EDUCATION

SCHOOL BUZZ
Students held them spellbound
Smriti Kak

Bhatnagar International Summit, a lead project of Manav Sthali Organisation, presented ‘Rhapsody’, a cultural fiesta at the Manav Sthali Auditorium, New Rajinder Nagar.

The programme, showcasing the talent of more than 500 students, began with an invocation to Goddess Saraswati. This was followed by a musical ‘Kingdom Grey’, wherein a transition of a kingdom from that of a gloomy one to jubilation was depicted.

‘Alex In Blunderland’, a rib-tickling comedy had the audience in splits. The chief guest on the occasion, Mr Sharad Yadav, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, in his speech praised the students for their hard work and performance.

A prize distribution ceremony was also organised to felicitate outstanding students. Founder of the school, Dr V. K. Bhatnagar, also addressed the students on the occasion and encouraged them to cope courageously with the challenges of life.

A power-packed show

The students of Nav Manav staged ‘Renaissance’ at the Manav Sthali Auditorium here yesterday. The programme was a scintillating mix of songs, dances and ballet.

The audience was pleasantly surprised when the little ones took to chanting shlokas from the Bhagwat Gita. The articulation of these youngsters was par excellence. ‘Valley of Hearts’, a musical concert, presented by the children between two and seven, showcased human experience blended with the hues of environment. It taught the lesson of being one with nature.

The students enthralled the audience with their skilful presentation of music and dance numbers. From ‘Colours of life’ to ‘Symphonic Melodies’ and to ‘Flights of Fancy’, the children presented a power packed show. 

Painting competition on child labour

Wisdom Tree, a publication house, organised a painting competition at the Heritage School, Vasant Kunj, on the occasion of May Day. The theme of the competition was ‘Against Child Labour’.

Union Minister of Labour Sahib Singh Verma was the guest of honour. The competition was judged by the eminent artists, like Subrata Kundu, Vir Munshi and Alka Raghuvanshi.

The workshop organised by Wisdom Tree had been designed to benefit participants in their academic and non-academic aspects of life.

Diploma programmes from Pathways

Pathways World School, the first International Baccalaureate school of Northern India, began its first academic session from April 28, 2003. The school would offer Primary Years and Diploma Programmes of the International Baccalaureate (Geneva) and International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) of the University of Cambridge.

The first session opened after a daylong orientation programme with the parents of over 100 students. “Pathways gives to its students the learning based on ‘multiple concepts of learning’ through experience, anywhere anytime learning, skills-based learning and lifelong learning rather than ‘conventional rote learning practices’, said the school authorities.

Silver jubilee of Vivekanand School

Vivekanand School, Anand Vihar, celebrated its silver jubilee. The Delhi State Unit chief of RSS, Mr Sathya Narayan Bansal, was the chief guest. The audience was apprised by the chairman, Mr Yogdhyam Ahuja, about the school’s journey.

From a school that had just a few on rolls at the time of its inception in 1978, it now boasts of having become a reputable educational institution Ahuja claimed.

A demo on fire safety

The Radisson Hotel held lectures and a demo on fire safety to educate Class XII students of DPS, Mathura Road. The demo was carried out under the supervision of the Assistant Manager Fire and Safety, Mr Hemant Jaggi. The students were taught how to keep their cool at the time of crisis. They were taught how to escape without causing a stampede and hurting others if fire broke out somewhere. 

Maharashtra Day

The students from Mother’s Pride were specially invited to perform the Ram Leela and a Maharashtrian dance at the function, organised to celebrate the Maharashtra day. The programme began with an oath taking ceremony where three-year-old Gautam Raveri administered the oath to the audience that included Deputy Prime Minister, L. K. Advani and a host of other dignitaries.

A rally for water conservation

The students and teachers of Children’s Valley School, Preet Vihar, marched carrying placards reading ‘Save Water, Save Nation’. The march was organised to bring forth the message of conservation and the need for proper utilisation of water.

The students have been assigned the task of keeping a check on the water utilisation in their areas. The school’s chairman, Mr Pradeep Jain, told to the students about the benefits of a water harvesting plant.

PRINCIPALSPEAK
Tough times don’t last , but tough people do

Setbacks are inevitable in life and these trials can be tragedies or triumphs, depending on how we handle them. If we are tough, we will treat these obstacles as testing ground of our inner strength, our ability to persevere and achieve our goals, surmounting all the problems that come in the way. When I talk of toughness, I am not talking about physically strong individuals, but those who have the mental strength to withstand all difficulties and failures.

We must constantly prepare and equip ourselves for any difficulties we could face in the future. People who have overcome obstacles are more secure than those who have never faced them are. We all have problems that discourage some time. But winners don’t get disheartened. An English proverb says, ‘A smooth sea never made a skilful mariner’. Everything is difficult before we make it easy through our determination and a positive attitude.

In fact, obstacles are a highway to success. In 1914, Thomas Edison, at the age of 67, lost his factory, which was worth a few million dollars, to fire. It had very little insurance. No longer a young man, Edison watched his lifetime effort go up in smoke and said, “There is great value in disaster. All our mistakes are burnt up. Thank God we can start a new.” In spite of the disaster, three weeks later, he invented the phonograph. Such an attitude deserves deep respect.

Our constant endeavour should be to update ourselves with new ideas and technology. We should move with times, as this helps us to face and accept life better. Most problems arise because of the absence of ideas. We need more and more ideas, which come from an open mind to solve problems satisfactorily.

There is always a silver lining in any gloomy situation, provided you starve the problems and feed opportunities. For every problem there could be several solutions and solutions point to opportunities. A wise and tough man has the mind set to take rigorous and positive action. Instead of praying to God to keep us away from problems, our prayer should be, “Oh God, please give me more wisdom to solve my problems.”

We face tough times because of failure. But for a wise man, failure is not falling down but staying down. Failure is not the end of dreams it is only the beginning. Failures pave path for success only if you are open to new ideas to success. All this was proven true by Abraham Lincoln, who after several failures became the President of America. The winner never quits and a quitter never wins! Martin Luther King rightly said, “We must accept finite disappointment but we must never lose infinite hope.”

Problems are the spice of life. If you meet them head on, they melt away. It depends purely upon the person’s mental make up how he prepares for life. “Life’s battles don’t always go, To the stronger and the faster man, But sooner or later the man who wins, Is the man who thinks he can.”

Madhu Chandra, Principal, Birla Vidya Niketan

DPS in joint initiative to mould children’s personality
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 4
Delhi Public School Society has announced the introduction of online courses in soft skills. The pilot project, a joint initiative between DPS and Personalitree, was launched at DPS, Mathura Road.

The project includes subjects like verbal and written communications, teamwork and leadership, personality development, self-confidence and grooming. These will be provided to children on demand and at their own pace.

Mr Narendra Kumar, Chairman of the DPS Society, said, “this joint initiative between DPS and Persoalitree is a part of sustained drive to round off a child’s education, which prepares them for challenges in life. We strongly believe that these courses in soft skills will play a critical role in the intellectual growth of children”. The faculty drawn for writing these soft skill courses include Shiv Khera, motivation guru and communication expert Sabira Merchant.