Fruits and veggies

(From top) Pre-primary students of Takshila School, Bhubaneswar, take part in a vegetable fancy dress competition; grandparents’ day being celebrated at Sai International School, Bhubaneswar; students take part in the 100 metres hurdle event at the 15th ASISC National Athletic Meet 2011 in Rourkela; Kajol Mahapatra (left) of BJEM School and Rituparna Padhy of Mothers’ Public School have qualified for the South Asia finals of Horlicks Wizkids and students of Carmel School, Rourkela, demonstrate human evolution through cutouts, charts and models during the institution’s annual exhibition.Telegraph pictures and pictures by Uttam Kumar Pal

Takshila School, Bhubaneswar organised a “Vegetable Fancy Dress” competition for the pre-primary students on November 4. The young participants dressed up either as fruits or vegetables and talked about themselves. This was in line with their theme for the month, which is “Our Lifeline — Food”. During the last month, children were taken to fruit and vegetable markets to interact with vendors and learn about weighing measures. On campus, they were taught to prepare fast food such as chaat and various kinds of salads. School director Sikata Das gave attractive awards and gift tokens, besides special prizes to the little chefs.

For parents, a “Breakfast for My Baby” competition was also conducted and they were judged on certain criteria such as taste, hygiene, nutritional value, presentation, local availability of ingredients, difficulty level and preparation time. The aim was to create awareness about healthy food, especially for a generation hung on junk food, said principal Lipsita Mohanty.

Wizkids finale

Kajol Mahapatra from BJEM School, Bhubaneswar and Rituparna Padhy from Mothers' Public School, Bhubaneswar have been selected to represent the city in the South Asia finals of the Horlicks Wizkids competition scheduled to be held in Bangalore from November 14 to 19. Kajol is a student of Class X while Rituparna studies in Class VII.

The two were adjudged winners of the Bhubaneswar city finals held on September 21. Around 45 contestants from India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are expected to compete in the final round and four winners will win a scholarship worth Rs 4 lakh each along with a trip to the United Nations in Geneva.

Sporting action

The two-day 15th Association of Indian School Certificate (ASISC) National Athletics Meet-2011 was held at Ispat Stadium, Rourkela on November 8 in which around 600 students from 10 states competed in track and field events.

G. S. Prasad, chief executive officer of Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP), inaugurated the event.

He also hoisted the ASISC sports flag and inspected a march past presented by the participating teams.

Addressing the gathering, Prasad, said: “Many sporting icons have emerged from Rourkela schools and gone on to become great sportspersons at both national and international levels.” He also promised to provide adequate infrastructure, training and opportunities to nurture budding sportspersons of the Steel City. He also presented the awards to the winners of the first events of the meet. The school students presented a cultural programme during the inaugural function.

Creative pursuits

Students of Carmel School, Rourkela depicted human evolution through handmade cutouts, charts and models during the school’s annual exhibition on November 6. The theme for the event was “Renaissance”. Subrat Tarai, MLA of Raghunathpally and Rashmibala Misra, chairperson of Rourkela Municipality were the guests on this occasion.

Scientific temper

Indo English School, Rourkela also conducted its annual science exhibition on its campus on November 6. Over 250 students from Class I to XII took part and presented innovative models, graphics and charts to explain various concepts of physics, chemistry, biology, environmental studies, computer science and mathematics.

Multimedia modules such as one based on the poem, “The Road Not Taken”, another on “Making Vedvyas Child Safe” and a third one on “Extracting DNA from Fruit” developed by the students earned the appreciation of the visitors and teachers.

Saroj Kanti Mishra, director-in-charge of Ispat General Hospital, and Bidyadhar Subudhi, head of Centre for Industrial Electronics and Robotics, attended the function as guests. A panel of eminent educationists judged the exhibits and the winners were later awarded, said principal Manju Mukherjee.

MY Take

The day I ran away from home
I'm a decent guy, with a good heart and a sound mind.
Yet, one day, I thought, the world wasn't enough. I rode my cycle and went on and on, I promised myself I wouldn’t come back, till the world calls out. I thought I knew a lot of people ,whom I could do without Some called it a “soul searching” trip others, a depression
attack Whatever it was, there was a great deal of introspection,
A sinful life I lead was a realisation, my shadow so pitiful, it cloaks itself in darkness, my soul so hollow, it drowns within my sins, yet, I knew then, I know now, A sin isn’t washed away by fears, it has to be endured for eternity.
Well, as emotions circled round my head, Like spokes on my cycle wheels, I evaluated there was nothing new, That I had learnt about myself Cause that every man is a sinner, Is known even by a toddler
So, was my little “soul searching” trip futile? What was I searching for in this labyrinth of fears? Surely not my elders’ tears! There it was, the breakthrough
I’d set out, to find how far I could go, Without ever having to turn back without caring for the ones around me, The ones I thought I could do without, I had run away from home, Only to remember where
To go forward, I didn’t dare,My trip has its purpose achieved, doesn't matter if it was short lived, Well, that was just me, What about you? Is your trip ended yet, Don't tell me it still has to start!
Prayagdeep Parija,
Class XII,
Sai International School,
Bhubaneswar