To a Research Laboratory – an overwhelming experience!

At the time, when the rain-God showered generously, the school management organised an educational trip to Rajkot and Junagadh. The main objective of the excursion was for Std 11 and 12 Biology stream students to explore the intriguing world of Biotechnology.

The voyage of set its sail in the evening of 24th July 2014. After getting fresh and having lunch at Yogidham, Rajkot the next day, we left for Junagadh, where we all arrived excited to learn and eager to satisfy our curiosity. We got an opportunity to visit the “Food testing lab – Department of Biotechnology at Junagadh Agricultural University”. The department has eight labs with different objectives, such as, to check adulteration in food, soil analysis, pesticides content in food, nutrient content, etc. We were delighted to see the high–tech labs where we were explained about the instruments and objectives by the research scholars from the department. And the cherry on the cake was the opportunity we were provided to have question and answer session. Dr. B A Golakiya (Professor and Head of Biotechnology Department) who further quenched our curiosity and appreciated all the students for their scientific enquiries. The day ended with lots of learning and fun, both.

 

On 26th July 2014, the other purpose of the trip was achieved when we reached the M N Virani Science College at Yogidham campus in Rajkot. Firstly, we were explained about different fields and careers in Biology like Biochemistry, Biotechnology, Bioinformatics, etc. by Dr. Shivani Patel (Professor and Head of Biotechnology Department). We got an interesting insight into the widespread applications of Biology. The session was then taken over by Dr. Leena Ambasana for an experiment. The aim was to isolate DNA from plant material (spinach). She started with explaining the theory and then came the most awaited moment, to see all that description really happen in front of us! During the entire process, all the students enthusiastically and sincerely followed through the instructions given by her.

The duration of the experiment was about 5-6 hours. Indeed, it was a long experiment but in between the waiting time of experiment, we were shown around the Department of Tissue Culture, Department of Biochemistry and Department of Microbiology. We also got a chance to visit the engineering department and were in awe while visiting the library there and looking at different labs, classrooms and auditorium halls.

Although the experiment was long, there wasn’t any trace of tiredness on anyone’s face and enthusiasm seemed permanent! And then the time was for results of the experiment and of course it had to be the best due to the Grace of Swamiji, efforts put by students as well as our teachers. We were very much satisfied due to the achieved outcome. In the evening, after a long day of learning and exploring the field of Biotechnology, the team enjoyed a delightful dinner at Subway.

On the 27th July, we were back to school with new learning, new experiences and satisfied curiosity, all due to the grace of Param Pujya Hariprasad Swamiji. And not to forget all the enthusiasm and support of Sarvajit Sir and Archana Ma’am (our Biology teacher) who patiently executed this wonderful educational trip in such a way that it could not have been any better. Their determination, dedication and devotion towards the academic welfare of students made such a learning process possible. We all express special gratitude to them.

This well planned trip taught us the important virtues such as Atmiyata, patience, hard work and a very essential scientific approach.

Written by: Het (Class XII Science) & Keyur (Class XI Science)

SAMARPAN 2013 – For all those who light the way for others

5th September is celebrated as Teachers’ Day all over India and it was specially so at Atmiya Vidya Mandir. The students of Class 11 with the guidance of the Student Council Convener, Tarun Sir, poured out their hearts to convey their love and respect for their teachers by arranging a celebration on the day. The students believe their teachers to be the torch bearers in their path of ignorance; mast of their life boats and their compass in the dense forest of life.

The function began with the poojan of all the teachers by the students of class 2 and 3. It was followed by invoking the presence of God through Thakorji’s poojan. The stage was set and the hosts: Sonakbhai and Parikshitbhai took their places. First the students were told about the significance of the day. Then, to give a musical tribute, Ronakbhai was called upon, who played a masterpiece on the keyboard. This was followed by a skit by Parthbhai, Mananbhai, Niramaybhai and a group of Class 11 students. The skit showed how the teachers at AVM were different than elsewhere and how they played an important role in deciding the child’s future.

Then was the time for the much awaited dance tribute by some amazingly talented students. The dance was mind blowing and left an imprint in the hearts of every teacher and student. The first part of glimpses of moments spent by teachers with students was shown on the big screen and was followed by card distribution to the female teachers. This part of the function was concluded by a melodious song which was a fusion of “Jab koi baat bigad jaye” and “Tum ho to”.

The second part began with the glimpses of male teachers and was followed by card presentation to them. Howsoever much we praise the teachers, it is always incomplete! Lalitbhai conveyed that fact when he came forward on the stage to talk about the contribution of teachers in his and every students’ life at AVM. His speech was simply heart touching. After the speech, there was a group song performance of “In your hands” by the AVM choir group.

Furthermore, everyone was showed the glimpses of our greatest teacher, Param Pujya Swamiji, how He constantly takes care of us, how He prays for our welfare and how much He loves us. To conclude the function, our beloved and respected Principal, Vijay Sir was called upon on behalf of the teachers to share his feelings as a teacher and his experience having us as his students.

The day then continued with the student teachers performing the teaching duties in the classes right from grade 1 to 12! The senior building staffroom renovation work just finished in time to be inaugurated on this auspicious day by our dearest Haresh Sir. After cutting the ribbon, he asked the student teachers to first enter the staffroom and then followed them into the staffroom with the teachers.

And thus the celebration and the day carved a yet another special place in the hearts of the teachers and the students for each other!

Harshit Aggarwal & Love Patel (11 Commerce)

Little things you do for us

It is rightly said that teachers play a very important role in a student’s life. They are the ones who strengthen student’s confidence and courage, and sustain their dignity to develop a personality to be loved and accepted in society. Their role in a student’s life is very crucial. We feel very fortunate to study in a school where teachers simply don’t teach, but they also empower our overall growth.

We all, personally, had a really exciting and inspiring journey with the teachers of the primary grades. We all know that in primary grades we learn the basics of every subject which help us in the higher grades. 

Once, when we were in grade 4, there was a student named Henilbhai. He was a person who had some problems in studies. Our English teacher, Renuka ma’am used to be very tolerant with his problem and used to help him overcome it. She used to take him to the sand piles outside and make him draw the alphabet “b” and “d”. Henilbhai could not understand the difference between those two alphabets. This way, she used to help him overcome his problem.

At another time, when we were to give our final maths exam of grade 7, respected Swayam ma’am, who remains extremely busy at all times as the vice principal of our school, helped us tremendously to understand the difficult concepts of maths. She sat with us for approximately 2 hours! Due to this we were able to perform our best in the exam. We are very thankful to her.

The previous year, one of our classmates was very poor in studies and also had an unruly behaviour. Our respected Saumya ma’am used to call him in his free time and inspired him to change. In this way she helped him to edify himself to become a mannered and composed individual. 

These are just three examples, but all the students of our grade have had such numerous experiences with all the teachers.

Although all our teachers are extremely knowledgeable, they came down to our level for our convenience. This is what touches us all more than anything else. We were all immensely moved by this humility of theirs. They not only taught us the subjects, but also taught us how to be bold and face the challenges of life. They made it seem as if our problems were their problems. They are always there for us. Their positive encouragement helped us to gain confidence. The knowledge they gave us not only taught us how to solve an equation, identify verbs or understanding history, but they helped us to follow the commands of Swamiji and become a true bhoolku of Swamiji. Hence make our parents proud. There are no words to express our gratitude or describe your efforts in words. All we can say is that we love you for all you have done. 

Little things you do for us

Like nobody else make us feel so good

Little things you do for us

Make us smile like no one else could

And that’s why we love you.

You heard our mad stories

With a secret or two

And all our worries

You knew they were not true

But you liked that we shared.

Little things you do for us

Like nobody else make us feel so good

Little things you do for us

Make us smile like no one else could

And that’s why we love you.

With an aim to unlock

You sat and discussed

The mind which is flocked

Developing an immense trust

Answering our curiosity and doubts

Little things you do for us

Like nobody else make us feel so good

Little things you do for us

Make us smile like no one else could

And that’s why we love you.

You showed concern for our needs

In all your deeds

Went with us on a stroll

To discuss our goal

You appreciated our every little effort

Little things you do for us

Like nobody else make us feel so good

Little things you do for us

Make us smile like no one else could

And that’s why we love you.

J Happy Teacher’s Day!!!   J

Smit K Patel, Vinamra Patel, Yathansh Joshi (Std 8)

Leading us from darkness towards light...

Teaching is a unique profession in which the teachers work not for themselves but they selflessly devote themselves for the betterment of their students. Teachers create the future of mankind by imparting knowledge to the next generation. They nurture students, care for them and help them to live a happy life and create a bright future for themselves. Teachers are only concerned with the improvement of their students and do not work for monetary benefits.

Though there are many teachers around the world who impart high quality education, but, all of us are impossibly fortunate to have a very different calibre of teachers who not only impart education but instigate a fire of doing good for the society and making a contribution for everyone’s betterment. This is the wonderful concept of “Atmiyata” that we are being exposed to in this school. All the morals and values that we learn in this school are the things that actually matter more in our lives. There are many people who are much smarter than we are but the advantage that we have over all of them is that we have such a great environment and such great teachers around us.

All the actions that we perform in this school, all the activities that we do, all of them have two aspects. One is the learning aspect of discovering new things and improving our knowledge. But more importantly, the other part of all the activities is the spiritual aspect. Teachers here teach us to see only positive in all the things and imbibe all positive values from others in our lives which helps us to strengthen our character. These are the kind of things that we learn in the course of all the activities we do. This is the “divine touch” which is the hallmark of our school. But, all of this is only possible due to the grace of our guru, Param Pujya Swamiji. Swamiji is our ultimate teacher. With Swamiji’s divine grace and our teachers’ help, we can very well progress further in our most important journey:

असतो मा सद्गमय।
तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय।
मृत्योर्मा अमृतं गमय।

The journey from ignorance towards truth, from darkness towards light and from mortality towards liberation.

If only we observe His life and His actions, it has the power to completely transform our lives!

All of the teachers of our school are there for us at any time of the day and are ever ready to help us in every situation of life. They don’t merely teach us, “they inspire”. They are not just our academic guides, they are our “portraits of inspiration”. They not only teach all the students but they see god in all the students and never fail to help any of them.

Although on the occasion of Teachers’ Day there is a lot of pomp and show but without understanding the actual meaning of Teachers’ Day, all of this celebration will go in vain. There are some situations when we hesitate in following our teachers. Though we may physically accept what they say, somewhere in the corner of our mind, we are uncertain about their decision. So the real celebration of Teachers’ Day will be to surrender to our teachers and accept their decisions completely and follow all their instructions to the dot. We must never distrust their decisions because they are wise, experienced as well as decisive. Thus they will always make a decision for our advantage. This day of Teachers’ Day will come each year but what is important is that we take the message.

Because the message is much more important than the celebration.

 

Sachin Verlekar (11 Science)

Head Boy

हिन्दी में नाट्य द्वारा अभिव्यक्ति क्षमता का विकास

विषय- ‘गिल्लू’ पाठ के आधार पर नाट्य द्वारा पशु-प्रेम की अभिव्यक्ति करनी।

आज समाज में मनुष्य-मनुष्य के बीच आत्मीयता का अभाव आ रहा है तो पशु-प्रेम की गुँजाईस कहाँ है ! ऐसे अवसर पर बच्चों का न सिर्फ मनुष्यता का विकास हो बल्कि प्राणी-जगत के प्रति भी सहानुभूति का संचार हो यह आवश्यक हैं।

इस विषय पर वज़न देते हुए दिनांक 27 से 29, जून 2013 को हिन्दी विषय के अंतर्गत हिन्दी शिक्षक मुकेशभाई जोशी के मार्गदर्शन में कक्षा 9 में नाट्या का आयोजन किया गया था। जिसमें विद्यार्थियों ने सहर्ष हिस्सा लेकर इस कार्यक्रम का आनंद लिया।

वर्ग के सभी बच्चों को चार जुथ में विभाजित किया गया। हर जुथ ने अपना पशु-प्रेम एवं नाटकीय गुणों को एवं अपने हाव-भाव को स्वयं को मिले पात्र द्वारा निरूपणकर स्वतंत्र भावाभिव्यक्ति की।

हिन्दी शिक्षक मुकेशभाई जोशी

English Activity: Role Play Interview by Students

Loud reading…..factual answers…inferential answers…cramming vocabulary, extrapolative answers..literary explanations…paper pencil test ..and so on.. the mechanical order of learning…..Abstract concepts are difficult for most young children to grasp simply by hearing them explained. Atmiya Vidya Mandir, humbly, yet with a sense of pride, makes the abstract concrete. It is about doing rather than listening, about active engagement rather than mindless copying of words and sentences, which are often little understood. One fine example of such a practice is the ‘Role Play Interview Round conducted by English teacher of grade 8. Instead of teaching a big unit of the English textbook titled ‘Secret of Their Success’ with conventional method ,where students were to read and write about the success story of great personalities, she thought of an activity based learning to empower their communicative skills .

Reading extensively: All the students of class VIII were divided into groups, each group consisted of two students. They were given research work on the life and success story of great personalities of the world , for example, Mother Teresa, Pablo Picasso, Azim Premji, Abdul Kalam, John Keats and many more…Here comes the reading part!!!!!!!! It was worth seeing, the scene of the library, to find all the students of Std VIII browsing books, reading about successful people of the world and discussing in groups. All of them read ardently and collected enough information about the success story and inspiring life of these personalities to feel inspired themselves.

Writing and speaking earnestly: It was the time to take up writing and speaking part. Each one of them along with their group member was assigned the role of interviewer and interviewee. In each group one student took up the role of a successful and renowned personality and the other one prepared and wrote a series of questions related to the life and success story of that personality. Some students like Anmol Kagrecha, Nishit Banka, Satyam Bajaj, Harsh Sarda, Harshil Soni, Parth Amipara, Param Patel and Love Patel were helping their peers to prepare well for the question-answer round for this Role Play Interview Activity.

Listening Actively: Once they were ready with their questions and answers related to the respective personality they were assigned to, their teacher showed them some videos of interviews. They all listened carefully and watched these videos to learn correct pronunciation, fluency, presentation, gestures and even the dressing of the interviewer and interviewee.

Learning Social skills: The students and their English teacher decided to perform this activity in presence of students, teachers and some elders of the school hence the preparations were in the air. The students prepared invitation cards for the guests of this event but their English teacher was happy to see that her students were actually learning how to write an invitation for an event, the learning just happened!!! More than learning to write they also acknowledged how to meet and talk dignitaries as they went to give invitation to Fuvaji, Haresh Sir, Principal Madam and all Departmental Heads. It was amazing to find them working as a wonderful team with coordination.

Event Management Skill: Besides being the participants of this activity, Students of Std VIII learnt how to organize an event owing to this activity. The seating arrangement, stage decoration, property management, receiving the guests, making bouquet of fresh flowers, etc. It was wonderful to see them do their work with great responsibility and coordination under the guidance of their English Teacher.

L.A.R.P (live action role playing): Finally, it was the day when they were to perform the role of the assigned personality(interviewee) and the other as interviewer. Tanmay Patel started the programme by calling upon the guest on the stage to do the pujan of Thakorji. Then Anmol Kagrecha took up the mic to deliver the welcome speech. Here comes the incredible performance!

The stage wore a perfect decorum of an interview session where these boys were in the shoe of world-renowned-personalities and were asked questions regarding their success journey, mile-stones, struggle and achievements. The back stage screen displays were amazing with the photograph and a short biography of each personality the students were role playing. This slide show was appealing and befitting to the show. The anchors Jeet Maradia, Yash Jariwala, Mitul Mehta, Harshit Talesara and many more were just astounding with their confident performance. Most of the students were able to overcome their stage fear and low self-esteem through this activity. Some of the students were able to get along with each other and work as a group.

Now it was the time for the three judges Paras Sir, Saumya Mam and Rupashree Mam to announce the result. It was amazing to get their positive comment about the performance of all the participants. The suggestions regarding pronunciation by Rupashree Mam were valuable. At the end, Prajval Sir announced the winners and congratulated them. The show ended with vote of thanks by Vishvajeet Solanki. Later, Nishit Banka, Harshil Soni, Bhavik Parikh and Kenny Patel and many students shared their experiences.

Akshay Golwala says, “We can understand now the importance of communication and communicating the right way.”

“Not everyone is equally endowed with the ability to effectively express himself and this is where the importance of communication skills can be truly fathomed.” says their English Teacher

The usually quiet Mitul says “I know now that the importance of communication is equal in every walk of like, be it in personal, professional or social life.”

Yash Chhatani says “I have read and understood that people who end up making a positive difference in the world often possess qualities that transcripts are powerless to measure.”

“I now know that important traits and attributes include perseverance, self-knowledge, imagination, the ability to identify the purpose of your life.” says Harshit Y Agarwal

Parikshit says. “I understand now that we should pursue what we have interest in.”

Pratipal Jadeja says “I came to know that success means the willingness to take risks, the ability to rebound from setbacks, and the capacity to empathize with and to work well with others.”

Written by: Seema Madam

A LIFE - by Manish Sir (H.O.D., AVM Creative Arts)

A LIFE OF SACRIFICE IS THE PINNACLE OF ART AND IS FULL OF TRUE JOY. - MAHATMA GANDHI

Let’s tickle their sixth sense

Much has been written and said about CCE, but one can gist fully call it a bleach on the tint as nothing has been more prolific, more articulate and more complete in exploring and unraveling all the dimensions of implementing it in our school.

I think that under the influence of the CCE, a child can bloom into the flower spreading fragrance, enticing humanity and live by it. Though with condensed and crystalized training which did away with and sticks to the bare essentials; We are to put it in the right context and to make it palatable to our students. This ‘all inclusive’ style can lead them to evolve spontaneously and comprehend the phenomenon,we call life.

The ten day training session or I would rather call it a conference for its being interactive, finally ended with the initiation of new methods into the fold of the last day, I find it contrary to popular belief about the CCE being a time consuming methods , it is seemingly like a part of daily routine for AVM teachers. A holistic approach of teaching which might help the students to face the situation when they are bog down by all sort of limitations in their daily life. Onto this flush of information I am much excited about literary and creative skills where developing aesthetic senses is much talked about (not much to the extend I would like)

In this context,there was a question which was rightly thought upon and discussed by one of our teachers about students using music as stress buster, with CCE in the air, now little Rahul or Anmol will not wonder at the story of Tansen who sang Megh Mulhar and the rain descended and when he sang rag Deepak lamps burst into light ,but for me and for us the thought provoking point is that how sincerely and imperatively we can sensitize them to the nature around to perceive it not as a resource but as a fellow existence (the environment or the surroundings in a broader perspective) why can’t we instill such feelings in them that they ( our student ) find the nature as a companion? If so happens, he would definitely take care of the environment or remain responsible or rather committed to preserve it for next generation.

I enjoyed the session as it had got much of interaction and discussion on its very native wellspring. Now we can have tangible measures to record aggressive concentration or passive slump of a child but I am happier with the fact that CCE includes awakening of aesthetic senses in a child, hope you give this idea a kick start as an alchemy of transforming the future , if you are agree with me.

Written by - Seema Madam

Excellence has no barriers

In the early part of the 19^th century, Michael Faraday, a self-made scientist, in his quest for excellence, discovered the semiconductor effect. This quest continued throughout the decades and centuries that followed during which the pro-active scientists, engineers, businessmen, committed world citizens contributed their best.

Their “small steps” each turned out to be “giant leaps” for the mankind and one cannot help but be in awe considering the advancements made in any field today.

At Atmiya Vidya Mandir, we are proud to take one such small step in our commitment towards providing excellence to our dearest students. It is a great pleasure to announce our partnership with ViSiON IIT Kota – Surat, beginning this academic year from June 2010. As part of this initiative, the students of Class 11 Science (and 12 Science next year onwards) will be offered an integrated school programme:

- To target overall academic excellence in the 11^th and 12^th CBSE board exams

- To prepare them for competitive exams like IIT-JEE, AIPMT, SAT-AP, AIEEE and CET

The integrated approach will ensure optimal use of the students’ time and efforts for academics (and preparing for such reputed exams like IIT-JEE) which will also provide them the opportunity to further enhance the essential 21^st century life skills like leadership, social responsibility and adaptability.

Furthermore, the school has experienced many a young lives getting positively transformed in its mere 6 years since inception, the very fact which makes Atmiya Vidya Mandir a truly unique and life-transforming alma mater!

We look forward to many such small steps...