1 ACHARYA VIDYA KULA Principal’s Report for 2012 [January to December 2012] Now, in our seventeenth year, we have on our rolls 530 students in Standards I to X inclusive. Including the Principal and Vice Principal we have 35 full – time teachers and 4 part–time professionals. We welcomed Dr. Rashmi Kacker who was appointed as the counselor and Sri. Dayananda, an additional librarian. We thank Kum. Pallavi and Chi. Anirudh Badarinath, an alumnus, for helping during the long absence of two of our teachers. Our Founder Patron, Sri. V. Siddharthacharry has handled Dharmamananam, a course in Value Education for class VIII with Sri Krishnamurthy, who is a physics teacher. AVK Secretary, Smt. Vijaya Satish, has been handling Shakespearean Drama for Standards VIII, IX and X. A New Building was constructed this year. It accommodates the Library, Administrative Office, Computer Lab and Audio – Visual Room. It also accommodates 5 classrooms fitted with Interactive Smart Boards. Our students find their lessons more lively with the introduction of this audio-visual teaching aid. We thank all our well-wishers who have made it possible for us to improve the infrastructure on the campus; particularly so Sri Vishnu Dusad and Smt Madhu Dusad of M/s Karma Yogi Holding Pvt Ltd, New Delhi. Space for an additional First Aid room has been made available. Thus we now have separate rooms for boys and girls. We have continued to add new books to the existing collection of valuable books in our library. Audio – Visual resources are also constantly updated. SCHOOL ACTIVITIES ICSE Class X Results: Our tenth batch of 56 students, the largest in our records, took the ICSE Board Examination at the end of class X in March. As in earlier years, this batch too performed brilliantly. In fact it outshone all the previous batches. Kum. Premita Ramesh, who was also the School Captain, was the School Topper scoring an overall percentage of 97%. Fourteen students scored an overall percentage of over 90%. Some scored cent percent marks in Mathematics, Environmental Education and Computer Application. Children’s Movement for Civic Awareness (CMCA): This programme for the students of Standard VIII has been continued under the guidance of Sri. P.V.Ramdas, city co-ordinator. They participated actively in several activities concerning civic awareness winning the prize for Best Participation in all activities in 2011 – 12, among all such Clubs in Mysore. Newspaper In Education (NIE): This programme in co-ordination with The Hindu has been continued for Standards VI & VII. Club Activity: The following activities were conducted. English Literary club for standard VI, Quiz for standard VII, Dharmamananam for standard VIII and Sports and Games for standards IX and X. Activity Hour: Class teachers continue using this hour for the all – round development of their pupils. Personality Development Programme and Career Guidance: The School Counsellor, Dr. Rashmi Kacker conducted a Personality Development Programme for standard X students. The 2 sessions entitled ‘I can’, included tips on time management, effective study techniques, stress management and so forth. Sri Shankar Prasad, Center co-ordinator of BASE center, Mysore, gave the students of standard X an insight of various professional courses and competitive exams and guided them regarding required preparation for them. Sri. H.V.Raghunandan of J.S.S. College of Pharmacy addressed students of standard X, at our campus about career opportunities in Pharmaceutical Science. Dr. S. Dandapani, former Professor of Regional Institute of Education Mysore spoke to the students of standard X, giving them suggestions on confidence building and choosing the apt course for higher study. One of our alumnus, Ganesh Ajjanagadde addressed standards VI to X before he left for MIT, USA. He gave them tips on time-management, efficient study methods and career opportunities both in India and abroad. Our School Leaders attended a Leadership programme at De Paul International Residential School. Assessments: Continuous Assessments and Grading has been followed for standards I to V. Regular tests and examinations were conducted for standards VI to X. Assembly programmes: All Sections continue to present their Assembly programmes in turn, each once a week. The efforts of each class and class teacher were commendable. In the senior Assembly, the daily News Reading continued. During the month of November, it was in Kannada. Weekly student’s talks as also Book Reviews continued in the senior Assembly. In both the senior and Junior Assemblies, Teacher’s Talks and singing of Sanskrit songs were kept up. Special Assemblies: Special Assembly Talk by CMCA students. Eco-friendly Ganesha and Deepavali Festival – On September 17th Monday 2012. An assembly talk was given by Ananya.H.S. of Std VIII on celebrating Ganesha festival in an eco-friendly way by using mud Ganesha idols and celebrating Deepavali by not bursting crackers and lighting the earthenware lamps only. Save Electricity – On Friday 2nd November 2012 to create awareness among the students about saving electricity an assembly programme in the form of skit was presented by Nikhil Bharadwaj, Ruthwick and Vishnu of Std VIII. Jyotsna Haravu Samskruta Puraskara: Awards instituted by Sri. L. Jayaram Havaru of the Haravu Charitable Trust were presented to Toppers in Sanskrit in standards VI to X (2011 – 12). The winners this year were, Anyonya Mahadev, standard VI, Ananya.H.S. standard VII, Pranav kalkunte standard VIII, Abhay kaushik standard IX and Premita Ramesh standard X. Smt Padma Haravu Memorial Mathematics Award: Awards instituted by Sri. L. Jayaram Haravu of the Haravu Charitable Trust were presented to toppers in Mathematics in standards VI to X (2011 – 12). The winners this year were Kavana Raju standard VI, Nikhil Bharadwaj standard VII, Srivari.S.P. standard VIII, Hoysala Kantaraju standard IX, Jeevan Nagaraj and Premita Ramesh standard X. Best Student Awards: Awards instituted by Dr. Satish.H.V., parent of one of our students, have been presented. Inter – House English Drama Competition: This event has been introduced by Smt. Padmini Sridhar, Treasurer AVK, she has also instituted a Rolling Trophy. This was the second year of holding the event. Aaruni House won the Trophy. Abhay Kaushik of standard X and Vaishnavi Burli of standard IX won the Best Actor prize. 3 Sports: Events were organized for students and teachers. The Basket Ball Match for the trophy instituted by Smt and Sri Vijayan was held. Upamanyu House won the trophy. Annual Sports Meet was inaugurated by Sri Ramsingh, PE teacher at St. Joseph’s Central School, Vijayanagar Mysore and international foot ball referee. The trophy for overall performance was won by Nachiketa House – sub junior section; Shwetaketu House – junior section and Aaruni House – senior section. Prizes were distributed by Sri. V. Siddharthacharry, Smt Vijaya Satish and Smt Padmini Sridhar. The event was sponsored by Sri Rashmi Gandhi of Alpha Stationery and Book House, Mysore. Trips and Excursions: Students of standards IX and X went on a trip to Coorg and participated in Adventure Activities which included parasailing, raft building, river crossing and rapelling. Standard VIII participated in similar activities in Mahadevapura. These activities were conducted in co-ordination with Smt Rukmini Chandran of National Adventure Foundation. Students of standard VIII visited the Automobile Division of NIE College. The visit was organized by BASE. Students of standards VII and VIII were taken on a Nature Walk to Kukkarahalli Lake by Infosys. Students of standard VIII had the opportunity of visiting Mysore City Corporation to witness a council meeting in progress. Spelling Bee contest: The event, sponsored by Kum. Ahwini Arun, alumnus of Acharya Vidya Kula, was conducted for students of standards V to X. Another contest was conducted by MaRRS International Spelling Bee. Scholastic Book Exhibition: Scholastic India Pvt Ltd., organized a Book Exhibition at the school campus in January. Bridge course: A course in Sanskrit was conducted for the new students of standards II to V in June. Home coming: About 80 of our alumni attended a get-together on the second Saturday of July. They inaugurated a formal association and nominated Sri Ashwin Dange of the 2004 batch as the President and a Batch Head for each batch. Some members of the alumni have extended a helping hand in conducting sports, literary and cultural events. Routine Medical Check – up: We thank Dr. Nandini for conducting the Routine Medical Examination of all our students. TMN Consultants have continued to provide a Nurse on the campus to take care of First Aid. Literary and cultural events: These events have been held in the school regularly to encourage students to participate and hone their talents. Talent Search Exams: Our students have participated in the following: ASSET, National Talent Search Exam, Catch Them Young, Talent Search Exam conducted by KISA and Science Olympiad. Interactive sessions: Sri. J. Prakash Rao Empanelled External Faculty from petroleum conservation Research Association made a presentation to the students of standard VIII on conservation of petrol. Students of standard VIII conducted a Mock Parliament Session. Our students participated in a rally at People’s Park to create awareness about the importance of preserving trees. They also interacted with environmentalists. 4 Some students of standard X had the opportunity of interacting with Mr. Lancelot.J.Fuller, Deputy Secretary, Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations, New Delhi, when he visited De Paul International Residential School, Earlier this year. The Dettol Company conducted a demonstration on clean Hand Washing for standards I to V. School Web Site: Sri. L. Jayaram Haravu, its progenitor has continued to update and upgrade our web site. Shakas / Houses: The four Houses continue to participate in friendly competitions in various events. School leaders were inducted by Prof. K.C. Belliappa, Chairman, Sree Cauvery Education Council. This year the School Captain was Hoysala Kantahraju of standard X and the Vice Captain Sneha.M. of standard IX. The designations of House Leaders are as follows: Aaruni House House Mistresses – Smt. Sumathi.J. & Kum. Radhika.P.S. House Captain – STD X - Hithaishi Dutt Huse Vice Captain – STD IX - Vaishnavi.S.Burli Jr School House Vice Captain – Std V – Nandeesh Ranganath & Uddhav.M.Kaushik Nachiketha House House Mistress & Master – Smt. Damayanti Patidar. & Sri Chandrashekar House Captain – STD X - Sakshy Gowda House Vice Captain – STD IX - Abhay Rudradev.M.D. Jr School House Vice Captain – Std V – Pareekshith.N.B. & Apeksha Patra Shwethaketu House House Mistresses – Smt. Suchethana.B.C. & Smt. Anuradha.S. House Captain – STD X - Amruthavarshini House Vice Captain – STD IX - Sachin Siddhartha Jr School House Vice Captain – Std V –Sujith Gopal & Manoj Gowda Upamanyu House House Mistresses – Smt. Shobha.G. & Smt. Meenakshi.K. House Captain – STD X - Adithya.V.Sangle House Vice Captain – STD IX - Bhowmick Jr School House Vice Captain – Std V – Jahnavi.K.P.Urs & Mahadev Prasad WE OBSERVED THE FOLLOWING Republic Day: January 26 2012. Dr. R. Balasubramaniam, Founder President, Vivekananda Youth Movement addressed the students and teachers after hoisting the National Flag. Students presented patriotic songs. Our Annual School Magazine Smruthi was released. Jyotirdana Samarambha: On February 11th, 2012 all staff and students of standard IX along with members of the School Management, hosted a Farewell to the outgoing tenth batch of our students. th 5 Prize Distribution: On the 13th and 14th of February 2012, prizes were distributed to the students for various literary and cultural events held during the year, by Smt Ramamani, Headmistress Pushkarini Balodyana and Smt Latha Ramprasad. Valedictory of CMCA: On 22nd February certificates were distributed to the members (2011 – 12 batch). The students felicitated a Mysore Police Constable and the helping staff of the school, thus recognizing their invaluable services. World Environment Day: Sri Naveen Kumar, Forest Wardon, Chamarajanagar district was the Chief Guest. He shared his experiences with the students and encouraged them to take up environment protection issues. Students presented a cultural programme. Labeling of plants and trees in the campus, was undertaken. Induction of New CMCA Team: On July 18th, the team for 2012 – 13 was inducted by our Founder Patron Sri. V. Siddharthacharry Independence Day: On August 15th Prof. Dhananjaya, Principal, BGS B.Ed College was the chief guest. After flag hoisting he addressed the students, teachers and parents. Apart from March past students presented a cultural programme, drill, yoga and band display. Sanskrit Day: On August 11th our school hosted the 14th Samskrutotsava, this time at our own campus, for the first time, instead of elsewhere. Sri.H.N. Ramathirtha, Director, NIE, Management Committee was the chief guest. Students of standards III and IV participated in Story Telling, standards V, VI and VII in Sloka recitation and the High school students presented a Skit. The event was sponsored by M/s Alpha Stationery and Book House, Mysore. Teachers’ Day: Students, under the guidance of House Captains and Vice – Captains put up a variety entertainment programme. In the afternoon students of standard X substituted teachers and ably managed the classes. The President, Secretary and Treasurer hosted a lunch for the teachers and distributed tokens of appreciation. In the afternoon, Dr. Rashmi Kacker, the counsellor led an interaction on ‘Effective Communication between Parents and Teachers’. Gandhi Jayanthi: On October 2nd Gandhi Jayanthi was celebrated. Students presented a feature depicting the life of Gandhiji and his contribution to the freedom struggle. Our Founder Patron Sri Siddharthacharry addressed the gathering on the occasion. Kannada Rajyotsava: Sri Mahesh, Deputy Commissioner of Excise Department, addressed the students and teachers on 1st November. He outlined the history of Karnataka. Students presented informative speeches and a cultural programme. Children’s Day: On November 19th, interesting films were shown to the students of Standards I to V and on November 23rd the teachers put up an entertainment programme for the students of standards VI to X. Sweets were distributed to all students. Kruti Sangama: On December 8th , an Exhibition of projects and models in English, Science and Art by the students of standards III, IV and V was held. Library Books on Art were also displayed. Smt Shanta Naidu, Headmistress, Rotary West School, was chief guest. Kalasangama: Our 17th Annual School Day was held on December 22nd. For the first time we hosted this event at our school campus. Dr. S. Indumati, Vice – Chancellor, Davangere University, was the Guest of Honour. Students of standards VI to X presented a cultural programme. Awards were presented to achievers in academics. The school Management recognized the services of Smt Uma.L. Faculty Head of Social Science Department by presenting her the Best Teacher Award. Awards of appreciation were given to Smt Sudha kumar, Smt Sumathi and Smt Suchethana in recognition of their efforts in encouraging students to score cent percent marks in Mathematics. 6 Environmental Education and Computer Application respectively, in the ICSE Board Exam. 18 Staff members who had completed 10 or more years of service in the school were felicitated. OUR YOUNG ACHIEVERS Quiz, Talent Exams ad Science Events: Mohan.S.Acharya and Aditya.V.Sangle of standard X won a 3rd prize at a competition conducted by Mysore Youth Forum. Eshwar.S. (Std X), Nikhil Bharadwaj (Std VIII), Anurag Anand Vaidya (Std VII) and Shraddha Rajesh (Std VI) won a 3rd prize at the contest conducted by Derek Obrian Associates. Vishnu Mangalvedkar (Std VIII) and Samarth Kashyap(Std VII) won a 1st prize at the competition conducted by Sharada Public School. Nikhil Bharadwaj (Std VIII) and Samarth Kashyap (Std VII) won the 2 nd prize at the Bournvita Quiz Contest. Hoysala kantharaju and Eshwar.S. (Std X) won the 3rd prize at the Limca Quiz Contest Pranav Kalkunte and Naren Ananth Kulkarni (Std IX) won the 3rd prize at the contest conducted by Lions West Sevaniketan School. Sudhanva (Std V) won the 1st prize in the Bird Identification contest conducted by Mysore Zoo. These students have excelled in Abacus Competitions: Sriranga (Std I) 1st prize, Vaneesha (Std I) 1st prize, Ruthu.D.Krishnan (Std II) ‘A’ Grade, Shreyank.M. (Std V) ‘A’ Grade, Keerthan .A.K. (Std IV) ‘A’ Grade, Nagadhanush (Std V) 1st prize, Trisha (Std III) 1st prize, Karunya Dinesh (Std III) 1st prize and Sharadiram (Std II) 1st prize. The following students have won certificates for outstanding performance in the ASSET Exam. Kanva (Std IV), Sanjana Kashyap (Std IV) Sudhanva (Std V) Sudanshu Bharadwaj (Std V), Harshini Vivek Sangle (Std VII), Vijeth (Std VII), Anurag Anand Vaidya (Std VII), Samarth Kashyap (Std VII) and Abhay Kaushik (Std X), Samarth Kashyap was awarded a certificate for being among top 10 in Std VI. Pranav kalkunte won a special prize in the quiz conducted by Ramakrishna Vidyashala. Eshwar.S. (Std X) participated in the National Balashree Contest in New Delhi conducted by Bal Bhavan in the Science category. Kaustub, Pranav and Srivari (Std IX) particdipated in the Catch Them Young programme conducted by Infosys. Debate and Public Speaking: Ananya.H.S. and Sumathi Roy (Std VIII) won the Runners – up Trophy at the event conducted by Pramathi Hill View Academy. Pranav kalkunte (Std IX) won a 3rd prize at the Inter ICSE Schools pick and speak competition. 7 Hoysala Kantharaju and Prajwal (Std X) won the 2nd prize for a power point presentation on ‘The importance of Gandhiji in the freedom struggle’ at the contest conducted by Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. Sanjana R Kashyap (Std IV) 2nd prize in Poetry Recitation Competition conducted by Sharada Public School Spelling Bee: Aashritha Kiran Seshan (Std III) got the 5th and Samarth Kashyap (Std VII) 2nd rank in the MaRRS Spelling Bee contest Handwriting: Trisha (Std II) won a 1st prize for Caligraphy conducted as part of Mahila Samaj Pratiba Puraskar. Aditi Kumar (Std II) won a 3rd prize for English Handwriting at the contest conducted by Universal Academy. Siddharth (Std II) 2nd prize in Handwriting competition at BVB Sanskrit Competitions: Vaishnavi Bharadwaj (Std IV) won the 1st prize for Bhagavadgeetha Recitation conducted by Pramati Hill View Academy At the Samskrutotsava hosted by our school R. Sanatan (Std IV) won the 3rd prize for Story Telling, Jahnavi.K.P.Urs (Std V) consolation prize for Sloka Recitation, Panchami.T.N. (Std VI) 3rd prize in sloka Recitation and our High School team won the 3rd prize in Skit presentation. The team members were: Abhay kaushik, Tapan Shankar, Himanshu, Vishnu.V.G., Sharanya.C.V., Karthik Kiran, Swathi and Vishrutha.C. (all from Std X) Sukruth.P. (Std IV) 3rd prize in Subhashitani Recitation conducted by Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Ananya.H.S. (Std VIII), Vaishnavi.S.Burli and Chaitra Bekal (Std IX) 3rd prize in Sanskrit Quiz conducted by Pramati Hill View Academy. Ananyashree (Std VII) 2nd prize in Bhagavadgeetha Recitation conducted by Divya Dvanji Sampada. Music: Our School Choir won the following prizes: 1st prize in Sanskrit Song rendering at Samskrutotsava conducted by Manasarovar Pushkarini Vidyashrama 1st prize in the music competition conducted by Sri Ganapathi Sachhidananda Ashram 1st prize in Patriotic Song rendering at the Samskrutotsava of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. The participants in the above events were: Jahnavi.K.P.Urs (Std V), Swathi Meghana (Std VI), Nimisha.S., Vaibhavi Burli, Sanjana.S.Tikare, Raksha.S. (all of Std VII), Ananya.H.S., Pratheek.M.M., Vibuda.R., 8 Poornashree.K.A. (all of Std VIII), Abhay Rudradev, Bhowmik.V., Sowmick, Shravan.N. (all of Std IX) and Tapan Shankar (Std X) Drawing and Craft: The following students won prizes in the Camel Colour Contest: Vaishnavi (Std IV), Harsha.M. (Std VI), Ruthu D Krishnan (Std II), Sharadi Ram (Std II), and Aditi Kumar (Std II). At the event conducted by Sharada Public School, Sinchana (Std II) won a 1st prize for ‘Best from Waste’ and Aditi Kumar (Std II) 2nd prize for painting. Namratha Chandrashekar (Std I) won a 2nd prize in ‘Join the dots and colour,’ at the contest conducted by Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. In the contest conducted by Lalithakala Academy, Harsha (Std VI) won a 1st prize and Jahnavi (Std VII) won a 3rd prize. Sports and Yoga: Kausthub keshava (Std IX) won a 1st prize for Chamundi hill Climbing. Tennis: Riddhi.V. (Std VIII) Runner up at De Paul Cup Tennis Tournament. Arnav (Std V) Runner up at the tournament conducted by Nagaraj Tennis Centre. Karate: Rakshith (Std V) Grade 2 and Sinchana.V.(Std II), 1st prize and 2nd prize respectively in Kumte and Kata at the event conducted by Okinova Shorin Ryu Seibukan Karate Do. Harshita Pawar (Std III) won a consolation prize at a Kite flying contest. Running: Dharmesh.V. (Std II) 1st prize in the event conducted by University of Mysore. Mahadev Prasad (Std V) 1st prize in running and 2nd prize in musical chair and Sudanshu (Std V) 2nd prize (running) in the event conducted by Roopanagar Welfare Associatio Yoga: Akhil Kumar (Std IV) 3rd prize at the event conducted by Karnataka State Amateur Yoga and Sports Association. The following students won prizes at the competition conducted by Narayana Yoga Kendra. Akhil Kumar (Std IV) 2nd prize, Harshavardhan.M.S. (Std IV) 5th prize, Smaran.N. (Std III) 2nd prize, Havisha V Sarovar (Std III) 3rd prize, Jahnavi R Namoshi (Std III) 5th prize. Our school won the Rolling Shield at the competition conducted by Panduranga Pathanjali Yoga Shikshana Kendra. The team members: Sundresh, Akhil Kumar (Std IV), Jahnavi, Upasana, Sudanshu, Kuthuhal, Vinutha, Snehashree (Std V), Anirudha, Swathi Meghana, Dhanyashree, Shukla (Std VI), Ruthvik.S.J. (Std VIII), Aagnika Ajaikumar, Asmitha Ajaikumar, Rakshitha, Shreya.S. and Shub.V.Jain (Std VII) TEACHER DEVELOPMENT To educate and instruct our children, we teachers, unceasingly rejuvenate ourselves. following sessions were attended by our teachers both on the campus and outside. The 9 In January, Smt Lalitha attended a workshop in Mathematics at Manasarowar Pushkarini Vidyashrama. Smt Saraswathi, with 5 students, participated in a workshop relating to climate change, conducted by Teri. On May 19th, to mark the beginning of the new academic year, Dr. Rashmi Kacker, counselor gave a motivational talk to all staff members In June, a training programme for all teachers was conducted by HCL to familiarize us with the Interactive Smart Class Technology. In November, a refresher course was conducted. Smt Sudha Kumar attended a programme at Excel Public School on the theme Technology in Education. Smt Suchethana attended a programme conducted by Educational Intiatives, at Bangalore. Smt Sudha, Smt Lalitha, Smt Lakshmi.S.R., Smt Sumathi and Sri Guruprasad attended a programme by BASE center Mysore to introduce innovative teaching methods in Science and Mathematics. Smt Ramamani.S. and Smt Anuradha Mohan attended a training programme for Sanskrit teachers conducted by Aksharam at Bangalore. PARENT – TEACHER INTERACTION Meetings were conducted for parents of each class at the beginning of the academic year. Parents were also invited once in two months to interact with the teachers. Parents of students of Std VIII were introduced to the CMCA programme by Sri. P.V. Ramdas. The parents of students who had registered for the MaRRS Spelling Bee were given an orientation to guide their wards. The Parents’ Association has continued to function with representatives from each class and section. Acharya Vidya Kula appreciates constructive suggestions from parents. Let us, teachers and parents, together create a bright and happy tomorrow for our children. In the back drop of all the violence perpetrated by some youth both in our country and abroad in the recent months, I implore upon parents, grandparents and teachers, to stress the value of peace, serenity and bonhomie among our youngsters. Quoting poet James Kirkerp: “Let us remember whenever we are told To hate our brothers, it is ourselves That we shall dispossess, betray, condemn…. Remember we who take arms against each other It is the human earth that we defile 10 Our hells of fire and dust outrage the innocence Of air that is everywhere our own” I thank the members of the Management for their guidance and encouragement. I thank Smt Sudha Kumar, Vice Principal and all my colleagues for their support and co-operation in keeping the flag of Acharya Vidya Kula flying high. Our appreciation to the parents and students for their support and participation. Greetings to all for a happy, peaceful and contented 2013. Sada Vijayatam Acharya Vidya Kulam Sarojini.B.T. Principal