Remembering Aram

By the time the Seneca Valley basketball game began Valentine's night, pretty much everyone had heard about what happened to their classmate, Aram Azizyan.

Azizyan, a junior at Seneca Valley High School, passed away Tuesday morning due to complications from a liver transplant, according to school officials.

A memorial and funeral service were scheduled for 11 a.m. Friday, Feb. 17, at St. Mary's Armenian Church, 4125 Fessenden St. NW, Washington, DC; a funeral procession to All Souls Cemetery in Germantown was scheduled for noon.

"Aram was a fighter," said Seneca Valley Principal Marc Cohen, who knew Azizyan as a student at Martin Luther King Middle School. "He really showed us how to face this kind of a thing."

The Seneca Valley community followed Azizyan's journey online, through a website created by his family. Then the message changed:

"Today is a very sad day for all of us. After four weeks of struggling with post liver transplant surgery complications, severe brain infection, Aram passed away at Johns Hopkins Children's Hospital today, on February 14th at 8:45am."

Word spread quickly via social media networks. According to Cohen, a moment of silence was held at Tuesday night's basketball game; student's are planning to wear white on Friday, during Seneca's game against Damascus.

Cohen said school officials confirmed Azizyan's death with family members Tuesday afternoon and made a formal announcement to students on Wednesday. Letters were sent to parents, and grief counselors at were prepared to help students mourn. 

Ever since, Azizyan's classmates have been thinking of ways to honor his memory — 5K races and fundraisers to raise awareness about organ donation were a few ideas floating around.

Cohen said the school hopes to host a school-wide memorial for Azizyan next week.

"The students are looking at how they can turn this tragedy into something positive, something that can help other people," Cohen said.