PCC News
PCC’s Board Meetings
Persian Cultural Center’s board of directors holds its meetings on every second Wednesday of the month virtually, via Zoom. The last two meetings took place on May 10 and June 7, 2023.
A Poet and A Poem—May 17, 2023
In this virtual event hosted by Farshad Babakhani and PCC’s Poetry & Literature Committee, the biography and poems of “Ghatran Tabrizi” were presented by the Poetry & Literature Group of San Diego. Poems were also recited by a young student from the Iranian School of San Diego (ISSD) and poems were recited by other attendees.
PCC Annual Meeting and Election—May 21, 2023
PCC’s annual meeting and the election of new board members was held at ISSD on May 21, 2023. To start things off, the president of the board, Ms. Shahla Salah, gave a report on PCC’s annual activities. Ms. Farideh Fazel presented the financial report of Kanoon, followed by Mr. Ali Sadr with the Iranian School of San Diego and Peyk magazine reports. The program continued with the candidates introducing themselves to the audience. At the end of the meeting, the election was held and Ms. Mercedeh Hashemi, Mr. Hamid Rafizadeh, Mr. Mahmoud Reza Pirouzian, Ms. Tayebeh Bahmani, and Ms. Parnian Badii were elected as voting members, with Ms. Sara Alavi and Ms. Marshia (Sedighi) Hashemi elected as alternate members.
Film & Discussion Series—May 25, 2023
The selected movie for the month of May was The Banshees of Inisherin (2022), a film directed by Martin McDonagh. The guest of the program was Scott Krause, who reviewed the film and answered the audience’s questions. The program host and moderator was Rana Salimi.
ISSD End of School Year Celebration—May 28, 2023
Students, parents, and teachers of ISSD celebrated the end of the school year at Mt. Carmel High School on May 28, 2023. The program started with a beautiful dance by the members of the Dance Academy. The winners of the “Reading Olympics” were then recognized and received their awards. More dancing and entertainment followed. Members of the class of 2023 then came on the stage to receive their graduation certificates. The celebration included fun activities such as an apple eating contest and a cake walk. In the end, the students received their report cards and enjoyed delicious hot dogs and pizza.
Jong e Farangi—June 9, 2023
After a relatively long break, the popular Jong e Farangi resumed on June 9 at the Iranian American Center (IAC) with host Ali Sadr. The guest of the program was Hesam Abedini, PhD, who presented a comprehensive and interesting lecture on “Inter-cultural Music in the Iranian community,” including several audio-visual samples. The audience participated in a discussion following the presentation.
A Poet and A Poem—June 21, 2023
The 22nd session of “A Poet and a Poem” was held on June 21. In this virtual session, the biography and the poems of “Zahir-al-Din Faryabi” were presented by the Poetry & Literature Group of San Diego, with the collaboration of a few young students.
Film & Discussion Series—June 29, 2023
June’s selected movie was The Artist (2011), directed by Michel Hazanavicius. The guest speaker was Peter Maxwell (adjunct faculty member, writer, and director) who reviewed the movie and answered attendees’ questions. The program host and moderator was Mahmoud Reza Pirouzian.
PCC’s Youth Committee—Spring 2023
On Earth Day, Saturday, April 22, Youth Committee members participated in I Love A Clean San Diego’s Creek to Bay clean up. Fifteen participants helped with the clean up of one of the sites in Balboa Park. The committee also held its sixth annual food drive in May. All of the collected food was donated to the San Diego Food Bank.
During the May 5 meeting, committee members recognized three high school graduates and their acceptance to college—congratulations to Anita Taha, Reza Ghaem, and Adreen Fazel! Several committee members helped ISSD’s end of the year celebration on May 28. The group would like to hold another family night event and is looking into fundraising events in collaboration with several restaurants. Please check the PCC website and social media accounts for future events and announcements.
