MERAKI 2021

February | Vol - 1 | Issue - 1 CHRIST SCHOOL Kengeri, K.Gollahalli, Kumbalgodu, Bengaluru, Karnataka - 560 074 LEARN WITH PASSION AND SOUL TO GIVE THE BEST MERAKI IN CHRIST The word Meraki comes from a Greek word, derived from the Turkish “merak” which means ‘doing something with passion and creativity with soul’. When we put our hard work, passion and soul into something, no matter what it is, the outcome would be fabulous. Add an important ingredient called “LOVE” to what you learn, so that it stays engraved in your heart forever. This engraved knowledge makes you to let the ideas to gush out from your body system to the world marking your individuality. Christ School Kengeri students follow the principle of Meraki, i.e., whatever you do, do it with passion and the outcome will always be creative and worth making. Follow this principle of Meraki in your daily lives to succeed and achieve greater heights. We are in a world full of possibilities. We built big planes, buildings, ships, and many more. Have you ever thought ‘HOW’ we did it? It happened because of the principle of Meraki. To elaborate this, let me take you to Graham Bell’s invention world. Our life and inventions are made with a cause. Alexander Graham Bell invented telephone only to talk to his wife who was living far away. However, it was invented only because Graham Bell put his soul and passion into it with desperateness. Now, we enjoy using telephone due to someone’s passion and love. The same thing can happen to us in real lives too! We just have to love everything we do and do it by getting lost in imagination and passion towards our work. Be it a job too, when we work with our souls and heart, we excel in our field. Our school provides opportunity to students to learn with love and to create with soul. Be it in scholastic learning or non – Scholastic learning, we students are subjected to different arenas and decide what we are really good at! Christ School believes in the power of imagination and hard work. It follows the idea, ‘let your imagination and creativity rise higher, by breaking every obstacle that may come your way’. It is when you imagine, that you will gradually love yourself and others around you. Thank God each day for the wonderful opportunities that lie all around you. Keep faith in yourself and others will too. Make every work a celebration. Love your work. Do everything with passion. Haasini K Student of Grade 7

Creative essence of life A sparkling essence of willful qualitative thought of understanding, Noble and good; not a lifeless idle thought, A noblest look of active love on all as God’s sight, A thoughtful look of undivided attentive availability, Gentle and kind; not a lifeless blindness gaze. A little qualitative aromatic pause to understand, look and listen, Wholly and truly; not a lifeless deaf listening, A word of love that flows from the heart, A tender touch in life of goodness, Healing and sounding; not a lifeless dumb hearing. A heart that gives and contains all without reserve, Compassionate and generous; not a lifeless hatred heart, A pleasant sweetness of life in all; A sparkling essence of willful qualitative touch, Inside and outside; not a lifeless numb touch. A soft and tender innocent taste, Umami, bitter, sour, salty and sweet; not a lifeless ageusic taste, A quench unending reaching at life, A light that lighten our life so bright, Softly and powerfully; a life with ‘Meraki’. I am glad that we are bringing out Rev. Fr. Augustine Paimpillil CMI our newsletter, congratulations! Let me pen down few of my thoughts Principal Christ School, Kengeri Campus on this creative venture ‘Meraki’. 01

CREATE YOUR MIND'S EYE WITH LOVE The great book by great authors, like Wings of money and respect by doing what we like. Fire by Dr, APJ Abdul Kalam or Harry Potter But it is guaranteed that we will enjoy the by J.K. Rowling, give us immense pleasure time spent and more importantly we will while reading and we get immersed in the be self-satisfied. story. We realize that the authors have poured their creativity and love and have put a small Not everyone can be Sachin Tendulkar to piece of themselves into their work to give us get the work of their liking. But we can find the best experience while we delve into these our Meraki in our hobby, dreams, and treasures. This kind of work is called Meraki. voluntary work. So, what is Meraki? When we put our heart, soul and creativity and put a piece of ourself to But why work so hard? How does Meraki do any work, that work is called as Meraki. For make this world amazing? instance, kids enter into a new world while making sand castles on beaches, even if they We enjoy the Meraki of our teachers. They know their castles will be washed away. They teach us with all their hearts and help us still put their heart, soul and creativity to make build our life. Similarly, our parents work the castles. It gives them happiness which hard to give us all the best facilities. They could last a lifetime! The satisfaction the do it out of love, not merely as a duty. We children receive out of these small things get may not be able to return what our teachers reflected on their faces. And that is the precise and parents do for us with all their heart. synonym for MERAKI. But we can definitely pass the same love to others and give a piece of ourselves to this Why is Meraki so important in our life? Well, world by creating a Meraki – Our Wonder imagine your parents asking you to clean your Work. So, let's groom the joy of our heart to room. Since you don't like cleaning, you will build Meraki. not be so interested to do it. But you are forced to do it. Eventually, you are creating a lifeless Ojaswi Bhandari place to dwell. And what if all your life you keep doing things that you don't like? Life will Student of Grade 7 be terrible.Every childhood is filled with lots of fun and play, we grow up and explore many interests and abilities like reading, dancing, singing and many more. We try few things only for others' satisfaction or just to follow the trend. Slowly, it becomes difficult to recognize what we like doing the most and what is that one skill that we get indulged in and enjoy. But if we understand that our goal should be Meraki, we can recognize what exactly we should focus on, to enjoy life. Once we take up the work that we like doing, we feel happy and satisfied. We will find our Meraki. It may not be guaranteed to get famous or earn a lot of 02

PRIVILEGED CHRISTITE! Human, the most successful beings on Earth, physical excellence, academic excellence and a have evolved into the current stage after a series great time management capability. Our School of transformation over a period of time. One of helps in creating ideas about how we can the major milestones of these changes was the effectively solve small health problems by commencement of social life. With social life, educating them about the same. human could attain much more facilities than those which could be attained by an individual Food is a basic necessity for every human. prior to this evolution. These big achievements Clothing and shelter are the other basic needs were attained through successful and optimal of humans. The production and supply of collaboration of talents possessed by different these commodities involve various talents. individuals.Talents possessed by individuals, This ranges from manual labour to other areas can be by birth or acquired. In either case it of supply chain. This also requires business should be polished and nourished to be used and time management skills. Our School for contributing to the society. Our education promotes student leadership and innovative system is designed for fulfilling this purpose. thinking skills that aids them to learn how to Passion shown by individuals are related to the manage things efficiently in their future talents they possess. This has to be identified in endeavours. the childhood and give timely support to Entertainment industry is an indispensable enhance their maturity to be used in society at aspect of our lives. It plays an important role later stages in time. in living a normal and happy life. This industry helps us by making our mind feel Apart from the talents, another major skill a good and making us more productive. Our person should have is the capability to express School promotes these arts that can be learned it. Then the talent will be exposed to others from young ages through theatre learning. where we will get inputs for improvement and ideas on other talents to which this can be In a way, all of these various fields form the successfully collaborated for a much bigger backbone in our social life. The optimum innovation target. In our school, we have collaboration of these areas provide fuel to various platforms to express the talents in us. innovation and ideas for making our lives Some of us have great creativity and better. Apparently, our school provides us a imagination power, which can be sharpened platform for identifying, nurturing, expressing through reading. To use our imagination and and collaborating our talents. It is our express our talents, there are avenues such as privilege to be a part of this school and to the creation of stories, skits, dance and lot more. receive such experiences. Friends, let us make The great innovations in the world happened use of our opportunities and work for a better through different thought processes of different future. individuals, which in a way, is imagination. Milon Paul Jose Physical excellence is another area which is Student of Grade 8 required by a society for national security as well as internal law and order. Sports activities give us this platform where we can express our power in this area. Our school did not step back in this field even during this pandemic situation, as we are educated about Physical fitness through online learning. One of the most important services of our life is the healthcare. The medical sector claims 03

MERAKI- Labour of Love and Passion Meraki is a Greek word. It means ‘putting teaching techniques. The little ones with something of oneself’ (one’s soul, love and parents beside them are so active and eager to creativity) into one’s work. It means putting the learn. It is in my hand what do I plant in their essence of oneself into one’s work with sponge like tender mind. I can take my children absolute devotion, passion and undivided to the heights of their wholesome caliber. I can attention. Meraki is not just a word. It is life bring out the ‘real them' in them. This can take when lived. Our life becomes meaningful when place only if I do everything with meraki. we add meaning to it. Meraki is such a word Teachers can thus, leave something of their that does this job. We could add colours to life essence in what the children could really when we do thing with great love. All of us become in their life. Students, on the other have a vocation to follow. Some of us are called hand, can leave a trail of their essence in their to be teachers, students, leaders, designers, life as learners. In their excellence in terms of organizers, social workers and so on. In studies one can never doubt the fact that a piece whatever field we are in we can never say that of them is in there. That is to say, their the best can never be given. achievements reveal their utmost diligence and concentration in their work. Having said that I reflect on how can a teacher be a Meraki! I remember as a child of class II, I To conclude, we need not find big task to give was so much in love with my science teacher. our all to become meraki. Wherever we are, we She was a kind of teacher who made the most are accompanied by tasks at hand. Tasks can be boring topic interesting. She would bring very small like sweeping the floor, considerate sweets, fruits, small toys, stationeries to teach towards others in our gesture. But the question us the concepts and later reward us with the is can we put love into them? It is passion, zeal same when we answer her questions. I scored and totality of self into our work that defines us good marks in her subject, not because I was a all. Mother Teresa says, “Do small things with bright student or a teacher’s child but because great love.” Don Bosco also reiterates, “Do her approach was divine. She left a piece of your ordinary duties in an extraordinary herself in her work in the process of imparting manner.” Great people like these and many knowledge- Meraki. For teachers teaching is a others have found the essence of life in love that passion first rather than a profession. So then gives ‘the whole’ in all things be they small or am I doing my job passionately? As a teacher, big. am I teaching in an innovative way for the betterment of our society by preparing my We need this type of life especially during this children to be good leaders? These are two pandemic where small things are reminded to rhetoric questions which we get to know the be much appreciated. A soulful gesture of love answers through the performances of the and kindness, a family get together, a quality students. I feel privilege to be a kindergarten time with oneself, nature and God is all that we teacher. I could use my creativity in my need. In short, when we live our life with meraki we become immortal here and after inspiring millions for a better life. Ms. Charen Lowang Kindergarten Teacher 04

A Craft to Sail through… “To be creative means to be in love with life. The most important people in a ship are its You can be creative only if you love life passengers who want to reach the correct enough that you want to enhance its beauty, destination safely. Likewise, in Christ school we you want to bring a little more music to it, a give more importance to the students who want to little more poetry to it, a little more dance to attain their goals by following the core values of it.” quoted by Osho. moral uprightness, faith in God, love for fellow being, social responsibility and pursuit of Life is a journey filled with adventure, excellence. happiness and sadness. It is a fact that all human beings are unique and it is their Even though there are diverse people with distinct creativity, passion and their perseverance cultural background in Christ school, I would say that gives birth to innovations in the world. I that the uniqueness and variety of culture brings believe that Christ school's management, out the real beauty and best creativity from each of teachers and staffs, parents and students its members. The school and the management travel in the same ship and what helps this provide students with opportunities to celebrate ship to sail in the right path is, love and the different festivals and keep up the spirit of cultural whole participation of diverse people in this heritage. Christites are given ample of particular ship. opportunities to showcase their talents and creativity through various events such as Le recite The mission of Christ school itself makes it (Poem recitation competition), disguise clear that the school and its members strive to competition, fancy dress competition etc. help the students in achieving the holistic development that will make them valuable Parents are the support system of any educational citizens who will fulfill their obligation to institution. It is through their support, open- enrich the society they live in. The first and mindedness and tireless motivation, that guides the foremost, element required in a ship is a the students and inspires them to achieve great navigator who is skilled and experienced to heights. navigate the ship to the correct destination. Similarly, In Christ school we have the A ship to reach its destination has to cover a long management, Principal and Vice Principal distance. Yes, we have a long distance to cover to who are the thriving force to guide its achieve our aim. Till we reach that destination let members and show the right path to achieve us put together our heart, mind and soul into the expected goals. anything we aspire to do. For a ship to move forward in the water it Mr. Nithin Mathew needs its propeller to rotate and create a English Teacher thrust to propel the ship forward. Here in Christ school the management, staffs, teachers act as the propellers who motivate the students through their words of encouragement. Teachers from LKG to middle school put their whole hearted effort in creating online class modules, adapting to the new ways of teaching and learning process during this pandemic. They try to create student centric classrooms in the digital platform by making the learning interactive, motivating and inspiring. 05

New-fangled Learning The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly affected one is a student or a teacher, one has to the various aspects of normal life, including demonstrate greater patience, focused going to school. As a result, schools have been attention and also to be more responsible forced to forego their traditional classes and shift when compared to traditional classes. to online. Furthermost, we have to the use the gadgets like mobiles, laptops, earphones or headsets Currently, conducting online classes is the only responsibly and whenever it is required and way out, to keep imparting knowledge. It essential. Heavy usage of electronic gadgets is involves the use of digital services to create a not good for our health. So, students should virtual classroom. The teacher and the students always prefer reading hard copy books sign into a communication app and sit in front of instead of gadgets and gadgets are to be used their devices! This new system did face a lot of only for attending online classes! challenges and difficulties initially, but later on, things have changed for the better. Shalom P Student Grade 3 B The challenge for the teachers is manifold. They have to maintain class decorum, especially when it comes to unmuted microphones which disturbs the entire class! Also, the teacher needs to monitor each child's video stream to ensure that the children are paying attention. Overall, the online classes have their own set of challenges, difficulties and advantages including correcting notebooks virtually. But they have also brought out some inbuilt qualities in each and everyone. Irrespective of whether 06

Digital Jotter There was a time, when students attending offline classes had to carry around bundles of books with them. Today, students attending online classes, refer to bundles of sites online. This pandemic predicament fashioned a new era in Education and technology. Students have started upgrading to digital online technology. Digital learning has made us comprehend that; we can learn even in a virtual manner. Online Classes have made students think broadly and expand our potential with skills using the support of the Internet. No wonder post pandemic digital learning will be a part of students' academic life. Welcome to our new Advance learning and new Digital Educational technology. Shree Kanishkha .VS Student of Grade 3B 07

The Pandemic’s Pandora and a Few Timeless Learning Experiences “It is only in our darkest hours that we may making a stethoscope with pipes, this wouldn’t discover the true strength of the brilliant light have been possible if I haven’t gotten the strict yet within ourselves that can never, ever, be loving teachers like Hemalatha Ma’am and dimmed.” – Doe Zantamata Roseline Ma’am and they turned out to be my mentors as well as Anoja’s. Each morning, As the world was learning to battle a pandemic between teaching and mentoring students who that put the entire globe on a standstill, with are ready to be entrepreneurs or to work with survival at stake; I underwent a similar companies like Walmart and Morgan Stanley transformation. Just like the invasion of the Anoja and I, meticulously watch the videos, some virus was new to this world and its people, time we sing poems and sketch or draw. And similarly an abrupt shift from the physical Yes!!! We keep ourselves engaged effectively in work-space to a virtual work-space was new to “Home Engagement Activities”. This pandemic the global citizens. With survival at stake, my has unquestionably made our lives difficult and daughter's education was tertiary. Fortunately, exposed us to challenges however, Christ school to my utter surprise, I found that, though Anoja has played an instrumental role in our lives, wasn’t able to go to school, the school in turn helping me relive my kindergarten days had made its way to her. It all started with a alongside Anoja, which I was otherwise oblivious beep on my mobile phone and a WhatsApp about; and these activities have certainly created a message regarding some exciting and fun special bond between my daughter and I, as this is activities one fine morning, when I was more the first time a working mother and homemaker interested to know the number of COVID-19 has spent such an amount of quality time with her infections and fatalities in the country and all five-and-a-half-year-old daughter since the day the news surrounding the same. This was a she was born. gush of fresh air. I have always been a teacher as well as a passionate learner. Yet, Craft activities A Teacher by Choice and a Learner by Passion were something which I have avoided since my –Mrs. Baisakhi D. school days. But here I was, equally as excited Parent of RM. Anoja, Student of Upper as Anoja to do something new and this has led Kindergarten to us making our first friendship bands and paper bags. And I wasn’t aware that, this was 08 just a beginning of a new phase of learning for me rather than Anoja. Since then, every day I have learnt something new, be it understanding how to teach her “taken and times” to how to make a paper octopus to even

My Mind Is Like My Internet Explorer literally everything else. In many ways, social media is a great asset to society. Technology and social media have helped people acquire jobs with ease. Almost every aspect of the economy from, farming to finance have increased their productivity and profitability by using the internet. Now a days, we have access to sellers and buyers from any remote area, it has become very easy to sell products online. In the past, it was very difficult to access businesses and to purchase and sell goods and services. As an eighty’s kid, I would like to give Today, technology has become an a brief gist of the life before the search integral part of our lives, allowing us to engine. I used to refer the dictionary, work from home, stay connected with rent encyclopedias from nearby friends and what not. There is literally a library to complete projects. My whole world of knowledge at our parents used to take me to the nearby fingertips. If you want to know the shops, every tiny thing, we had to meaning of a particular word you Google make short trips, it was a great time. it. If you’re looking for motivation you Now that hand written letters are watch a success story. replaced by e-mail the beauty of the letter is gone; for navigation, we use Last but not the least, everything has its virtual maps; Wikipedia serves as the pro’s and cons; it all depends on what, encyclopedia, play store has taken the why and how of it. place of cassette video games. Those were days we didn't feel insecurities Mrs. Pavithra but now, as the technology develops, we seem to be more insecure. Parent of Saatvik, Student of Grade 3A Google is like oxygen for over 90% of software engineers. The current generation seems to be living in a virtual reality rather than the real world with people getting popular through Instagram, Facebook and Tiktok. To think of a time without the internet has become unimaginable for us all. This generation, depends on social media for happiness, news and 09

Teaching and Learning in Blended Classrooms “If you are not willing to learn, no one can help you. If you are determined to learn no one can stop you” - (Hilary Hinton Ziglar, American author) When we think about teaching and learning process in school, we remember our olden days of Schooling where the teacher used to be the resource person and he or she transacting knowledge to children. The children would study whatever the teacher taught in class and put it in answer sheet. But now the system changed. All forms of information are available to students hence teachers have to guide the students as a facilitator to reach their goal. This Pandemic has given us the opportunity to reach this goal by using the method of technology related teaching and learning. Blended learning with use of technology; this includes face to face learning and online learning as well. Initially, we all doubted whether this learning would be possible in these virtual classrooms. After having experienced for 5 months of online classes now we are able to understand the fact that the students who are putting their effort to hard work in learning things have increased their knowledge level a lot. Students are able to understand that knowledge is available in their fingertips however, what really matters is how well they’re able to use it. The hardworking learners are able to acquire knowledge by using technology such as presenting different topics, talking in front of camera, uploading their own performances in YouTube and other social media, improving in speed typing, proper time management etc. Another major advantage of this virtual platform is that the audience is able to watch the recorded sessions again and again. With the introduction of technology, we are able to make a student- centered classroom where students are eager to acquire knowledge from the resources already available to them. The teacher is guiding them to move forward and this scientific approach of learning will imbibe in students a self- research/ discovery attitude in their middle school level itself. While moving on for higher education these self-independent learners will gradually proceed towards success simultaneously. In this 21st century, learning to use technology is a very essential skill required for students as well as teachers. This blended teaching and learning experience will be a great learning point for all of us to aim higher and focus more on our future. Hence, if we have the determination no pandemic can stop us from learning. Keeping this spirit of hope in our mind we all can move forward with great enthusiasm. Mr. Sanal Thomas Physics Teacher 10

Self- Efficacy; A Key to Success . capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the When facing a challenge, do you feel like you beginning.” can rise up and accomplish your goal or do you give up in defeat? Are you like the famous little Yes. Performing a task successfully strengthens our train engine from the classic children's book (\"I sense of self-efficacy. We begin to form our sense of think I can, I think I can!), or do you doubt your self-efficacy in early childhood through dealing own abilities to rise up and overcome the with a wide variety of experiences, tasks, and difficulties that life throws your way? situations. However, the growth of self-efficacy does not end during youth but continues to evolve What Is Self- Efficacy? throughout life as people acquire new skills, Self-efficacy is a person’s belief in their ability experiences, and understanding. to succeed in a particular situation. Our belief in our own ability to succeed plays a role in Some examples of strong self-efficacy include: how we think, how we act, and how we feel # A man who is struggling to manage his chronic about our place in the world. Self-efficacy also illness but feels confident that he can get back on determines what goals we choose to pursue, track and improve his health by working hard and how we go about accomplishing those goals, following his doctor's recommendations. and how we reflect upon our own # A student who feels confident that she will be able performance. People with a strong sense of to learn the information and do well on a test. self-efficacy may develop deeper interest in the activities in which they participate and # A woman who has just accepted a job position in a they form a stronger sense of commitment to role she has never performed before but feels that their interests and activities. Moreover, they she has the ability to learn and perform her job well. recover quickly from setbacks and So, what exactly does high self-efficacy look like? disappointments. On the contrary people with You can probably think of some examples from your a weak sense of self-efficacy may avoid own life including areas where you feel a great deal challenging tasks. They believe that difficult of efficacy. People may possess a general sense of tasks and situations are beyond their self-efficacy or in a specific domain where they capabilities and they focus on personal failings believe they can do well such as school, work, and negative outcomes. friendships, parenting, sports, hobbies, and other areas. How important is self-efficacy to our student’s success? In a nutshell, developing a strong sense of self- Students with a strong sense of efficacy are efficacy can play an important role in almost every more likely to challenge themselves with aspect of one’s life. Life is full of challenges and high difficult tasks and be intrinsically motivated. levels of self-efficacy can help us better deal with These students will put forth a high degree of such difficulties more effectively. Ones belief in his effort in order to meet their commitments. Self- own abilities can predict how motivated he feels, efficacious students also recover quickly from how he feels about himself, and the amount of effort setbacks, and ultimately are likely to achieve he puts into achieving his goals. their personal goals. History shows that students with a strong sense of efficacy believe Ms. Divya Thomas they can accomplish even difficult tasks. They English Teacher approach difficult situations with confidence that they have control over them. How Does Self-Efficacy Develop? Once Mahatma Gandhi said, “If I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the 11

The Fairy-Tree Once lived a boy in a village and had known about a tree which gave diverse fruits each day. Every day, the Boy used to relish the tree fruit with a condition the tree told him to keep it as top-secret. For a few days, he kept it a secret, but for several days he couldn't keep his word. Therefore, he told his friends about the tree’s secret. One day his friends came to the tree without informing the boy and ate the fruits which found to be very delicious. The following day, they came up with an idea, that they wanted to take the tree and plant it near their house. So, they drew the tree from its original place and planted it near their house. However, the tree didn’t grow instead it perished. Moral of the story – “You should always be contented with what you have, and not be covetous”. By Alen Antony Aji Student of Grade 4 A 12

The Mystery Hacker As usual, Gurpreet was sitting for her daily online \"Thank you, mam.\" Said Gurpreet. classes. She was very active today, since her The next day, after all the classes got over, her favorite subject class, Chemistry was going on. teacher scheduled a meeting with Tarun. The teacher was just handing out the marks of the Tarun confessed that how everyone last semester's test. Gurpreet saw that she had underestimated him, called him weak in scored the least in her class and was very upset. studies and thought that he couldn’t do The teacher was just congratulating the person anything. So, he decided to show them that he who had topped the class this time, and it was could do something which no one in the class Tarun. “Tarun is usually the one who gets the could do it, yet. Unfortunately, his answers in least marks! How did he top the class?” Gurpreet the answer sheet were way below average, so thought. After the class, she decided to check her he decided to hack into Gurpreet's account answer sheet to find out her mistakes. When she and switch her answer sheet with his. opened her answer sheet, she saw that all her “But you do have a talent, Tarun. You really answers were wrong! “I never wrote all this!” She impressed me when you hacked into my whispered. Gurpreet knew that she would not account. Not everyone can do that! But use have written those answers since she knew all the this in a good and effective way!\" said answers were answered correctly. She Gurpreet. understood something went wrong. So, she “I agree. Now you are going to apologize!\" decided to tell her friend, Anant about this. Anant said her teacher. said that he would definitely investigate, since he Tarun apologized and is certainly into coding! was very knowledgeable about this. So, she was And as usual Gurpreet, she topped the class. confident that he would come up with something Again! good. A few minutes later, Anant called her. He told her that he had been researching about this Smriti S and that there was a possibility that Tarun could Student of Grade 8 have hacked into her account... “And replaced his answers with her’s!\" Gurpreet finished. “Exactly!\" exclaimed Anant. “But this seems, kind of a long shot! Do you really think, ‘Tarun would have done something like this?’ Moreover, how did he know how to hack into my account?!\" exclaimed Gurpreet. “Maybe we underestimated him?\" 13 Gurpreet was convinced. She quickly made a call to her teacher and told her all of her suspicions. “Hmmm. I think there can be a possibility, Gurpreet. I will speak to Tarun regarding this. There is no way that this can be allowed!\" said the teacher.

“Please let me sleep!” An undergraduate and orphaned boy named Bose lived in a town, who used to do part-time job along with his studies. He used to get only 2 hours of sleep in a day. In the morning, he attended his online classes while at night he worked for a company. One day he was late to home after his tiresome day, so he thought of staying in his friend’s house for the night. He soon fell into deep slumber the moment he hit the bed. While he was in deep sleep, he heard someone bashing the door. He was startled due to lack of sleep. Later he woke up in half asleep and opened the door. He saw his friend’s uncle named Sunder. He let him in and they both slept in the same room. In the middle of the night, uncle started snoring raucously which disturbed Bose’s quite sleep. He shouted at the uncle to stop snoring but uncle kept on snoring stridently. Sleep deprived Bose! He felt frustrated and went out, and brought some cow dung and threw it on the uncle’s face and fell asleep. In the morning, when Bose woke up, he had seen uncle’s face filled with cow dung. He was terrified, because he thought that the action, he performed over night was a dream, but actually he did it in reality. Mariya Rose Aji Student of Grade 8 14

CELE-FIESTA “All of us do not have equal talent. But all of us have an equal opportunity to develop our talents.” We at Christ strive our best to provide the holistic development to every child by organizing various events and fest to showcase their hidden talents. Cele-fiesta is one such competitive event organized in the month of August every year to support and enhance the latent talent of the children. Various competitions such as solo dance, elocution, fancy dress, drawing, snack art, collage, storytelling and many more are conducted from Grade 1 to 8 with full fervor. The winners are bestowed with certificates along with trophy. Overall champions will be recognized from winners list and they will honoured for the same. I express my heartfelt gratitude to everyone who contributed in making the last year’s Cele-fiesta a grand success. We expect the same co-operation and support to continue this great tradition in the coming years. Ms. Jayashree Nair Mathematics Teacher 15

COSMOS In today’s era education is not only confined to textbook and notebook. It is now linked to the holistic development of the children. With the efforts of the parents and teachers, education has now stretched to everyone and each child is knowledgeable. A science exhibition is a delightful opportunity that engrosses students in learning new realities. It advances the inquisitiveness to learn further which otherwise is not developed by listening to dreary lectures. It provides a platform for the students to use their logical skills to bring the best brainchild from their intellects. Our School had organized science exhibition from grade 1 to 4in the month of October. The appellation given to the exhibition was COSMOS. It was a great experience for parents, teachers, and students. Students enjoyed learning through such exhibitions as they put effort and make models with their own hands. While they give presentations in exhibitions, they become more experts with public speaking skills apparently removing their stage anxiety by imparting self-confidence in them. It boosts them to ask additional queries to address their curiosities. So, Christ School ensures that enhanced version of COSMOS in every academic helps to discover the creative talent of the students and thrusts them to think outside the box. Ms. Ann Maria Abraham Science teacher 16

RoboUtsav 2020 Robotics in a branch of science that integrates Computer Science, Engineering and Technology into developing the special kind of machines called Robots. AI or Artificial intelligence technology is also adopted in these robots which gives them the capacity to think and make decisions to an extent. Thus, this technology is adopted in various streams now as it reduces human labour to a major extent. Understanding the potential of Robotics, Christ School Kengeri, along with RoboChill, offered a special course and trained the interested students were trained with the basic concepts of Robotics and their learning was exhibited to the parents and public in RoboUtsav which was conducted on 15th and 16th November 2020 at Christ School Kengeri Campus. Many mini working and non-working robots were exhibited in RoboUtsav and students of 5th to 8th grades participated in it enthusiastically. They all understood and demonstrated the concepts to the visitors and accumulated lot of praising for the same. In all, it was a different experience for students as well as parent. Active participation of each and every one made RoboUtsav a grand success. Ms. Yashaswini H.L English Teacher 17

KHEL UTSAVSports ignite our soul, care about our friendships, stimulate our intellect and kindle our limits. Christ School Kengeri organizedAnnual Khel Utsav, sports day on 6th December,2019. The spectators witnessed the seamless vigor of christites and the strong commitment of track and field, the highest quality of sportsmanship. In the presence of Our beloved Principal Rev. Fr. Augustine Paimpallil CMI and Former Vice Principal Rev. Fr. Joody Elavoommottil CMI the sports day was held with great pomp and show. It was a privilege and honour to have a celebrity and distinguished chief guest, Padma Shri. Anju Bobby George, International World Champion in Athletics for long jump and triple jump. Her presence was an encouragement for our young students in particular for those who aspire to excel in sports. “She believed she could, so she did…A small beginning of a great journey….” Padma Shri Anju Bobby George is India's first and only World Champion in Athletics IAAF World Athletics Final. She made history when she won the bronze medal in long jump at the 2003 World Championships in Athletics in Paris. With this achievement, she became the first Indian athlete ever to win a medal in a World Championships in Athletics. She is a shining jewel in the Indian track and field sports’ crown, inspiring others to emulate her feat of winning a World Championships medal for the country. All our students had the opportunity to get inspired with her inspirational speech which was Followed by the inaugural, various sports event held for students of all grade along with parents. The Khel Utsav day, essence ended with the Optimistic note of sportsmanship to keep working hard for healthy mind and body. Ms. Yashaswini. K Sports Director 18

Envision 2020 School Annual Day is an occasion of celebration, felicitation, feast and festivity when students present not only their wonderful performances but also receive honour for their curricular and co- curricular achievements. Our School Annual Day was woven around the theme ‘Envision 2020’ Shri S.T Somashekhar, Minister, Karnataka Govt. graced the occasion as the Chief Guest for the Cultural Show. Rev. Dr. George Edayadiyil CMI, the former manager of Christ group of schools, was the president of the function. The function was presided over by honourable Shri R Venkatachalapathy, KAS BBMP joint commissioner Bengaluru north and various Principals and Vice Principals of Christ group of schools. Principal Rev. Fr. Augustine Paimpillil CMI extended a warm welcome to all the dignitaries present. And shared his vision pertaining to the theme of the Cultural Show Envision 2020. The program started with honouring guests of the day followed by presentation of the school’s annual report by the students. Furthermore, the event was articulated with one–hour long Cultural Show which held the audience in awe and left them enlightened as the show culminated. The Indian inventions and greatest contributions of Indians to the world was publicized through enaction with a stunning and eye-catching performances. The Annual Prize Distribution function was a moment of pride and honour for all the winners and achievers of the school. The students were awarded prizes in the Academic as well as Co-Curricular areas. Ms. Hemavathy Sandeep Mathematics Teacher 19

Individual Training: Each child is allowed to develop at his/her own pace. The directress (teacher) gives every student an individual presentation and leaves them to work according to their own pace and interest. Sense Training: The senses are the gateways to knowledge. Hence, the materials are devised to make the children use all their senses while learning. The material is called the didactic apparatus. Special emphasis is given to training of the senses in more practical way. Kindergarten Pedagogy “The secret of good teaching is to regard the Motor Development: In addition to senses training, child’s intelligence as a fertile field in which our materials stress on muscular development. The seeds may be sown, to grow under the heat child walks around the environment, carrying, of flaming imagination”. lifting, bending and placing the work material which helps in the development of muscular Quote by Dr Maria Montessori strength. Children between the ages 2 and 6 years are able to learn a great deal and very easily. Auto -Education: Every individual learns the best This capacity of learning by the mind is when they learn by themselves. Hence the materials called ‘the absorbent mind’ and the mind is are designed in such a way they explore and correct compared to a sponge soaking in the liquid. themselves. The child is hence in control of his/her If the children’s absorbent minds are own learning process. exposed to appropriate learning experiences Teacher to be a directress: The directress needs to be in the development stages, they will grow a keen observer and should demonstrate the positively in a great personality. This is children how to use new materials. All the activities especially true during the sensitive period were intended to be self-rewarding and hence (2and 6 years) i.e., the time when the child is motivating. most receptive to learning and when he/she shows both a desire and an interest to learn, Mixed age group: The kindergarten at Christ has a without external motivation. And a teacher mixed age group of children i.e., 2-5 years to 6 years. should understand this fact and utilizes this This also promotes peer learning where younger stage and try to impart maximum ones learn from elder ones by observing and knowledge and fine motor skills at this age. imitating them. At Christ School, we believe that each and every child is gifted with special talent Our Daily Routine... which has to be recognized and nurtured in We start the day with a circle time. Circle time shall the right environment. To provide a healthy also be used for story telling or any other general study environment, we follow certain discussions. This helps kids to develop thinking, principles here. speaking and listening skills. It also increases the self-esteem of the students and also inculcates The Principles we follow here at Christ are as moral values among children follows: Freedom: The children are given perfect Initial activities freedom. They are allowed to walk around The initial activities help the child to settle down. in their environment, make choices as to Children get involved in these activities and forget which material they would like to work their fear. with, work with material as long as they They are two types of activities: wish to, get instructions from either the •Group activities: playing train, catch the bubbles directress or their friends and repeat etc activities as many times as they wished to. •Individual activities: Stringing beads, blocks etc To nurture the absorbent mind of the child, it is extremely important to present a carefully 20

prepared environment. Here environment refers to the classroom. There are 5 main areas based on which the classroom is designed: Practical life exercises, Sensorial, Language, Math and Cultural. Once the children have settled down, we present the practical life activities. These activities are very simple and generally the children are familiar with them. They keep observing these activities being performed at home and are attracted to them; hence they pick them up easily. Examples of Practical life Activities: • Buttoning and unbuttoning • Pouring liquid/grains • Folding napkins • Pounding • Straining etc Since children are permitted to select the material they wish to work with, the cupboards are all at low height. This helps them to access the material easily. Outdoor activities are an important part of child’s environment. These include nature walk and gardening. Everything in the environment should be presented in reality as per the Montessori system and it has no place for fantasy. The material presented should be as realistic as possible. For example, glass bowls/containers, real scissors etc. There should be structured and ordered to arouse the child’s natural curiosity. It should be a growing environment where changes are made periodically to avoid monotony and make it challenging. These contribute to the fulfilment of the child’s sensorial order. In today’s world a good teacher is one who is constantly open to new trends and techniques in learning, so that the children benefit to the maximum. And hence, here in Christ school, we believe in introducing the kids to real world and make them ready for the real experiences rather than taking them on a fantasy tour. Ms. Hemalatha Pentakota Kindergarten Coordinator 21

Teacher-The Shadow of God Education is the finest gift in developing one’s life. Today the society seems to be modern and digital. The present education has to change with the change of the society. To make this possible the teacher plays a vital role in a child’s life. If one attempts to have a quick glance on the different professions in the world, teaching could be considered as the worthiest and the noblest in the hierarchy of professions. Knowledge is found in abundance, but the teacher is the one who caters and organizes right knowledge at the right time in the young blooming minds. Children are blessed with infinite potentialities and it is the teacher who nurtures and opens out their mental vision and beholds them to treasure the gift of knowledge. Teaching is the sacred and noble profession in which the teacher gets a unique opportunity to work with the raw intelligence in bringing out new innovative sparkling thoughts and ideas which fosters them to believe in their abilities and march forward in achieving the objectives of making life meaningful and successful. In the present scenario education concentrates more on learning in quantitative manner rather than focusing on qualitative aspects. The higher role is performed by the teacher who investigates into the learning process and gives a concrete angle and directs the learner learn at his best. The process of learning for a child is not magical. It is very essential that the student should have sound base of strong moral values. In the entire teaching learning process, the teacher makes the learner understand the morality and ethical perspectives of life. Many of the ethical ethos like honesty, sincerity, helpfulness, receptiveness and so on are not literally learnt from books, but the teacher contributes in the life of the child with his or her own ability. A real teacher helps the students believe in themselves with the glimpse of what they ought to be. The teacher facilitates and goes an extra mile to make the learning fun and innovative which inspires the learner to dream and broaden their horizons of life. There are instances where the learner may lose confidence and hope. During this dark phase of life, a teacher stands like a guiding light which enables the child to move forward and fight his own destiny of life. That’s why I feel that, ‘Teacher is the shadow of God’. Ms. Sheela Borges Primary School Coordinator 22

Masterpiece “It is only our dedication towards our passion that distinguishes a champion from the Crowd” Every individual is gifted with equal amount of talent by birth. It is their exposure to different experiences makes them to progress their perception more widely. All experience gives us more acquaintance about do’s and don’ts in a certain task assigned to us. While we go through the potentials of performing a task competently, we look into all aspects of perfection. If the chore we involved is something from our penchant, we might tend to add our ideas into it, to bring out a magnificent outcome of success. A Child belonging to mediocre family will not have all sorts of extravagance toys to play around. Nevertheless, the family will only be affording the basic necessities like Food, clothing and education of the child. A child budding up in this situation will have desires to play with different commodities that they see with another child. If the child upbringing is involved with morality and respectable values, then the child will not feel voracious to play with advanced toys instead the child will try to create the toys of same sort in his/her own style. The creation will be tremendous in their own eye as they put their heart’s longingness to create the artefact. This will fetch cheerfulness in their childhood by breaching out the cocoon of poverty restrictions in their life. And this entire course is the blueprint of MERAKI. Education will become prolific if the child show love towards the subject. The teaching pedagogy we follow in our school helps the child to develop interest in various arena which eventually lead them to create new possessions in their aptitudes. As the quote says “If you create your life with love, your dream becomes a Master piece” – Miguel Angel Ruiz. Christ School Kengeri aims in the holistic nourishment of the child by inculcating core values of the school to present a master piece to the society. Let every child acquire everything with love, so that they can create innovative conception with their soul. Ms.Rincy David Middle-School coordinator 23

WELCOMING NEW FACES “A smile is the universal welcome”. The Management, staff and students of Christ school kengeri are delighted to welcome the new faces. We feel blessed to have you dear fathers for administrating Christ group of schools. It is indeed, God’s grace to have each one of you with new mission empowering and instilling powers in others by showing your leadership skill. We are convinced that the aim of all education is the formation of the human person for the fulfillment of his/her individual and social responsibilities. Saint Chavara was a trend-setter in the universalization of education and making it available to all sections of the society. Carrying on this legacy, Christ group of School and their leaders, focus on the Child’s holistic growth & development, so that they become instruments in social mobility and social transformation. We welcome our inspiring leaders with their following names and designations. Rev. Dr. Paul Achandy CMI Rev. Fr. Sebastian Elangickal CMI Rector of Dharmaram college Coordinator of Christ Group of Schools and Managing Director of Christ Group of Schools. Rev. Fr. Nijo Pallaty CMI Rev. Fr. Paulachen CMI Vice Principal of Christ School Kengeri Christ School kengeri Campus Director. Mr. Sanal Thomas Mr. Syed Qamath Abbas Physics Teacher Social Teacher 24

Ms. Swetha Thurthi Ms. Sudha Computer Teacher Kannada Teacher Ms. Renuka Rani Ms. Yashodhalatha Hindi Teacher Science Teacher Mr. Nithin Mathew English Teacher Christ School Kengeri also welcomes and congratulates the new teachers. This is our opportunity to say thank you for choosing teaching as your profession and by being a part of our caring, vibrant community. Your noble profession as a teacher features you as the “Star” to your students. Let us seize every opportunity to perform miracle in learning and bring laughter in our classrooms.You have the ability to mould young minds and to prepare them with a positive attitude.A sense of humour can create wonderful learning environment for your students. On behalf of Christ School Kengeri, the fraternity wishes you “Good luck in your future endeavors\" Roseline Rozario Kanchi Kindergarten Teacher Published by Principal 25 Christ School Kengeri Campus K.Gollahalli, Kumbalgodu, Bengaluru, Karnataka - 560 074 for private circulation only