Vande Mataram! My India, My Pride…

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Republic Day is celebrated every year to honour the day and moment when the Constitution of India came into effect. This day also resembles unity, acquiring independence in the real sense, where everyone is equal and important. The 65th Republic Day was celebrated with great pomp at Atmiya Vidya Mandir.

This morning event was graced by Respected Fuvaji, Pujya Suhrad Swamiji, Respected Narendra Bhai, Haresh Sir and Honourable Dr. Vijay Patel. They all were escorted by our sports teacher and Students Council members. After our guests performed Thakorji’s Poojan, the programme continued. The chief guests unfolded our tri-coloured flag and there by infused the spirit of nationalism and patriotism at Atmiya Vidya Mandir’s campus. The school choir sung the “Zanda Geet”, “Vande Mataram” and “National Anthem”.

 


A wide range of activities centred on the theme of nationalism were conducted to instil the spirit of national pride and love for the country. A grand march-past by students of Grade 7, 8 and 9 was witnessed with zeal by everyone. A broad smile could be seen on everyone’s face when the excited young kids of classes 1st, 2nd and 3rd presented Mass PT on the beat of beautiful music. The primary students of classes 4th, 5th and 6th added colours to the programme with Hoop Drills. This celebration also included an eye catching dance performed by the students of class 10 on the song of “Satyagraha”. The entire school courtyard was echoed with the rhythmic beats of “Satyagrah”.

Our honourable chief guest Pujya Fuvaji expressed his gratitude in witnessing the program presented by the students. Though in simple tone, he addressed the essential aspects of students’ day to day life. Mukesh sir explained the history and significance of the Republic Day. The guests also acknowledged the student winners from different fields who were awarded on this momentous occasion.

The day’s celebration came to an end by proposing the vote of thanks, where the staff and students of Atmiya Vidya Mandir were thanked for making the day a wonderful success. The event came to an end with the distribution of sweets to all the members of Atmiya Parivar.

Written by: Rashmi Ma’am

Ghanshyam Charitra (Divine play of Bal Ghanshyam)

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ભગવાન જ્યારે જ્યારે ધરતીને પાવન કરવા અવતાર ધરે છે, ત્યારે એની પાછળ કંઈક દિવ્ય હેતુ સમાયેલો હોય છે. ભગવાન સ્વામિનારાયણે વચનામૃત કારિયાણી પાંચમાં કહ્યું છે કે, “પોતાના જે પ્રેમી ભક્ત તેના મનોરથ પૂરા કરવા એ જ ભગવાનને અવતાર ધયા પ્રયોજન છે.” પોતાન પ્રેમી ભક્ત તેના મનોરથ પૂરા કરવા અને તેમને સુખ આપવા ભગવાન દિવ્ય ચરિત્રોને ગ્રહણ કરે છે.

Satyam House was indeed blessed to have been gifted with an inspiring value “Ghanshyam Charitra”. Satyam House teachers led by respected Saumya Ma’am had a splendid discussion to organise and plan out the schedule of the daily assemblies.

 


Pleasant weather gave a thunderous call to start the morning assembly in the divine presence of P.P Swamiji. The template of the daily assembly was designed as such to have a video darshan of different charitras of Bal Ghanshyam followed by the unique message each day.

Monday:- The very important and fundamental message of the assembly was that ‘God is omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient’. He cannot tolerate the atrocities incurred on His devotees. To liberate them, He takes incarnation on the Earth and saves His devotees through His divine touch.

Tuesday:- The message of the assembly was: “Don’t suppress and make others feel inferior through the power of muscles or brain. God weakens the power if it is not used for the welfare of others.”

Wednesday:- Inspiring message of the assembly was: “We should respect all the creatures living on Earth as everyone has a right to survive.” The incident watched showed how compassionate Bal Prabhu was towards the tiny creatures like fish also.

Thursday:- One of the exceptional charitras of Bal Ghanshyam was: “Samadhi”. In the episode shown, He saves the crop in the field by sending 1000 sparrows into samadhi through His divine power and thus obeys His father.

Friday:- The loud and clear message of the episode shown was: “Do not claim ownership of things which you have not earned through hardwork.”

The Saturday Creative Assembly, entitled as ‘Ghanshyam Charitra Vihar’ began with a rousing welcome and introduction by two tiny tots. The underlying truth behind the play was Divine miracles of Lord is the source of bliss, peace and happiness.

એવું કહેવાય છે કે, ભગવાનના દિવ્ય ચરિત્રનું ચિંતવન અંતકાળે જો થઈ આવે તો એનો જીવ ભગવાનના ધામને જરૂર પામે છે.

A very fascinating aspect of the play was to witness the commendable performance of 80 participants on the stage.

The play was divided into three episodes from the life of Bal Ghanshyam.

The first episode was about the glory of Bal Ghanshyam. Lord Indra commands Ashwinikumar (the doctor of Gods) to render his medical treatment service when Bal Ghanshyam gets a cut on His thigh while playing the traditional sport ‘Ambli Pipali‘ with his dear friends Veni, Madhav and Praag.

The second episode was about His divine power. Bal Prabhu teaches a lesson of humility to three mighty wrestlers of Ayodhya by defeating them in wrestling.

The last episode was about His ultimate wisdom. At a mere age of ten, in the presence of great scholars, He participates in the philosophical debate and successfully establishes the Doctrine of ‘Vishishtadvait’ (qualified non-dualism) at Gomath, Kashi. By giving a divine vision of their istdevs, He brings the realisation to those age old scholars that Brahma Darshan is not a matter of debate but of experience.

It was really a tough job to work with tiny tots but being the director of the play, Suhradam Sir exhibited tremendous patience and enjoyed their innocence. He successfully brought out the best from them.

Our inspirational source beloved P.P Swamiji’s divine presence has remained the constant guiding force without which the creation of the assembly would not have been possible.

All the members of Satyam House strongly felt that it was a charismatic experience to deal with young Bal Ghanshyams of AVM and getting involved wholeheartedly in the making of the play that has left the everlasting impression on everyone.

Written by: Samidh Ma’am

Making the miracles within reach: Sundaram House

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At Atmiya Vidya Mandir, every day is a
tiny step towards the ultimate goal of life. The daily morning
assemblies are the onset of this gradual march which brings daily dose
of values strengthening and preparing the students for this journey of
life. To fulfil this very purpose of making the students better human
beings, in daily morning assemblies, we share inspiring material which
forms weekly reflection. In this manner, in the second week of January,
Sundaram House members presented the incidents and details of inspiring
lives of the Nobel Laureates from India.

This
inspiring week started with the detailed introduction of the Nobel
Prize and its making. On the first day, the students were explained the
humanitarian purpose of Alfred Nobel in establishing this peace prize
which bears his name. Students were also given a short insight on the
lives of legendary Nobel Laureates of Indian origin, like Mother Teresa
and Rabindranath Tagore. The following day, the success journey of
another Indian Nobel Laureate C.V. Raman was talked about by Priyavadan
Sir. C V Raman’s contribution to the human society was explained through
videos. It was followed by another inspiring day, as the students were
explained how Nobel Laureates like Amartya Sen and Har Gobind Khorana
made their way to this most prestigious award of the world. A power
point presentation elucidated the motivational lives of these renowned
personalities and details of their research work. The yet another
morning of this week again unwrapped history of unprecedented
achievements of Dr. Subramanyan Chandrasekhar.

Thus, though the
list of the inspiring Nobel Laureates is long and the inspiration is
unlimited, but a secret spark in these young minds was ignited. This
way, these assemblies about Nobel Laureates induced a dream in students’
hearts that they should stride towards their glorious future in such a
way that they also contribute to make the world a better place.

Written by: Seema Ma’am

Anger – Just one letter short of Danger

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“ANGER doesn’t solve ANYTHING; it builds NOTHING, but can destroy EVERYTHING…”

Suhradam House members elucidated the value “Anger – Just one letter short of Danger” during 23rd Dec to 28th Dec’13 with a divine intention to enter in the New Year 2014 taking a heart full of joy and love for others, leaving the Dangerous Anger behind. During the week, tremendous efforts were made to understand one of the most unpleasant aspect of human emotions – Anger. Efforts were made not only to help the students know what anger is, but also to know the various ways to deal effectively with it and control the behaviour in certain situations.

On Monday, students were introduced to Anger as one of the common human emotions such as happiness, sadness, etc. Different situations which make them angry were discussed with some illustrations like – children get angry when they get hurt, teased by fellow friends, left alone some times, get bullied or embarrassed by the peers or more often when they listen ‘No’ from anybody denying something they want.

Tuesday was a very enlightening day for all as Archana Ma’am discussed the biological effects of keeping anger inside us through a very informative PPT. She explained that keeping anger inside one’s body can be very harmful and repeating it for longer period of time causes serious problems such as high blood pressure, high sugar level, withdrawing from life, taking risks, over eating, using alcohol or drugs and also developing negative attitude towards everything.

On Wednesday, the effects of anger when let out and its external physical effects were brought into light. It consisted of different behaviours like insulting or harming others, teasing someone, throwing tantrums, destroying property and even taking revenge over somebody through humiliating pranks. Some people also express their anger on innocent people and helpless pets or animals as they can’t fight back.

The assemblies on Thursday and Friday were simply inspiring as the young talents of Suhradam House immaculately explained students the ways to find source of their anger and how to manage it. They discussed constructive ways to find, express or release anger by thinking positively about the situation, talking to others, writing it out in a diary, letting anger get off, diverting mind and body to any creative activities, relaxing and then getting active again, etc. It was very well explained that getting to the source of anger and coping with it positively yields fruitful results.

Saturday assembly also proved to be a splendid one as senior students explained a variety of ways to deal with people in different situations when they are angry. First of all, one should wait till the person calms down. And after sometime to approach him and suggest going for some activity like singing, relaxing, performing creative activities, listening to the music, etc.

Thus, the week turned out to be remarkably fabulous and immensely helpful to students due to praiseworthy hard work of students as well as teachers. It is utterly divine not to get angry. But Suhradam House has surely tried very well to enlighten the ways to cope up with anger positively without allowing it to harm one’s life as it’s rightly said by Vijay Eswaran that – “You can keep a sword or a gun but never have to use it; so it is with ANGER.”

Submitted by: Harsh Gondaliya (10-A) & Keyur Patel (10-B)

Mathematics: Gateway to all Sciences

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Mathematics has been an inseparable part of education since the beginning of formal education.

It has played an important role in the advancement of any civilization. Sadly though, there is a common belief that Mathematics is a dry, boring and a difficult subject. On the contrary, if it is presented in an enjoyable manner, it is one of the easiest and most interesting subjects.

 

 
To further instil interest in the students, teachers at Atmiya Vidya Mandir have made a humble effort to organise an Exhibition on Mathematics. The exhibition presents Games, Activities, Magic and Puzzles, all based on different Mathematical Concepts. There is a section on Amazing Facts and Patterns based on Mathematics to cater to the curiosity of students and teachers. Another section provides several Shortcut Methods for easy calculations.

The exhibit also provides insight into the lives of great Mathematicians and in fact, it was inaugurated on 22nd December 2013, on the birth anniversary of the great Indian Mathematician,  Srinivasa Ramanujan who has inspired millions so far. Interviews of many skilled people of different fields helped students to understand use of Mathematics in every day’s life.

Mathematics + Joy = Effective Learning

When learning is fun, children become interested in the learning process and are motivated to learn even more. The ongoing Math Exhibition aims to further develop that interest and motivation in our wonderful children.

Written by: Swayam Ma’am

Inter House Basketball Competition 2013-14

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Over the 10 years since its inception, Atmiya Vidya Mandir has increasingly put in efforts, learnt and got better in many of its celebrations. This time it was the turn of Inter-House Basketball competition. One of the true global sports, Basketball has many admirers and enthusiasts in the school. Popularity of the sport in the school should not come as a surprise due to the presence of healthy number of the students from US and Canada. The competition begun on 4th January, and unfortunately ended on 7th January 2014. But the 4 day event was full of enthusiasm and excitement along with some outstanding performances by the students.

The students were grouped in 3 categories for the competition:

  1. Sub Junior – Class 5 & 6
  2. Junior – Class 7 & 8
  3. Senior – Class 9 to 11

 

 

 
The competition involved two knockout matches for each house. The winners of the first knockout match in each category shook hands in finals, whereas the losers met for a 3rd place match.

After the first set of knockout matches, this is how the teams stacked up against each other for the finals and 3rd place match in respective categories.

Sub Junior category

  • Final: Sundaram vs Shivam
  • 3rd Place match: Satyam vs Suhradam
  • Summary: Satyam and Suhradam houses played each other for a 3rd place match.
    Satyam House won this closely fought match with 6-4. In the finals,
    Shivam House had a comprehensive win with a score of 24 – 8 against
    Sundaram House with Shreemadbhai and Parambhai being the top performers.

Junior category

  • Final: Shivam vs Sundaram
  • 3rd place match: Satyam vs Suhradam 
  • Summary: On the back of some good performances from Rajveerbhai and Rahulbhai,
    Suhradam House won the 3rd place match against Satyam House with a very
    convincing score 38 – 10. After tasting a defeat against the same
    opponent in the junior category, boys from the Sundaram House were
    determined to turn the table. Nimitbhai from Sundaram House showed his
    class and skills as his team demolished Shivam House with a staggering
    score line of 38 – 5.

Senior category

  • Final: Shivam vs Suhradam
  • 3rd Place match: Satyam vs Sundaram 
  • Summary: Satyam House and Sundaram House met for the 3rd place match in the
    category. Vishwajeetbhai and Harshilbhai led Sundaram House to a very
    narrow win with the score of 29 – 26. In the very last match of the
    competition Shivam House played against the Suhradam House. In the early
    exchanges of the play there was nothing to choose between the team. But
    the Suhradam House team stepped up their game in the second half.
    Hardipbhai in particular was very sharp and scored quick points for his
    team. Harshbhai also contributed with many rebounds as Suhradam House
    sealed the match with 29 – 18 points.

After 4 days full of excitement, enthusiasm and matches, this is how the 4 houses stood on the points table:
Position    House      Sub Junior    Junior    Senior    Total Points
     1          Shivam             10                8             8                26
     2        Sundaram           8                 10            6                24
     3        Suhradam           4                  6            10               20
     4          Satyam             6                  4             4                14

In conclusion, on behalf of all the students, I would like to thank all the sports teachers for organizing such a fantastic Basketball competition. A special mention of the School Basketball Coach, respected Bankim Sir for his tireless contributions. His hard work throughout the year helped all the students to improve their skills which only improved the overall performance and level of the Inter House Basketball Competition.

Smit K Patel (Class 8)

સંગીત નાદબ્રહ્મ સાધના

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नमस्ते शारदे देवि सरस्वती मतिप्रदे।।
वस त्वं मम जिह्वाग्रे सर्वविद्याप्रदा भव ।।

સંગીત એક સાધના છે. જેમ ઋષિમુની તપ, ધ્યાન અને જપ કરી ભગવાનનું મનન ચિંતન કરી ઈશ્વરની પ્રાપ્તિ કરે છે. તેમ સંગીત વિષયમાં હ્લદયથી સાધના કરી ભગવાનની પ્રાપ્તિ કરવાની હોય છે.

સામવેદ ગ્રંથની અંદર સંગીત કલાનો ઉલ્લેખ કરવામાં આવ્યો છે. તથા 64 કલામાંથી સંગીત કલાને સર્વશ્રેષ્ઠ કલા બતાવવામાં આવી છે. આપણી સંસ્કૃતી માં સંગીતના માધ્યમથી ભગવાનને પ્રાપ્ત કરનાર શ્રી નરસિંહ મહેતા, મીરાંબાઈ તથા ભક્ત જલારામ બાપા આવા મહાન સંતો ભક્તિ કરતાં કરતાં ભગવાનમય થઈ ગયા. અને આજે પોતે પણ ભગવાનના અંશ ગણાય છે.

સંગીત એ એક એવું માધ્યમ છે કે જેનાથી સીધી અને સરળતાથી ભગવાન પ્રાપ્તિ થાય છે. આપણે હ્લદયથી ભગવાનનું ભજન કરવા માટે સંગીતનું માધ્યમ લઈ ગાયન અને વાદન સાથે જો ભગવાનનું ભજન કરીએ તો ભગવાનના હ્લદય સુધી એ પહોંચે જ છે અને તેનું ઉચિત ફળ આપે જ છે.

આવી જ રીતે આપણા આત્મીય વિદ્યા મંદિર પરિવારમાં સૌ (વિદ્યાર્થી) સાધક ભૂલકુઓએ સંગીત તથા નાદબ્રહ્મની ઉપાસના (ગાયન અને વાદન) કરી પ્રભુને તથા ગુરૂમહારાજને હ્લદયથી રાજી કર્યા છે. તથા સંગીતના સ્વર અને નાદથી આત્મીય વાતાવરણમાં એક સુંદર સુગંધ વધુ પ્રસરાવી છે.

જેમાં,

કક્ષા 1 થી 3:
1 થી 3 ના ભૂલકુંઓ દ્વારા “Rhyme singing, Solo singing, Group singing” પ્રસ્તુત કરવામાં આવ્યું હતું. જેમાં નાના નાના ભૂલકુંઓએ ગાયનને સ્વર-લય-તાલ તથા હાવ-ભાવ સાથે સુંદર પ્રસ્તુતિ કરી હતી. જેમાં સુંદર તાલ અને લયના આધારે મનમોહક પ્રસ્તુતિ રહી હતી. આ પ્રસ્તુતિને આધારે સ્વરકારી, લયકારી તથા સંગીત શીખવા માટે ઉપયોગી થતી તમામ બાબત સાથે તેમનામાં રહેલી એક સુષુપ્ત કલા બહાર આવીને ઉત્તમ પ્રસ્તુતિ રહી હતી.

કક્ષા 4 થી 6:
4 થી 6 ના ભૂલકુઓને સંગીતની કૃતિ હતી “IDENTIFICATION OF AN INSTRUMENT” એટલે કે કોમ્પ્યુટર અને સાઉન્ડ સીસ્ટમના માધ્યમથી શાસ્ત્રીય વાધ્ય જેમ કે તબલા, હાર્મોનિયમ, જલતરંગ, મોહનવીણા, રબાબ, પખાવજ, સંતુર, વાંસળી, સારંગી, વીણા, શહનાઈ, રુદ્નવીણા, ગીટાર, ઢોલક, ડ્રમસેટ આવા વાધ્યની સંગતી તથા એકાંકી વાદન વગાડવામાં આવ્યું હતું અને તે સાંભળી ભૂલકુઓએ કયું વાધ્યવાદન થાય છે તથા તે વાધ્યને કયા કલાકાર તેની સુંદર પ્રસ્તુતિ કરે છે તે સાંભળીને બતાવવાનું હતું. તેનાથી ભૂલકુનું શાસ્ત્રીય સંગીત પ્રત્યે રુચિ જાગે તથા આવા વાધ્યને સાંભળીને તેમને શીખવાની પ્રેરણા પ્રાપ્ત થાય.

કક્ષા ૭ થી ૮:
૭ થી ૮ ના ભૂલકુને સંગીતની કૃતિમાં સુંદર ચાર લાઈનના આધ્યાત્મિક શબ્દો આપવામાં આવ્યા હતા જેમાં આ ભૂલકુઓએ તેમની આવડત પ્રમાણે ગ્રુપમાં તે ચાર લાઈનના શબ્દોને સુંદર કમ્પોઝ કરી જેમાં કોઈ ગીત ગઝલ કે ભજનના શબ્દોનો ઉપયોગ કર્યા વગર તેમને તેમની જાતે શબ્દોની સ્વર-રચના બનાવીને સુંદર પ્રસ્તુતિ કરી વાતાવરણમાં સંગીતના સુરો લહેરાવ્યા હતા.

કક્ષા ૯ થી ૧૦:
૯ થી ૧૦ ના ભૂલકુ સંગીત કૃતિ માં તેમની સંગીત સાધના તથા તેમનો લગાવ ખૂબજ આનંદીત અને સર્વ આત્મીય પરિવારને પોતાની તરફ આકર્ષે તેવો હતો.

આ કક્ષાના ભૂલકુ માટે સૌપ્રથમ ૫ મિનીટ સુધી ૨ વાધ્ય પર ૪ માત્રાની લય ને ધ્યાનમાં રાખી નાદ બ્રહ્મની ઉપાસના દ્વારા વાદન કરવાનું હતું. મુખ્ય ૪ માત્રાને ધ્યાનમાં રાખી તેમાં તેના પ્રકાર ઉમેરીને વાદનને આગળ વધારવાનું હતું. આ વાદનમાં તેમની લયને સાથે સંગતિ કરતા તેમના સાથી ભૂલકુની લય અને માત્રા એક સાથે આવે છે કે નહી તે ધ્યાનમાં રાખવાનું અને તેના પ્રકાર એક પછી એક સાથે વાદન કરવાના હતા. બીજા ભાગમાં તેમના ગુરુ દ્વારા મુખથી બોલવામાં આવેલા “બોલ” ને તે જ લયમાં તથા જુદી જુદી લયકારી દ્વારા વાદન કરવામાં આવ્યું. જેમ તેમના ગુરુ બોલ બોલે તે જ સમયમાં લય સાથે બીજા આવર્તનમાં તે જ લય અને લયકારી સાથે વાદન પ્રસ્તુત કર્યું હતું.

ત્યારબાદ ગુરુજી કોઈ એક વાદ્ય પર ૪ માત્રા ની લય સાથે લયકારી અને જુદી જુદી તિહાઈ સાથે વાદન કરે અને તે જ સમયમાં ભૂલકુએ બીજા આવર્તનમાં તેની નકલ કરી સુંદર જુગલબંદી પ્રસ્તુત કરી હતી.

આ ભાગમાં ભુલકુની આવડત, તેની સંગીત પ્રત્યેની લાગણી, તેની સાધના તથા ગુરુ શિષ્યની સુંદર જુગલબંદી (સાથ-સંગત) જોવા મળી હતી.

આમ કરવાથી દરેક ભૂલકુમાં રહેલ સંગીતની ઉપયોગી એવી તાલ લય અને સ્વરનું જ્ઞાન બહાર આવ્યું અને આત્મીય પરિવારમાં નાદ-બ્રહ્મની ઉપાસના કરનાર ભૂલકુમાં વધારો થયો અને શિક્ષક, ભૂલકુ, અને સમસ્ત આત્મીય પરિવાર સ્વામીજીના ભૂલકુ રાજી થયા ને આ જોઈ અમને થયું કે જરૂર આ સંગીત નાદ બ્રહ્મ ઉપાસના ગુરુ મહારાજ સુધી પહોચીને ગુરુ મહરાજને ભગવાન રાજી રાજી થયા …

         આ સંગીત નાદ બ્રહ્મ ઉપાસનામાં વિજયસર, સ્વયમ મેડમ, આશિષસર તથા આત્મીય પરિવારના શિક્ષક ગણ આને સમસ્ત આત્મીય પરિવારનો ખૂબ ખૂબ સહકાર રહ્યો ને આ બધો શ્રેય સ્વામીજી અને આત્મીય પરિવારના તમામ સભ્યોને હું આપું છું. હું હ્રદય પૂર્વક સર્વ આત્મીય પરિવારનો આભાર માંનુ છું.

-જૈમીન સર

Interpersonal Intelligence Competition 2013-14

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With the evolution of science and society the methods and tools for teaching and learning have also evolved in past many years. Education and knowledge has increased many folds and the competition in various fields is fierce. But the main goal of education is still the same and all educators want to help their students to succeed in school, college, career and social life. In today’s fast pacing world it is very important to know what our children are good at and to find out which innate talent they possess. As we all look different and have unique personalities and temperaments, we also have different profiles of intelligences. Each one of us is born with a unique talent and intelligence and one cannot compare and say that one’s talent or intelligence is better than the other. To nurture this intelligence and transform it into a skill which will benefit the child to face life’s ordeals is very important.

To cater to the individual needs of student and to nurture the unique intelligence they possess, teachers at Atmiya Vidya Mandir have made a humble effort to design and organize many inter-house competitions throughout the year based on the theory of Multiple Intelligence given by Howard Gardner of Harvard University (USA).

 

 
On 23rd November, 2013 AVM had organized one such inter-house competition based on ‘Interpersonal Intelligence’. Few key aspects of interpersonal intelligence are: those who have strong interpersonal intelligence are good in understanding and interacting with other people verbally as well as non-verbally. They are good in working as a team and can positively resolve the conflict in the group.

Considering above mentioned realities this competition was organized grade wise and house wise. All the participants had been given different themes/tasks as per their grades. They had to work as a team and unleash their creativity to finish the given task in limited time.

The grade wise themes/competitions were as follows:

For Grade 1 to 3: Making Animals with Clay

In this competition all the participants were given the task to prepare their favorite animal from clay. 24 students from grades 1 to 3 had participated (2 students per Grade from each house). All the participants made the clay model of different animals like Elephant, Giraffe, Mickey Mouse, Tortoise, Dinosaur, Donald duck etc.

For Grade 4: Model making from Lego blocks
In this competition there were total 8 participants (2 students from each house). All the participants were given the task to make a model from the given Lego blocks in the given time. For this task they had to work as a team and come up with the idea to design the model and ultimately create that model. All the participants gave wings to their imagination and made varieties of models like Model of a Town, Model of Castle, and Model of Garden etc. It was exciting to note that the children were able to put in small little details in their models.

For Grade 5 and 6: Card Castle Making
In this competition there were total 16 participants (2 students per Grade from each house). For this competition participants had to make a castle from a given deck of cards and the castle with longest height will win. All the participants enjoyed making castle from the playing cards as a team. Their team work, patience and accuracy were tested here.

For Grade 7 and 8: Poster Making
In this competition there were total 16 participants (2 students per Grade from each house). The theme for this poster making competition was “Recipe of Success: Hard work + Earnest Prayer + Company of Good Friends”. Participant had to brainstorm and come up with the flow about how they can project this theme on a given chart paper. They were given time limit of one and half hour. All the teams came up with very creative ways to represent their ideas.

Throughout this competition participants from each grade levels worked as a team and learned to respect other’s ideas. It was a good experience for them to learn how to resolve their conflicts in a constructive way. For teachers it was a delightful treat to see their budding stars in action. Overall the competition was successful in providing the platform to students to unleash their creativity and practice their interpersonal skills. Both the students and teachers had thoroughly enjoyed it.

Grade wise winners of the Interpersonal Intelligence Competition are as follows:


For Grade 1 to 3: Making Animals with Clay: Shivam House

  • Rishil Savaliya (Std.1)
  • Veer Modi (Std.1)
  • Harinaman Gandhi (Std.2)
  • Harsh Patel (Std.2)
  • Jagrat Patel (Std. 3A)
  • Devan Patel (Std.3B)

For Grade 4: Model making from  blocks: Satyam House

  • Parth K. Patel (4A)
  • Parth N. Patel (4B)

For Grade 5 and 6: Card Castle Making: Shivam House

  • Shiv Patel (5A)
  • Manthan Patel (5B)
  • Vasav Shukla (6A)
  • Tarak Jadvani (6B)

For Grade 7 and 8: Poster Making: 

Satyam House

  • Smit Lad (7A)
  • Dharmin Patel (7B)
  • Jagrat Gada (8A)
  • Joy Patel (8B)

Sundaram House

  • Rutvik Fudhanawala (7A)
  • Parth Jasoliya (7B)
  • Dev K. Patel (8A)
  • Mantavya Ambaliya (8B)

Overall Result
1st Position    Shivam House
2nd Position    Satyam House
3rd Position    Sundaram House
4th Position    Suhradam House

Compiled by: Priyavadan Sir

Kinaesthetic Intelligence Competition 2013-14

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To provide an opportunity to all those students who possess a dominant, innate kinaesthetic ability, a team of teachers at AVM planned for an Interhouse Kinaesthetic Intelligence Competition to be conducted in October ’13. Different activities were designed for different age groups of students.

 

Group A: Std 1, 2, 3

  • Activity: Dance Competition (planned and executed by Suhradam Sir)
  • Number of students per House:- 09
  • Significance:- A kinaesthetically intelligent child would thrive in an opportunity to learn by acting things out and through movements (using their motor skills). A dance competition turns out to be one such opportunity for the little kids. Dancers exhibit highly developed bodily/kinaesthetic intelligence. So a dance competition gives the students an opportunity to use their body in a variety of skilled ways for expressive purposes.
  • Skills tested: – Motor movement of hands, fingers and legs; Sense of rhythm, Facial expression, Team work.
  • Result:- 1st Satyam & Suhradam (78 Points); 2nd Shivam (74 Points); 3rd Sundaram (73 Points)

Group B: Std 4, 5, 6

  • Activities: (planned and executed by Sarvajit Sir, Mrugesh Sir and Pujeetbhai)
    • “Hula hoops” for Std 4
      • 2 students per house
      • Skills tested:- Speed, Flexibility, Team work
    • “Satodiyu” for Std 5
      • 4 students per house
      • Skills tested:- Focus, Hand-eye coordination
    • “Juggling” for Std 6
      • 2 students per house
      • Skills tested:- Accuracy, Concentration, Team work
  • Result:- 1st Satyam (118 Points); 2nd Suhradam (110 Points); 3rd Sundaram (105 Points)

Group C: Std 7, 8

  • Activity: “30 seconds Field Goal” and “Bounce and Shoot” (planned and executed by the school basketball coach Bankim Sir)
  • Number of students per House:- 4
  • Skills tested:- Agility, Perfection, Hand-eye coordination, Judgement, Balancing body
  • Result:- 1st Sundaram (48 Points); 2nd Shivam (46 Points); 3rd Satyam & Suhradam (26 Points)

Group D: Std 9, 10

  • Activity: Improvisation (planned and executed by Suhradam Sir)
  • Number of students per House:- 6
  • Significance:-
    • Drama is one such art form which can convey human emotions at their best.
    • Improvisation gives an opportunity to the students to express their views on different topics like current social issues very effectively through their acting skills.
  • Skills tested: – Gestures & postures, Facial expressions, Dialogue delivery and Justification of given topic.
  • Topics for Improvisation:-
    • Education In India (Satyam House)
    • Corruption & Politics (Suhradam House)
    • Every Drop Counts (Water crisis) (Shivam House)
    • Idea of India or Ideal India (What can we do???) (Sundaram House)
  • Result:- 1st Sundaram (88 Points); 2nd Suhradam (84 Points); 3rd Shivam (83 Points) 

Overall Result:
First:      Sundaram House 84 points
Second:  Shivam House     80 points
Third:     Satyam House     78 points
Fourth:   Suhradam House 77 points

Practice Makes Perfect

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Morning assembly is one of the most important parts of the daily schedule in a school student‘s life. Values build up character. Value-based assemblies help children learn values that are important to build character and live a peaceful life.

Thus, Satyam House conducted the assemblies for the week of Dec.16 to Dec.21, 2013 with the value Practice Makes Perfect. The underlying theme was that proper & repeated action results in perfection.

This value is very significant for the students as it can help to perform better in academics, excel in sports or master any art such as dance, music, drawing and painting, etc.

The following was witnessed in the assemblies during this week:

Thought For the Day:
This forms a very insightful feature of the morning assembly. What great people think about the value is conveyed to the children. Pleasant morning, fresh mind and peaceful atmosphere makes it an ideal time for them to spare room in their thought process for the value. One of the thoughts conveyed during the week was: “Chance favours the prepared mind.”

Introduction:
On Monday, the Primary Section kids were very privileged because the value was introduced by the Principal Dr. Vijay Patel through a ‘vaat’ from “Swami Ni Vaato” and an interesting story.

At the same time, in the senior assembly, Kshitij Sir introduced it through a scientific research conveying how special type of brain tissue called Myelin, plays a key role in helping us to gain mastery over the skill and how regular practice rewires our brain. The assembly continued with a discussion of examples of two great personalities, Ludwig van Beethoven [the great music composer and pianist] and Karoly [handicapped pistol shooter who won gold medals in two successive Olympic Games].

AVM Young Talent Show: [under the guidance of Sharmil Ma’am]
Three students of AVM with outstanding performance in different fields were interviewed by the Show Host, Naman Banka of Std 7.


Young Talents:

  • Amit Chaudhary (Std 9) in Running
  • Niramay Tanna (Std 10) in Mathematics
  • Love Patel (Std 11 Commerce) in IT

All of them were clear-sighted that daily practice without fail, blended with God’s company and blessings helped them a lot in pursuit of excellence and still their journey is on. The SHOW helped students know the significance of practice in their day to day life.

The Music Maestro:
Jaimin Sir, the school’s tabla guru, shared his experience throughout his journey towards mastering the art of playing tabla. He highlighted that the painful struggle and the thrill of the journey led to happiness after each step forward from what he was in the beginning, only because of PRACTICE.

A live performance by him filled the environment with some beautiful rhythms that shall stay in the children’s minds inspiring them.

Hindi Assembly:
Paying respect to our National Language, assemblies are also often conducted in Hindi. Pushpak Sir conveyed the importance of ‘Practice’ through a self-composed poem:

सौ-सौ बार में एक ही कोशिश, कभी किसी ने की होगी,
तब जा के एक बार में उसने, दो-दो दक्षता हासिल की होगी।
पहले भी किसी ने ऐसे ही, अभ्यास की कही कहानी होगी,
आगे यहाँ से आपको भी, ये पद्धति पे पद्धति चलानी होगी।।

Practice polishes the inborn talent of a person. Arjun and Eklavya, who acquired perfection through their tireless practice in archery, are not unfamiliar to us.

Videos:
Young or old, everyone enjoys exploring information through audio-visual presentations and they also leave a prominent effect on our minds. Inspiring videos related to the fields of music, art, sports, academics, adventures, etc. were shown which left the spectators spellbound. Glimpses of the movie Bhag Milkha Bhag; a girl practising for the World Math Day and other sports were selected by Rekha Ma’am for discussion in the Gujarati Assembly.

Activity in the Junior Assembly:
An activity was conducted to show comparison between two groups of students, the one who practices certain skills on everyday basis and the one who never practices. It was concluded that the group of students who practise daily performed better than those who never did so, even for the actions which seem very simple.

Its effect?
It was a pleasant surprise to find that the tiny tots of grade I and II had brought the value into practice.


Grade IV students of handwriting class noticed improvement in their hand writing when they compared it with their writing on the first day of the class.

Annual Athlete Meet: Inspired by the value, some of the participants put efforts at their level best on practising for various events to win medals for their respective houses.

With such inspiring examples that followed this week of value-based assemblies, Satyam House was eager and ready for the next.

Written by: Sunita Ma’am