South City International School
Awareness sessions, charity drives, MUNs and helping trafficking victims — the Justice Cell of South City International School does all that and more. The new club was set up in 2020 with the aim to help students fight for social causes and voice their opinions.
This club is entirely led by the students. An induction ceremony was recently held to include a new batch of office-bearers. It started off with the felicitation of the International Justice Mission (IJM) members, Sisir Thanikal and Agnes Aloka Toppo, who had helped the students set up the club.
The event opened with the felicitation of the members followed by the principal’s address. The outgoing president of the cell, Tavishi Bagaria, read out the annual report before the newly elected president Mahee Singh of Class XII and vice-president Hrishita Dev of Class XI were inducted.
Mahee and Hrishita shared their plans for the year. This was followed by a presentation by Toppo.
Finally, the outgoing president, the new student council members, principal John Bagul and others were given badges of honour by the IJM for playing an active role as change-makers in the society.
“Students, being the future of the world, should be aware that every action has repercussions. As the leader of the school, I try to sensitise my students to the grey areas of society and morality. They must imbibe strong values and work with organisations like the IJM to reach out to the masses,” said founder-principal John Andrew Bagul.
G.D. Goenka Public School, Siliguri
Two students from GD Goenka Public School, Siliguri, were the only pupils from the state to attend the second edition of World Geospatial Information Congress, organised by the United Nations in Hyderabad from October 10 to 14. As many as 160 countries attended the convention. Out of 500 schools that had registered for the event, only 18 were selected to showcase their projects and take part in interactions.
Devadreetaa Deb and Soumya Kumar Rai of Class XI, G.D. Goenka Public School, Siliguri, along with a teacher, took off to Hyderabad to showcase their projects on sustainable development goals and geo-enabling the global village. They also got to interact with students from other schools and experts and learnt geospatial technology, right from data collection, map presentation to interpretation of the data.
They also attended an informative session by Stefan Schweinfest, director of the statistics division of United Nations and the UN-GGIM Secretariat.
Projects, skits and other fun activities made the convention a learning experience for the students. “Participating in a global event like the congress was a big deal for us. It increased the exposure of our students, and we look forward to many more such events,” said director-principal of the school Sonika Sharma.
Bidya Bharati School, Behala
The Primary students of Bidya Bharati School, Behala, put up a show to celebrate Language Day and Agomoni on September 27 and 28 in the institute’s auditorium.
The students of Classes II, III and IV began with a rendition of We shall overcome, followed by a short play, The Grasshopper and the Ants.
The students also recited poems in English, Bengali and Hindi to celebrate languages.
On Day II, dressed in traditional red and yellow saris, the children of Class II danced to Hei go ma Durga. The programme concluded with a dance performance on the arrival of the Goddess Durga.
“After a pandemic-induced gap of two years, we celebrated Agomoni with utmost zeal and enthusiasm. We feel connected during festivals despite our many differences,” said teacher-in-charge Moutushi Chakraborty
The Bhawanipur Gujarati Education Society School
The Bhawanipur Gujarati Education Society School hosted an inter-house flower arrangement competition for the students of Classes V to IX on the school premises on September 28.
Students of four houses — Gandhi (blue), Nehru (green) Patel (red) and Tagore (yellow) — locked horns in the event and gave expression to their creativity in the second-floor hall of the school.
Using fresh flowers including roses, jasmine, marigolds and sunflowers, children were asked to make different flower decorations for various occasions such as Saraswati Puja, house-warming and wedding ceremonies. The participants had to create the arrangements within 80 minutes. They beautified their designs by adding thermocol cutouts, paper and candles.
Each team consisted of six members and had to pick two situations to work on. The Nehru (green) house emerged as the winner with members Rose Kaur, Diya Popat, Dhriti Shah of Class IX and Shivraj Saraf, Mahi Mishra and Anshika Singh of Class VIII.
“Nature has given us this bounty of flowers. Our students were able to appreciate the beauty of flowers and express their creativity through various floral arrangements. They had no formal training, yet each group managed to display a unique arrangement,” said principal Brij Bhushan Kumar.
Sushila Birla Girls’ School
Sushila Birla Girls’ School organised a felicitation ceremony to recognise the top scorers at the All India Senior School Certificate Examination (AISSCE) on September 6.
To honour their effort, the school’s administration presented four deserving students with a 5gm gold biscuit embedded in a silver medallion.
The four achievers were — Vanisha Khemka, Akansha Kedia, Garima Sekhsaria and Swaati Agarwal. Vanisha, the school topper and the highest scorer from the commerce stream, secured 98.8 per cent in the examination.
Akansha, the highest scorer from the humanities stream, scored 98.4 per cent.
Garima, the top performer from the science stream, secured 97.8 per cent, while Swaati was awarded for her overall performance.
“The students worked very hard. They deserve the L.N. Birla medal for excellence,” said school principal Koeli Dey.
Contai Public School
Contai Public School hosted a career counselling workshop for students of Class IX to XII on September 21. The parents were also invited to learn about current career trends.
The speaker at the session was Kulprit Yadav, an author, motivational speaker and thinking coach. He educated students on various branches of engineering and medical sciences, advising them to choose subjects according to their interests and capability.
Discussions were also held on career options such as law and national defence services.
Students were informed about the changing pattern of national-level examinations and the eligibility criteria for various colleges and competitive exams such as civil services and banking.
The workshop also provided information about alternative courses in medicine such as paramedics and hospital management. Students were also made aware of service sector jobs and mass communication.
“Students of Classes XI and XII are often confused about their goals. That is why we hold a career workshop each year to help them discover which career path is best for them. Kulprit Yadav’s guidance has been quite helpful. We also welcome children from Classes IX and X to the workshop in order to help them get ready for the future,” said founder-principal Samarendranath Das.
Delhi Public School, Joka
Students of Nursery to Class II of Delhi Public School, Joka, put up a special assembly, Bajlo Umar Aalor Benu, to celebrate Durga Puja on September 27.
Over 250 students took part in the programme in the school auditorium. The event covered all days of Durga Puja from Mahalaya to Bijaya Dashami through songs, dance and drama performances. The high point was the dance drama, Mahisasura Mardini.
The guests included directors Bela Agarwal and Deepak Prakash Agarwal, principal Writuparna Chatterjee, headmaster Rajib Bhattacharya, teachers and parents.
“The special assembly was an initiative of the junior school to bring rhythm and excitement back to their lives. It was great watching Mahisasura Mardini. Roleplays are an effective medium to inculcate self-discipline,” said the principal.
Apex Academy
The students of Apex Academy in Mahishadal wanted to give the less fortunate a good time during Durga Puja. With this aim in mind, students of Classes VIII to XII collected money from the school, including teachers and staff members, weeks in advance.
The contribution was used to buy new clothes for children of a local orphanage and some saris and dhotis for slumdwellers near the school.
The children learnt lessons of empathy and charity as they involved themselves in the distribution, just before the Durga Puja.
“We believe in holistic education that goes beyond the classroom lessons. Charity is very important to us inspired by the school’s chairman Haripada Maiti, president Debasis Maiti and secretary Ramesh Santra. The students had collected the money in an organised manner for days before the Durga Puja. The teachers then bought the new clothes. So, it was a team effort to make some less fortunate people happy,” said principal Nayantara Roy