 |
| A student of Sai International School, Bhubaneswar, participates in an adventure camp organised on the school campus.Telegraph picture |
Nimble moves
The 12th Rajdhani Book Fair in the capital was agog with the melodious strains of Indian music and art as the students of Takshila School, Bhubaneswar, presented a dance medley Mile Sur Mera Tumhara, an instrumental jugalbandi and a one-act play on December 2.
The students presented regional dances that climaxed in a soulful rendition of Mile Sur Mera Tumhara to underline the unique cultural diversity of India.
It was followed by a jugalbandi between two students of Class VI, Aditya Mishra on guitar and Rajeshwar Nayak on tabla.
The last performance of the evening was by students of classes I to IV.
They presented a play “Fun with Learning” that brought out the difference between the traditional mode of rote learning and the pedagogy followed at Takshila School.
The school stresses on EDAC learning, which means: Excite, Engage and Encourage; Discover, Do and Document; Assimilate, Analyse and Apply; Consolidate, Construct and Create.
 |
| Students of Takshila School, Bhubaneswar, perform a folk dance at the Rajdhani Book Fair. Telegraph picture |
Adventure camp
Like every year, the students of Sai International School, Bhubaneswar, gave up the comforts of home and took part in an “Adventure Camp” organised by the school on its premises in association with The New Horizon Adventures, New Delhi.
The camp, which aims at inculcating qualities such as team building, discipline, leadership, creativity and self-confidence through training in daredevil activities, was held on December 5 and 6. The students participated in physical and mental activities and “obstacle” courses such as Tyrolean traverse, rappelling, suspension method of river crossing, free fall, zorbing, slack line, tug-of-war, commando net, monkey crawl, among others. The second phase of the camp started on December 8 and would conclude tomorrow.
Babies’ day out
The Little Millennium School, Bhubaneswar, celebrated its annual sports day and a gala carnival on December 9 on its campus. A fun event titled “Babies Day Out” was organised in which little students and their parents took part in an array of amusing and exciting activities such as ball game, puzzles, pin the tail, sand fishing, mom and me, art and crafts, musical chair and parent-child coordination.
“It was a perfect Saturday. While the kids exhibited their hidden talents, it was great to see parents becoming children again,” said principal Maitreyi Patnaik.
Sports time
It was an action-packed day at the Ruchika High School, Bhubaneswar, on December 4. From long jumps and marathon to shot put and dribbling, students showcased their sporting skills at the school’s annual sports day. The day started with a march past, and was followed by various drills, yoga, athletics and fun races.
Nilamadhab Nanda, former deputy secretary of secondary education, was the chief guest and gave away the prizes to the winners of various events. Principal Ferhat Ahmed read out the annual report and highlighted the achievements of the students in the last one year.
MY TAKE
A Tragic End
Come, listen to a tale
of a tragic end
With no true witness
No one to pray for the departed
And no remains
of the mistress.
A grey towered castle against grey slab rocks
Stood in an abandoned island, amidst the sea.
Neither fauna,
nor village folks
Dared explore the
island, so strange
and eerie.
But the glittering sea concealed tales untold
The castle walls
bore witness to the
unknown history
The solitary call
for liberation;
yet so bold
And the surrounding held an air
of great mystery.
The remote place had
a world of its own
The walls were bars
for someone beautiful
With withered fate,
and scathed fortune
As no mortal did
respond to her
desperate call.
Grown immune at last had she,
to prison life
Its pains, away from
the essence of
the world
Had stopped every hope, strife
A hapless victim,
as they called.
Yet one day the
magnificent bells tolled
Announced of freedom, unrestricted mortality But no one came,
no voice called
No Rapunzel is she
nor sleeping beauty.
Twenty years passed
Twenty years of
solitude.
And today,
our dear lady lives
her last
Once the cynosure
of the eyes of a
multitude.
The imposing edifice was lifeless but,
With its vexing peace and tranquility
A dead soul decayed behind the doors shut
As panorama of life
juxtaposed with reality.
Pratikshya Mishra,
Class XII
Loyola School,
Bhubaneswar
Academics with values
 |
| James Tharaniyil. Telegraph picture |
The St Joseph’s School, Kendrapara, has emerged as a premier English medium school in this coastal district within a decade-and-a-half of its establishment. Academic excellence coupled with discipline has been the recipe for the school’s success, principal Father James Tharaniyil said.
Tharaniyil, a strict disciplinarian widely respected for amiable and cordial traits, said the ICSE-affiliated school started in 1996 with 40 students at a rented house in Santasai. Today it is one of the most sought after institutions with around 1,100 students from kindergarten to Class X. “Since Kendrapara does not have an ICSE school, the persistent demands of the people for quality education inspired us to start the school,” said Tharaniyil.
The school has been registering 100 per cent results since 2001. Apart from academics, the students excel in extra-curricular activities such as dance, singing, debate, essay writing, poem writing, story writing, elocution, art, craft, drawing, fancy dress, quiz and sports, which are held on a regular basis. “Our students have brought glory to the school by performing extremely well in various district-level and state-level competitions,” he said.
In order to update the knowledge of teachers and improve the teaching methodology, the school conducts in-service training and seminars by professional experts from the ICSE board. Second Saturdays of every month are reserved for parent-teacher meeting, following which staff meetings are conducted in which problems and issues raised by the parents are discussed. There is also a counselling department to deal with students’ issues.
“We orient our students to inculcate uncompromising human values and make them conscious citizens of this country,” he said.
Manoj Kar
