Mahadevi Birla World Academy
To make the summer vacations interesting and educative for the middle school students, the senior school of Mahadevi Birla World Academy organised a virtual camp — Meraki — on June 9. The camp had the children taking part in five attractive workshops and enjoying the occasion to the fullest.
Elysium of Creativity saw the students escaping into the world of literature, taking part in energetic conversations and ideating as writers in an interactive session.
Natok o Natyakala saw them giving acting a shot.
In Tech-ies, the students were actively involved in designing and graphic editing. They learnt to download YouTube videos in Mp3/Mp4 format, zip and unzip files and reduce the size of images.
Another activity, Prisms of Mind, saw them studying the paintings of renowned artists from different perspectives.
Greenvolution was a session conducted by the senior students. The latter educated the participants on relevant issues pertaining to the environment like soil degradation and water pollution.
“Meraki was a students’ initiative for other students to unleash their potential and creativity. The seniors took the middle school on a journey of sensory experiences, history, culture and technology,” said principal Anjana Saha.
Purushottam Bhagchandka Academic School
World Heritage Day is commemorated every year on April 18 to preserve the human heritage and recognise the efforts of the organisations working for it. Purushottam Bhagchandka Academic School also observed the occasion on April 19. The celebrations took place in the school’s auditorium with classes from VII to XII present as the audience. All the senior section teachers were also present, including the principal and the headmistress.
Opening with the morning assembly, consisting of the Lord’s prayer directed by the students of class XII, principal Madhuparna Andrews welcomed the students with an inaugural speech.
The anchors of the day, Abhigyan Banerjee and Dharma Sudhar, delivered an interactive speech about the introduction of various world heritage sites.
A PowerPoint presentation elaborated facts on how Unesco divides heritage into various categories. For natural heritage, different monuments and artefacts from various places of the world were shown.
In case of cultural heritage, the Jamaican music of Bob Marley, a famous Jamaican artist of the 19th century, was played. The song was dedicated to world heritage, and everybody enjoyed it. It was followed by an Indian folk dance performance called Kalbelia, by a group of three Class XII students on songs such as Rangeelo maro dholna. Another group of four Class XII students performed Dhunachi Naach on Bolo Durga Mai Ki Jai.
The last performance was carried out by the Class XII choir, who sang Heal the world by Michael Jackson.
“The main objective of the celebration was to enlighten the students about the value and significance the world’s heritage holds. Children were also familiarised with the rich cultural heritage we have,” said principal Madhuparna Andrews.
Heritage Academy High School, Howrah
Fancy dress, art, debate and other fun activities — the annual day of Heritage Academy High School, Howrah, was all that and more. The event was held to commemorate the birth anniversary of former rector Soumya Sadhan Bose.
The junior-most took part in a fancy dress competition. Students of Classes III and IV were part of a storytelling session. Students of Classes V and VI took part in an extempore event. There was a Just a Minute (JAM) session for Classes VII and VIII. The senior school (Classes IX to XI) took part in debate, quiz and dumb charades.
“A variety of events are planned to encourage maximum participation from students. And, they usually do. A lot of preparation goes behind our annual day event,” said school administrator Sourya Sadhan Bose.
Vivekananda Mission School
Vivekananda Mission School organised a carnival for the students of Primary and Pre-Primary units on March 25 and 26 to fill the little hearts with joy.
It began with the school rector doing the honours by cutting the ribbon, along with a group of excited little kids. There were many enthralling games, such as Feed the Monkey, Guess the Weight of the Cake, Treasure Hunt, Sort the balls, Spin the Wheel of Chocolates, Waddle through the Hurdle, and lucky draws. The teachers outdid themselves in organising various innovative ones as well.
The kids had great fun toppling over bottles in Hit the Pin or fishing out various collectibles from a box of sand in Treasure Hunt. There were several games to choose from.
The fun did not end there, as students got a chance to showcase their amazing talents in front of their friends and teachers on the open stage. A plethora of brilliant live performances, starting from recitation to dances, lit up the stage as the little ones reminded us of the bright stars they would become one day.
Various food stalls containing mouth-watering delicacies such as ice-cream, momos, phuchkas and cakes satisfied the hungry kids’ appetite.
“We wanted to bring the children together after the pandemic and give them a feeling of togetherness through this carnival. They should not feel apart from each other. The young ones have been coming to school for some time, and we wanted to find a way to wind things up,” said principal Sarmistha Banerjee.
Birla High School
Students of eight schools put their best arguments forward at the final rounds of 23rd LN Birla Memorial Invitational debate that was hosted by Birla High School at GD Birla Sabhaghar on July 11.
The motion was — For 75 Years The Indian Education System Has Served The Country Well. After some fierce debating and analysis of current issues, Sushila Birla Girls’ School won the trophy and Noyonika Ghose of the school took home the Best Speaker Award, speaking against the motion.
The opposition also got 60 per cent of the audience vote. Ram Daftari of the host school was one of the three to win the runners-up prize.
“The education system of India is an evolving, dynamic and receptive process which has catered to the needs of the nation since the past 75 years, by keeping pace with whatever the nation has required, whenever it has required through the decades,” he said, speaking for the motion.
There were 17 schools in the qualifying rounds that took place at Birla High School, Mukundapur, on July 9.
The finalists were Loreto House, Sushila Birla Girls’ School, Mahadevi Birla World Academy, Shri Shikshayatan School, DPS Ruby Park, La Martinière for Boys, Birla Balika Vidyapeeth, Pilani and Birla High School locking horns in an interesting round of arguments and interjection. Dr Kunal Sarkar of Calcutta Debating Circle was the moderator.
South City International
The boys from the hills outshone the city players at the CISCE West Bengal and North East Regional Pre-Subroto Cup Tournament (for under17 players) that took place at South City International on July 5, 6 and 7.
About 29 schools took part in the tournament with St Augustine’s School, Kalimpong, clinching it. The Calcutta schools were The Heritage School, DPS, Megacity, DPS, Newtown, and others.
On Day I, 13 matches were played. The guests included Association Schools for the Indian School Certificate joint secretary Shailesh Pandey, who is also the principal of Ratnakar North Point School, Howrah. Besides, there were the association’s regional co-ordinator (WB and NE states) Ahanaa Bhattacharjee and its president M.P. Rozario, who is also the founder-principal of St Sebastian’s School, Calcutta.
“For two years our students have not been able to play. The council is excited to see students back on the field,” said founder-principal John Bagul of the host school.
The guests at the finals included the association’s assistant secretary and principal of National English School, Baguiati, Mousumi Saha and founder rector and director of National English School, Baguiati, Samir Kumar Saha.
St Augustine’s School, Kalimpong, Saptashri Gyanpeeth, Kalimpong, Good Shepherd School, Darjeeling and St Mary’s Convent School played the semi-finals. St Augustine’s School, Kalimpong beat Saptashri Gyanpeeth in the penalty shootout and clinched the title.