The Community and School Association (a.k.a. “Anjoman”) of the Iran Cultural and Educational Center (ICEC) is a liaison group between the families, the community at large, and the Center. This Anjoman exists to provide a vital service to the Center’s leadership and the Center’s community by involvement of parents in the activities and general welfare of the Center. It is an integral part of the school community representing all parents and care givers of the students, past and present, at the center.

The Anjoman provides an opportunity for parents to meet formally and regularly with the Center’s officers to ensure necessary coordination is done for various activities for the center and its community and, most importantly the students. The Anjoman allows the parents and Center staff to assist each other and contribute significantly to the life and the welfare of the Center and the students. It has as its main purpose to facilitate involvement, contributions, and networking among the parents’ community and school-to-parents. Overall goals of the Anjoman are:

• Build positive Center spirit.
• Nurture both parent-to-parent and school-to-parent communication.
• Help with special classrooms’ support and activities on a volunteer basis.

Community & School Association (“ANJOMAN” )- Structure

The Anjoman is a volunteer-based group. The members are the parents, guardians and/or custodians of currently and /or past enrolled students at the center. Members are invited to the center’s various socials for all year groups and family events. Upon joining the center, parents are:

• Eligible to be a member of the Anjoman
• Welcome to attend ALL Anjoman meetings
• Invited to apply and contribute to various volunteer opportunities
• Eligible to serve as a representative for the Anjoman

OFFICERS
The activities of the ICEC’s Anjoman are carried out by elected officers selected from among the members of the Anjoman and by Committee chairs and members.

The officers include representative of the families currently attending the center. The Officers consist of the following members: the current president, the immediate past-president, the president-elect, and four vice-presidents (administrative, finance, culture and education). The officers are elected during the first Anjoman meeting, except the president who would be the president elect from previous year. All candidates for the officers’ positions should have been active member supporting school various committees and events for at least three years.

The officers meet as needed and have written responsibilities to follow. The president is responsible to organize Anjoman meetings and to report directly to the center’s officers.

The organization chart for the ICEC’s Anjoman is as follows:

The following are the roles and responsibilities of elected Officers:

President:

• Direct liaison between families and the center.
• Oversees the overall activities of Anjoman;
• Sets-up an operational budget for Anjoman activities and obtain its approval from ICEC’s officers.
• Implements the guidelines set by ICEC’s officers for the Anjoman activities.
• Sets-up guidelines for activities, if none existing, and obtains its approval from ICEC’s officers.
• Represents the Anjoman in all direct communications with families.
• Stays in regular communications with the Anjoman offices.
• Reviews all communications regarding Anjoman’s events with ICEC’s officers prior to production and/or distribution.

President-elect:

• Works closely with the president in all Anjoman’s activities.
• Assists in keeping files/memos/notes of Anjoman activities for the record.
• Backs-up the president in running of the Anjoman meetings or in communication with ICEC officers, staff & families.
• Backs-up the president in overseeing the overall activities of Anjoman;
• Assists in the Anjoman’s major event “Nowruz” committee activities.

Immediate Past-President:

• Provides all the information regarding Anjoman’s activities from previous years to the president.
• Provides mentoring to the president in all activities related to Association-Anjoman;
• Assists in the Anjoman’s major event “Nowruz” committee;

Vice-Presidents:

• Reviews the guidelines established for the committees with the committee chairs;
• Meets regularly with the committee chairs for update of their activities;
• Assist the committee chairs, as needed;
• Reports directly to the Anjoman’s officers;

Here are specific responsibilities for Vice-Presidents:

VP of Finance:

• Takes the role of treasurer and is responsible for all the financial transactions for Anjoman;
• Keeps track of all the costs, and income from any of the Anjoman’s activities;
• Compiles the annual financial report of the Association-Anjoman finance status and share with the Center;
• Oversees product sale, such as CD and DVD of the programs, and/or any other products

VP of Cultural:

• Coordinates activities for cultural events such as Mehregan and Yalda, Community Festivals, Nowruz, and Picnic;
• Makes sure all the activities are open to all the students;
• Helps individual committees chair to set up plans for each of the committee activities such as time for flyer distribution, and meeting time;
• Makes sure the programs planned by each committee are cultural in nature and do not have any political or religious theme;

VP of Education:

• Assists the ICEC teachers in educational activities as needed;
• Provides assistance in copying materials for students;
• Works as a class representative for event activities;
• Overseas the ICEC library storage and book distributions at the Center;
• Takes care of the Anjoman’s “Iran box” and keeps track of it.

VP of Administrative:

• Assists with administrative activities at the Center;
• Organizes activities for student registration;
• Overseas all the electronic communications;
• Maintains the Center’s website;
• Updates the student’s database;
• Organizes the public relation activities such as photography and videography for the Center;

COMMITTEESS

The ICEC’s Anjoman has various committees that are active in the planning, preparation, and implementation of cultural events at the Center and in the community. The membership to these committees is open to all families. The member can sign up for the committees of their interest at the first Anjoman meeting which is held in the fall. Each committee will choose a chair to be responsible to liaison with the -Anjoman’s officers and report back to members.

The Committees for the -Anjoman are as follows:

• Cultural Event Committees (Mehregan, Yalda and Nowruz, and Outreach activities)
• Community Festival Committee (Montgomery County Arts Festival and Imagination Bethesda Children’s Festival)
• Class Representative Committee (from Kindergarten to 8th grade)
• Technology Committee (Website, Facebook Page, Email List)
• In-School Events Committee (Career Day, Writer’s Workshop, and Cultural Arts & Crafts)
• Picnic Committee (Summer gathering & Sizdehbedar events)
• Security Committee (Assist ICEC in managing students and visitors)

Each committee is led by a committee chair that is selected from the volunteers who signed up in that committee. The responsibilities of the committee chairs are as such:

Committee Chair

• Makes sure there are enough volunteers signed up to perform the Anjoman activities;
• Sets up the plan for committee activities and obtain approvals from the appropriate VP;
• Sets-up the time line needed for the committee activities to be performed appropriately such as time for distribution of flyers and schedule committee meetings;
• Communicates regularly with the committee members about the activities via email, Communication platform such as ZOOM, and/or phone;
• Makes sure the committee’s planed activity does not have any political or religious themes and meets the ICEC guidelines;
• Reports regularly to designated VP and -Anjoman’s officers
• Provides financial reports to -Anjoman’s VP of finance
• Completes a final report on the committee activities performed for the Anjoman’s records;

Description of Committee Activities:

Cultural Event Committees

• Mehregan: This event is scheduled to take place in the fall, usually in mid-October. Selected students from the Center perform music, skit, poetry and dance for this program. This event is open for all students and their families and takes place during school time on a Saturday. Volunteers plan the program, furnish materials needed, transport materials from and to storage spaces outside the school, set up and box back the props for day of the event, make decoration, select performers, practice with the performers, manage sound system, and make sure the program meets ICEC guidelines.  Minimum of four (4) volunteers are needed.
• Yalda: This event is scheduled to take place in the winter, around winter Solstice in December. Selected students from the center perform music, skit, poetry and dance for this program. This event is open for all students and their families and takes place during school time on a Saturday.  Volunteers plan the program, furnish materials needed, transport materials from and to storage spaces outside the school, set up and box back the props for day of the event, make decoration, select performers, practice with the performers, manage sound system, and make sure that the program meets ICEC guidelines.  Minimum of seven (7) volunteers are needed.
• Nowruz: This is the main event for the -Anjoman and the Center. All students at the Center and all the extracurricular activity groups (Persian Dance Troupe, Young Iranian Musicians and Young Iranian Performers) perform at this program. This event has two parts to it, a program and a reception. This event is by ticket only and it is open to all students and their families. The Anjoman volunteers are involved in all aspects of this event including setting up the venue, food, and celebration. They work closely with ICEC teachers and staff to prepare all the students at the Center for performance at the Nowruz event. The Nowruz program has its own guidelines and requirements that can be viewed at ICEC website.  Some activities need volunteers on the day of the event for a couple of hours and some activities start in July for logistics planning.  More information will be available during first meeting of the Nowruz committee. The Nowruz program has its own guidelines and requirements that can be viewed below.

Nowruz Committee Guidelines  view 

• Community Festival Committee: The ICEC, as an educational and cultural center, participates in the local festivals in the State of Maryland. The two main festivals are: 1) Montgomery County Cultural & Arts festival in Silver Spring, Maryland and 2) The Imagination Bethesda, Children’s festival in downtown Bethesda, Maryland. The community festival committee sets-up on behalf of the Center, informational booth where the center’s students volunteer and provide children’s activities such as face-painting, writing Farsi names on book-marks, and sharing information about the Center and Iranian culture. Students of the Center volunteering for these programs receive community service hours.  Volunteers work with Community event liaison and finds students and volunteers to setup the display and clean up afterwards.  The props need to be transported from and to the storage spaces.  Minimum of four (4) volunteers are needed.
• Class Representative Committee: This committee is responsible for assisting teachers in various class related activities. Each committee member will work directly with the class teacher to help with preparation of Nowruz program and /or any other activities.  Two (2) volunteers are needed.
• Technology Committee: This committee assists ICEC in all the administrative related activities. Member of this committee organize registration, prepare the school booklet, Nowruz program booklet, maintain ICEC website, maintain ICEC Facebook Page, liaise with school for posting of information to families via mailing system, and is in charge of all photo and video coverage for the center’s activities. Minimum of four (4) volunteers are needed.
• In-School Events Committee (Career Day): This committee assists ICEC’s educational administrators and teachers with center sponsored events, which are Career Day, Writer’s workshop, and Cultural Arts and Crafts. These events are open for all students and their families and takes place during school hours on a Saturday.  Volunteers plan the program, furnish materials needed, transport materials from and to storage spaces outside the school, set up and box back the props for day of the event, make decoration, and make sure the program meets ICEC guidelines.  Minimum of five (5) volunteers are needed.

• Picnic Committee (Summer gathering & Sizdehbedar events): This committee organizes outdoor activities such as Sizdehbedar and summer picnic for the students and families. The committee is responsible for renting a shelter for Spring or Summer picnic, getting volunteers to help with the setup and communicate the events date and location to the families. The Anjoman’s president will make the arrangement for the shelter’s rental.  Minimum of five (5) volunteers are needed.

• Security Committee: This committee coordinates in inviting volunteers to monitor the entrance door and hallway during school hours to make sure students are safe and secure. They make sure students do not leave school unless accompanied with their parents.  The volunteers also accompany the class going outside for a break (younger children) or a class project. During Nowruz program, these volunteers also watch to make sure students are safe.  Minimum of two (2) volunteers are needed.

• Career Day Committee: This committee utilizes key resources and relationships to offer a career day for ICEC students in which ICEC Alumni or partners from a variety of backgrounds come together at a school to share information about their workplace, their job, and the education and skills that are required for success in their career.

• Outreach Committee: This committee utilizes appropriate resources to provide an avenue of collaboration between ICEC and other cultural and educational organizations that share the same values.  As part of this collaboration, the Committee identifies events that aim at promoting cultural diversity and awareness and are not used for fundraising purposes, to showcase/positively represent /underscore ICEC mission and purpose. 

Please join ICEC committees to help with different programs.  (Join)

Association-Anjoman’s Officers and Team members (2018-2019)

Position	Name	E-mail
President:	Reza EmtiazNoori	CSA1@iraneducationalcenter.org
President-Elect:	Farahnaz Behroozi	CSA2@iraneducationalcenter.org
Immediate Past-President	Keyvan Farooghi	CSA3@Iraneducationalcenter.org
VP of Finance	Ali Feizi	CSA-fin@iraneducationalcenter.org
VP of Education	TBD	CSA-Edu@iraneducationalcenter.org
VP of Cultural	TBD	CSA-cul@iraneducationalcenter.org
VP of Administrative	Afshin Sharifi	CSA-adm@iraneducationalcenter.org
Chair of Mehregan Committee	TBD	Mehregan@iraneducationalcenter.org
Chair of Yalda Committee	TBD	Yalda@iraneducationalcenter.org
Chair of Festival Committee	TBD	festivals@iraneducationalcenter.org
Chair of Class Rep. Committee	TBD	Nowruz_C@iraneducationalcenter.org
Chair of security Committee	TBD	security@iraneducationalcenter.org
Chair of Nowruz Committee	TBD	Nowruz@iraneducationalcenter.org
Chair of Picnic Committee	TBD	picnic@iraneducationalcenter.org