Junior Journos

The Times of India’s special ‘Newspaper in Education’ held its yearly ‘News Makers Meet’ on the 16th of October, 2017 with the aim of giving young, aspiring student journalists an opportunity to collaborate and interact with other Newsmakers of their age, as well as to get inspired in a manner like no other.

Ms Amisha Mohanty of Grade IX B and Ms Rhea Bogarapu, of Grade IX E, made the most of their day at the Times NIE Newsmakers’ Meet 2017 organized at the Roots Collegium. They were extremely thrilled to attend the first Newsmakers Meet and felt that, ‘’The NIE teaches us to imagine and create, to act and interact, to discover and innovate, to observe and experience, to participate and perform, to have confidence and poise, to be responsible civic citizens, to aspire and achieve, and to succeed and grow, in every aspect of our lives.’’

The chief guests present were Mr. Akun Sabhrawal (IPS), Telengana; Mr. Sreenivas, the Residential Editor of TOI and the chairman of Roots Collegium. Mr. Akun spoke about ‘Drug Awareness Among the Youth’ and quipped that “You only live once and so it is important for us to understand and realize the importance of our precious lives and how it is always beneficial for us to utilize it in a proper manner.” He also spoke about how technology could be wonderful until and unless it creates differences among people. Our students felt that his words were mirrored in the saying ‘Technology can be a useful servant but a disastrous master’.

The Residential Editor gave a highly motivational talk as well as his take on life. He shared with them, how positivity is the key to life, and how each of us have huge potential, but must know our best interests, be passionate, hardworking and focused, to get anything we aspire to achieve. Our students were quite inspired by his words that urged them to believe in doing something new and reinvent themselves every day!

When asked what she made of her experience, Amisha said, “I think it is an incredible opportunity for us to portray our views, interact with different kinds of people and share our views with people all over India. The Meet was an amazing and interesting experience to collaborate and build camaraderie with other student reporters of different schools.”

Rhea echoed her feelings and said that, “My time spent at the Roots Collegium was nothing short of spectacular and the memories made will be forever cherished. I definitely hope that I’ll be attending the next Newsmakers Meet and I would also like to sincerely thank the Times of India for an eventful day.”

Contract Cheating

On 17th October 2017, to observe ‘World Ethics Day’, the students of IBDP-1 at DRS International School led a campaign to bring about awareness about ‘Contract Cheating’ in the wider school community. Contract Cheating is basically a form academic dishonesty in which students give their work to external parties (which may include firms, companies etc.) for the completion of their coursework or school-assignments. The students of IBDP-1 brought to light the consequences of Contract Cheating and how it is morally incorrect to “choose” to do something that violates academic integrity and honesty, as Contract Cheating undermines the integrity and credibility of the entire educational system over time. As a CAS program, for ‘Creativity’ and ‘Activity’ they made posters for the ‘Service’, they shared the matter on ‘Contract Cheating’ and explained to the CBSE students of 9th, 10th , 11th and 12th. The school community found the activity very informative and enlightening as most of them weren’t aware of the disadvantages associated with Contract Cheating.

October Adventures!

Our secondary students highlighted the Theme of the Month ‘Adventure’,as well as celebrated the significance of the month ‘October’, in the assembly held this morning!

Our students presented a very interesting skit on ‘Water Sports Adventures’ by showcasing the importance of safety measures and precautions, important instructions and advice to be followed while trying out water sports.

A talk about the special days observed in October as well as the symbolism of the colors of the ribbons worn on important days to show support for a particular cause or campaign, such as yellow ribbons for ‘Justice’, red ribbons for ‘HIV/AIDS’, pink ribbons for ‘Breast Cancer’, was quite enlightening for everyone present.

An informative speech on ‘Ethnic Cleansing’ in the context of the current refugee crisis of ‘the Rohingyas’ was a real eye-opener.

The assembly concluded with a medal and certificate felicitation of the students who won in the Inter-School Competitions in dance and sports categories held at Glendale Academy. The students not only enjoyed all the elements of today’s assembly with rapt attention but also made most of the good start it gave them for the rest of the day.

Spirit of Service!

Nothing quite captures the essence of leadership like the spirit of service! The 15th of October, 2017 was a special one for the students of our Residential Wing, who witnessed the Installation Ceremony of the office-bearers of the DRSIS Interact Club, which is now in its second year. The Club functions in association with the Rotary Club, Hyderabad Deccan.

The ceremony saw dignitaries such as Rotarian Som Dutt Sharma (President RCHD), Rotarian Vinod Arya (Director, New Generations) and other esteemed Rotarians from the Rotary Club in attendance. Rtn Sharma and Rtn Arya, along with the Principal and Vice-Principal installed the new office-bearers and felicitated them.

The teacher in-charge of the Interact Club presented a report of the long-list of impressive activities and service initiatives undertaken by the club in its previous year, besides sharing the club’s plan for the coming year.

The highlights of the day, were the inspiring speeches by the Rotarians as well as the newly installed office-bearers, all of whom emphasised the message of reaching out to the wider community in the spirit of service.

The ceremony ended on an inspiring note with the Rotarians conducting a meeting to orient the newly invested office bearers as to how they will guide them carry out the service oriented activities planned.

100 Days of IK!

Our tiny-tots celebrated their 100th day of school at DRSIS, in true style. Our students had a blast learning, counting and demonstrating their newly acquired knowledge of numbers and quantities up to 100. On the 100th day, they were given multiple tasks and action-packed assignments for joyful learning.

The kindergarteners of IK-1 hopped on the ‘100’ number and colored the crown of ‘I am 100 Days Smarter’ with which they proclaimed themselves to be ‘100 Days Smarter.’

The IK-2 students colored the number 100 and it was a great opportunity to work on fine motor skills while also helping students to understand 100 as a quantity.

The IK-3 students loved working together to stick popsicle sticks on a brightly-colored posters decorated with ‘100’and also made a bundle of tens to make 100 besides doing skip counting by tens to highlight the big day. This was a great way for the children to work creatively with their classmates and express their creativity in a special way.

Math wasn’t the only subject covered on the 100th day of school. The class also worked together to learn and write the word ‘Hundred’.

This was a major accomplishment that was several weeks in the making and all our activities for the day were a great opportunity for our little ones, who were thrilled to celebrate the milestone!

Lighting up the World!

The celebration of Diwali, ‘The festival of lights’ came alive at DRS International School on the 17th of October when our IB PYP students showcased the spirit of Diwali through a joyful celebration. The atrium sported a festive look, with a bright backdrop, paintings and lanterns adding to the ambience.

The celebration began with a small skit by the PYP students depicting the story and meaning of Diwali. They talked about the significance of the festival and about how and why Diwali is celebrated across India, as well as the importance of celebrating the day safely. Following this, lively dances by the International Kindergrarten students and then Grade II students set the stage on fire.

Besides sensitizing students about the ill-effects of crackers, the assembly also shared guidelines on staying safe while bursting them. A diya-painting competition made sure the celebrations ended on the perfect note, with students enjoying the process of creating hand-painted diyas.

Young Adventurers

Nilshi Adventure Camp was a five day trip. It was fun filled, full of adventure, experiences and learning which created memories for lifetime.

Day 1: The young adventurers started for their destination, Pune, from Hyderabad by flight. After landing at the Pune airport they all boarded the bus, heading towards the camp site, Nilshi Lakeside Camp. The journey was comfortable. They were surrounded by the nature from all sides. The views around and the beauty of the nature were soothing.

It took them 4.5 hours to reach to the camp site. After reaching the campsite at 12 noon, they all relaxed. At 1:00 pm they were served the lunch. After which they were given some time to rest. The day was followed by few adventurous activities, like ‘Rock Climbing’ and ‘Burma Bridge Crossing’. After the fun filled and tiring activities they were served tea/milk and snacks, followed by the exciting ‘Team Game’ named ‘Maze’ which was a memory based team game which required focus. It was equally exciting for the viewers to watch the participants play.

Day 2: The day started with the ‘Nature Trail’ where the children were taken for a walk through woods , beside the lake. It was a refreshing experience. Following the activities scheduled for the day, ‘Rappling’, ‘Shooting’ and the most exciting was the ‘Raft Building’ and ‘Swimming’.

Children were divided into two teams; each group was given props to built their own rafts. Both the teams did really well, successfully building the rafts in the given span of 45 minutes. They did rafting after that, followed by swimming in the lake. After freshening up, another Team game was lined up for the day, wherein they learned more about team work. The day was tiring but adventurous.

Day 3: Post breakfast they started for the next camp, ‘Camp Water’s Edge’, a beautiful place, with scenic beauty all around, soothing environment. ‘Zip Lining’, ‘River Crossing’ and Obstacle Course’ were the scheduled activities for the day. Followed by ‘Kayaking’ and ‘Swimming’. Students played another team game.The day ended with learning few steps of ‘Garba’. All the students participated and enjoyed doing garba with Gujarati dancers.

Day 4: Children were excited as the day was planned for the thrilling activities at ‘ADLABS IMAGICA THEME PARK’. Children enjoyed each and every single ride and game there. The day ended perfectly with ‘Camp Fire’ and dance.

Day 5: The day started with early breakfast and they drove to the ‘Lohagad Fort’ for trek. It was a two hour trek up, to the fort, the way was full of greenery and scenic beauty.

Tech Talk!

Ms Aarthi and Ms Preeti, from our ICT Department attended the Apple Leadership Event, held at The Trident, Hyderabad. Teachers and Vice Principals from around 130 schools across India also participated in the cyber conference.

The seminar began with exploring how technology has changed the way we live and its immense empowering potential in making every learner a creator. The ABC’s of technology, ‘Access’, ‘Basic skills’, & ‘Creativity’ were discussed at length. With technology in the classroom, listening becomes discovering, interest becomes wonder, and passive learning becomes active exploration. Lessons come to life with touch, motion and sound. Teacher resources, insights from fellow educators and personalised support can further help facilitators teach every subject, from reading to coding, in ways that kids really understand. Participants at the conference shared their experiences of using apps such as the Classroom App, Book Creator, I-movie, i-nigma, Tellagami, chatter pix which make teaching and learning more interesting, creative and innovative. The new Classroom App and Apple TV helps teachers independently transform their classrooms into dynamic and interactive learning environments. With them teachers can give instant feedback to students. Further, the merits iTunes I, Swift Playgrounds, Keynote, i Cloud as well as the endless possibilities in the App Store were explored in the educational context was discussed at length. The conference helped our facilitators gain new insight and perspective into using ICT as a tool in the classroom and how technology can facilitate the inquiry process for students of all ages.