A Letter from Golestan
Please join us in securing the future of Persian immersion language education in the US.
Golestan is a nonprofit Persian language immersion school for children in Northern California. Our mission is to promote a strong sense of cultural identity through daily immersion in the Persian language as well as Persian arts and traditions. Speaking exclusively in Persian, Golestan’s teachers employ a hybrid, progressive curriculum to nurture and promote good citizenship in children. Golestan’s rich and unique program has created a buzz in the Bay Area and in Persian communities around the country, and is considered by many to be the crown jewel of the Bay Area Iranian American community’s accomplishments.
Since 2008, we have been establishing the school, training and retaining excellent teachers, and perfecting the curriculum. In the past five years, Golestan has created a replicable education model that all Iranian communities across the United States and Canada can use to establish similar programs. We’ve worked with over a dozen communities of all backgrounds, and there are now six schools in the Golestan Collective across three states. Boostan, a sister school, has just received its license and is about to be launched next month in San Mateo, California. We have been able to spread our program nationally and bring Persian language immersion education for children to many communities. We are also pleased to announce that our first Persian audio book of children’s stories will be released in March 2013. Our goal is to not only provide a model for early childhood Persian education, but to develop tools and educational material that can be useful to families everywhere in the diaspora as well as Iran.
We currently find ourselves at a major crossroads. Our building is for sale, and if we don’t buy it someone else will. Aside from the obvious benefits of keeping the property that we hold dear, displacement for us at this stage would not only be a detriment to our program, but would also threaten our long term viability. The goal of the Capital Campaign is to raise $1.6 million in donations to purchase the building in which we currently reside and secure a permanent home for Golestan. As daunting as the task may be, the prospect having a building of our own is absolutely invigorating. We will finally be able to offer financial aid to less privileged children, we will be better able to help other Iranian communities start new schools, and we will be completely sustainable on our program income alone. We need your help to achieve this goal!
This is our chance to secure the future of Golestan. By doing so, there will not only be a school like ours in every major metropolitan area in the next ten years, but our children (and our children’s children!) will someday send their own kids to Golestan or a Golestan inspired program in their area.
Please join us in securing Golestan’s future. Click here to find out more information on how to donate to the Capital Campaign. Please contact Yalda Modabber, the executive director of Golestan, to learn more (yalda@golestankids.com).
