graduate studies in biology. She was a lab instructor at the American University of Beirut until 1964, when she emigrated from Lebanon to New York.
She studied medical research at New York University. A career in teaching was not part of her plan ”“ then.
Married with two children, Katchadurian decided to focus on her family. “It was hard to have a 9-to-5 job. So, I was a stay-at-home mom and I raised two kids. But as my daughter was growing up ”¦ I got involved in the Armenian school and that is where my passion for education started.”
From 1974 to 1981, Katchadurian was a teacher, then educational director, at Holy Martyrs Armenian Language School in Queens; she holds a Master of Science degree in science education.
She then went on to teach biology and general science at Cold Spring Harbor High School in Long Island.
Katchadurian returned to the Middle East in 1983 to teach biology, chemistry and general science at the Bahrain School. Two years later, she became a consultant to the Bahrain Bayan School and then its coordinator for Arabic studies.
In September 2000, she was hired as the international baccalaureate and Arabic studies coordinator at the Bahrain School (a Department of Defense Dependents School, a network of schools serving dependents of the U.S. military and other non-U.S. personnel outside the U.S.).
Her biggest career challenge was soon to follow. In March 2001, Katchadurian was asked by the Royal Court of the Kingdom of Bahrain to establish the first all-girls private school there.
“There was a tremendous need for the school. Tremendous. People wanted their girls separated from their boys. They felt they were getting too liberal. That wasn”™t quite my idea but ”¦ I was willing to do that. But I do also believe that girls do better, especially in their formative years as teenagers (in an all-girls school). Girls are shy around boys ”¦ they”™re a little hesitant with the sciences and the math when boys are around ”¦ there are advantages to being in an all-girls school.”
She was soon principal of the Shaikha Hessa Girls School.
“The building wasn”™t completed. I had to decide on the teachers. The first year we started K through elementary grade 3 (it was an American curriculum school, but bilingual, Arabic and English). So during those first few months I worked liked crazy, deciding on curricula, getting library books, some of the furniture was ordered but I had to oversee that. I never forget the week the school was to open, we had orientation and I realized there were no clocks on the wall, no garbage bins. I was going all over. At one point I”™m making decisions about curricula and the next minute which water company we”™re using.”
Katchadurian completed her assignment and the American-accredited school opened with eight students and 16 staff members; by the end of the year there were 18 students.
But her work was just beginning.
“I used to sit down and read every report card. I knew every child by name. The parents were just amazed. I wasn”™t a sit-in-the-office kind of principal. I was always running around. I was in the classrooms. I was with the kids, every recess, every lunch-time, I was right there. I used to make sure I had no appointments during those times so I could see the kids and be with them. I had cookies and candy in my office for them and they would come in”¦ people were amazed. What kind of principal is this? But it didn”™t matter. I loved the fact that I did not scare them like in other schools.”
The school had an international teaching staff, she said. “Mostly they fell in my lap. I used to go to recruiting fairs ”“ Toronto, England, Dubai ”“ but people hear about you. My music teacher was a wonderful Polish girl. I had Canadians, British, American ”“ it was a very nice mix. Although the school wasn”™t international.”
Katchadurian, who left her post in 2008, is proud of the students she met in her seven-and-a-half years as principal. “The year I left we had our first graduating class (and 350 students enrolled).”
Katchadurian said she retired as principal to move closer to her family in New York. She settled in Danbury ”“ her son, daughter, their spouses and children live nearby ”“ and she has an apartment in London. As of this writing, she was traveling abroad.
Does she miss her work?
“Sort of. I”™m not bored. It”™s just that I feel like I”™m not using my talents. I want to do something. I would love to volunteer.” (She has been an active fundraiser for the American Women”™s Association, the Bahrain Cancer Society and other organizations.)
“I don”™t want a full-time job, but I feel like, although I”™m keeping busy, I”™m not doing anything useful with my time. At the beginning I was setting up the house, opening boxes, hanging paintings. But now I feel there is only so much you can read, work on the computer.
“I”™ve been spoiled, actually. In the past, things have just fallen in my lap at every point in my career, in my life, and I consider myself privileged in that sense. ”¦ I never went out to look for a job. And this is why this idea now of starting to look for a job is alien to me.”
She does miss the “very social” Bahrain.
“Bahrain is a very international place, for a tiny island. The people I have met have been fascinating. I was friends with all the major military people from the U.S. Navy and ambassadors from all countries. ”¦ It was a fascinating lifestyle, absolutely fascinating.
The Bahrainis themselves are very outgoing ”¦ they”™re wonderful friends. I don”™t know what was the magic there, but I had wonderful relationships with everybody.”
She recalls, fondly, entertaining and hosting guests.
“I have hosted many parties in my house for visiting dignitaries both from the school, the navy, the Bahraini community and the diplomatic corps in Bahrain. One of the former admirals in Bahrain had dubbed me ”˜the Perle Mesta of the Bahraini Society,”™” she said, referencing Washington, D.C.”™s original “hostess with the mostess.”
And now she”™s ready for new challenges. “I”™ve done it all ”¦ I feel if you have basic intelligence, anybody can do anything.”
