When Sports Meets Culture

DRS International School concluded it’s 15th Annual Celebrations with a grand cultural evening on Saturday. The event was graced by Mr Santosh Mehra (IPS), the Additional DG of Police, Mr Anand Kumar (IRS), Additional Commissioner, GST, Mr C.N. Gopinath Reddy (IPS), Retd. Additional DG of Police as well as DRS group Chairman Dayanand Agarwal.

‘Salaam Jaadugar’, a whole-school dance-drama production, revolving around the life of the hockey legend Dhyan Chand, was the highlight of the evening. Set in the 1930s, when colonialist and fascist forces were in power, ‘Salaam Jaadugar’ poignantly explored the power of sports and games in transcending the narrow limits of race, nation and divisive politics. Through mime and beautifully choreographed dances from across the world, the production portrayed the transformative potential of passion for sports by mirroring Chand’s journey through the world of sport.

‘Divergence’, a visual journey created and curated by the students, also took viewers through the landscape of contemporary sculptures, fine watercolor paintings, and thought-provoking installations, making the evening a treat for art connoisseurs and parents alike.

As a culmination of the Sports’ Fiesta, the evening also saw impressive Yoga, Zumba, Karate and Archery displays by the students. The prestigious Edi-awards, as well as awards for student achievers, were given away by the distinguished guests of honour. Student recipients included academic toppers as well as students who had won accolades at the national & international level in various sports and games.

‘Mindscape’ the school’s annual report was a retrospective of the school’s journey over the last academic year, and celebrated its achievements by taking the guests through its most memorable events. The Live Band, as well as the Student Press, and the gala dinner with which the evening ended also made the annual celebrations one of the school’s annual report most unique witnessed in the city thus far.

Spreading Joy

As a token of their love, care and support, the students of DRS International School gave away a few goodies to the deserving. Among the places they visited was the local government school where the students interacted with the school principal and understood some of the challenges of the school. They distributed sweets, books and stationery items to the primary school students and spent quality time with them.

Fun & Games!

The International Kindergarten at DRS International School participated in range of fun-filled sports, games, athletics and fun races on 19th December, 2017. The IK-1 students competed in Swimming, skating, ‘Jelly Fish’ Race and ‘50 mts’ Race. While the IK-2 students competed in swimming, skating, ‘Catch the Big Fish’ Race and ‘100 mts’ Race and the IK-3 students comepted in swimming, skating, ‘Pirates of DRSIS’ and ‘100 mts’ Race.

The event helped the high-spirited kindergarteners participate successfully and build positive bonds while enjoying out-door games and competitions. The little ones cheered for their classmates and learned about the extra excitement that competition can bring to a game. The experience also taught them valuable skills and lessons.

Let the Games Begin!

The prestigious occasion of 15th Annual Celebrations and the much-awaited Sports Fiesta with an extravagant opening Ceremony, that flagged off the various Inter-House Sports and Athletics events.

The ceremony had a remarkable atmosphere with a splendid display of unity and harmony of the school with the orchestra and march past. The school head boy, head girl and house captains guided the parade and the students marched magnificiently.

The Inter-House Sports Events were inaugurated with lighting of the torch by the torch bearers, releasing of balloons and pigeons by the guest of honor and administering of the oath by the Sports Captain.

The school choir led everyone into the prayer by singing the song ‘On Top of the World’ followed by an outstanding stage performance by the students of International Kindergarten,Grades I & II. The little ones put up a wonderful musical – ‘Splash: A Bucket Full of Joy’. The IK students danced for the song ‘Washer Woman’ and Grades I & II performed for the song ‘Welcome to the Autumn Party’.

Shri Dayanand Agarwal Ji appreciated the performances and keeping in mind the students, teachers and parents encouraged and motivated all with his inspirational words and specially thanked the parents and other dignitaries for gracing the occasion and for constantly extending their support.

Our esteemed Chief Guest Mr. Arun Kumar congratulated the students for their past achievements and blessed the school in all its endeavours. He also recollected his school days and experiences in Khammam. He specially asked the parents not to compare but encourage the students to not just focus on their education but be in sports for their child’s overall growth and development and learn their mother tongue along with English. He encouraged the students to freely explore the avenues before them. The ceremony was followed by brunch and everyone braced themselves for a spectacular and graceful display of Inter-House Sports Events.

Blue Cross Buddies

Blue Cross of Hyderabad is a voluntary organisation dedicated to animal welfare. It provides immediate care to the sick, injured and abandoned animals on the streets. It also runs a veterinary hospital and animal shelter at Jubilee Hills. Various services provided by the Blue Cross include animal rescue service, prevention of cruelty towards animals, adoption and rehabilitation work to put the rescued animals back to their natural environment. It also conducts awareness programmes on animal for the humans so that they also learn to care for these animals. It also runs a mobile veterinary clinic.

The visit to Blue Cross, Hyderabad was one of the most memorable experiences of all the field trips undertaken by the students of Humane Club, DRSIS.

The students were touched by the services provided by the organization and promised they would shoulder the responsibility of animal welfare. A PPT presentation by the Founder Ms.Amala Akkineni was very inspiring. The questions which students posed were not only answered by her with patience but also planted a seed of thought about protecting our nature and wildlife.

Students were introduced to various terminologies like ABC (Animal Birth Control), Animal Behaviour and Psychology, Sterilization etc. The role of GHMC (Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation) and our duties to assist it for animal welfare was highlighted.

A tour around the organization gave a picture of the various tasks undertaken by the organization as well as an insight into how we, as responsible citizens, must contribute to the animal welfare.

Small Steps But Giant Strides

“The transformation which is to occur in the functioning of society, will certainly depend to a great extent on the effectiveness of the preparations the youth make for the world they will inherit”[i] Universal House of Justice, 1985 bahai.org/en/t/c/SCH/sch-41.html

Present youth are the ones who will inherit the earth if the older generations leave anything worthy for them. We leave them with despair, disasters and hardly have them prepared to face the challenges. We must ask how we prepare the youth for the world. The crisis ridden world is filled with materialism, consumerism and spreading nihilism. Over a decade into the 21st century and world has already seen 46 percent increase in weather disasters, dozens of wars, conflict, catastrophe and environmental hazards. The condition of the world is steadily growing worse. In spite of the scientific advances each day 30,000 children die from preventable diseases according to UNICEF[i].Some 80% of all urban areas have air pollution levels above what is considered healthy by the World Health Organization (WHO). The world beholds the disintegration of very structure of the civilization through irresponsible models of industrialization, economic plans, unprecedented anxiety and confusion which destroys natural resources, leads to growing poverty, violence and hopelessness.

The crux of the problem is lack of education which is afflicting our world so severely. When human beings forget their commitment to moral principles, disintegration happens. When moral values, voice of conscience and discipline become lax, the sense of decency and shame becomes numb. The evidence of this is the widespread corruption in public and private institutions.

The youth can move the world and contribute significantly to the advancement of civilization. Spiritual values, positive attitudes and skills are within the grasp of dedicated and knowledgeable teachers who mould and shape the minds of the young. The youth should be competent enough to face the pressing challenges of the world and provide moral leadership for their contemporaries.( school assembly picture enclosed)

[i] UNICEF http://www.unicef.org/mdg/childmortality.html

DRS International School has made giant strides to achieve its vision in successive years of practicing innovative methods in Value Education, Life Skills, Gender Sensitivity and various co curricular activities. John W Gardner has emphasized the importance of building a vision on shared principles. He states; “A vision relevant for us today will build on values deeply embedded in human history and in our own tradition. The materials of which we build the vision will be the moral strivings of the species, today and in the distant past.”[i] We feel that our shared vision must incorporate universal principles and attitudes clubbed with action for the emergence of global citizens. Syllabi that integrate knowledge, attitude, continuous action and reflection through innovative methods must internalize universal human values for every child.

[i]Gardner, john W, On Leadership , The Free press,1990

To create sustainable communities that contribute to the advancement of civilization DRSIS students take action locally and internationally as they believe in global citizenship. In an attempt to have empathy for environment students learned about the life of coal miners and the harsh conditions they must go through to provide us the luxury of electricity(Coal miner’s picture enclosed). They took an oath and tried their best to conserve energy. Consequently they checked the electricity bill of the school over few months of taking action that gave them a boost of seeing their small action with giant rewards of almost 50% reduction in electricity bill.

Learning moved forward in leaps and bounds through an international video conference on climate change which was due to the school registration for the British Council International Schools Award. Interacting with students of different countries proved a valuable learning opportunity as many concepts had to be delved deep during the video conference on “Urgent Action on Climate Change”. As a sustainable community DRSIS tried variety of approaches to reduce, reuse and recycle in order to conserve the planet. The compost pit project proved a worthy effort when they could see the recycling of garbage into compost. Compost pit was also an avenue for using the kitchen waste into compost rich in micro and macro nutrients for plants. Children learned the process and helped in making the mixture. They also learned the components and chemicals that go in it. The second of the United Nation Sustainable Development Goal (No Hunger) became more evident when they learned about hunger during the video conference on Food Security. They interacted with students from Taiwan, Brazil and Egypt to know about their problems as well as looking at some international recipes. They actually tried to value food in the school canteen by reducing wastage.( compost pit picture enclosed)

Empathy for environment must be taken by all not only the super hero and extra ordinary. Small actions by small people have great effect. Students challenged their critical and creative thinking skills during an activity by creating your own super hero for protecting the environment in a comic strip. Saanvi the student of grade eight said, “to save the environment you don’t have to be a super hero. Everyone is a hero when they care and be good”(comic strip picture enclosed). Even the smallest person can contribute to save the environment, said Amulya in the comic strip with an ant sized hero.

[1] Universal House of Justice, 1985 bahai.org/en/t/c/SCH/sch-41.html

[1] UNICEF http://www.unicef.org/mdg/childmortality.html

[1]Gardner, john W, On Leadership , The Free press,1990

The World is our Stage

 

Our Secondary Students put on quite the show when they took to the stage for the Inter House One Act Play and Dance Competitions. The audience was entertained with power-packed performances and impressive acting chops as our houses battled it out on stage. While some plays were adaptations of classics, a few had original in-house scripts, much to everyone’s delight. The dance performances, on the other hand, brilliantly showcased our students training, finesse and natural flair for the art.

Out of the Box!

Our residential IB Primary Years Programme students had a workshop on an usual topic this Sunday- boxes! Whilst learning how to create beautiful, unusually shaped boxes to store their prized knick-knacks, our students had a lively chat on the different ways boxes could be used. Do boxes have to be rectangular? Can you make a spaceship from a box? If you kick a box, does it become a toy? With questions like these, they kept each other on their toes! Our little residential ‘thinkers’ concluded that there’s no limit to the possibilities of what you could do with a box- even the earth could be fit into a box- if the box was big enough! This freewheeling discussion then prompted our students to attempt creating shape poems about boxes! A charming way to spend a Sunday afternoon, indeed.

Word Wars!

An interesting Inter-House ‘Spell Me Right’ Competition was conducted by the Secondary Wing for the CIE students from Grade VI to VIII with the aim to assess their knowledge in English, empower them to learn words, and enhance their knowledge of correct spellings.

The competition was divided into six interesting rounds i.e. ‘Spell-Check’ Round, ‘Buzzing’ Round, ‘Synonyms & Antonyms’ Round, ‘Multiple-Choice Idioms’ Round, ‘Rapid Fire’ Round for ‘Prefix & Suffix’ and ‘Abbreviations’ Round.

All the four houses were well-prepared and participated enthusiastically. The students put to excellent use, their knowledge of the language and displayed their talent and way with words in this competition. They competed for a close finish and their spontaneous insights contributed immensely in making the show very interesting, informative and enjoyable. The declaration of scores after the completion of each round helped add to the suspense and thrill of the competition.

Talent Unearthed

The DRSIS atrium stage was a pleasure to watch during the Inter-House Group Singing Competition organized by the Secondary Wing for the IGCSE IX and XI and IBDP 1 & 2 students. The competition comprised of patriotic theme-based songs such as ‘Waving Flag’, ‘Bhaarat Maa Ki Shaan’, ‘Aao Baccho Tumhe Dikhaye’ and ‘Hall of Fame’.

The criteria for judging were stage presence (energy level), vocal presentation, technique, time & rhythm, coordination, selection of song and time management.

Each house delivered their best performance to entertain the audience to the fullest and excel in the competition. The students were able to showcase their singing skills and it was a delight to see them sing with such confidence and conviction.

The lively audience listened with complete attention and applauded enthusiastically for the memorable performances.

Helping the Homeless

The students of DRSIS Community and Humane club visited the Forum for Street Children situated at Secunderabad on 9th December, 2017. The home provides shelter for boys between the ages of 3-18 yrs. The total strength of the residents is 45. The children attend the schooling at nearby government schools. The children are well-trained at volley ball and some of them have even participated in tournaments in state-level and national-level competitions.

Our students had friendly matches (Throwball , Volleyball) with them. The children formed mixed groups so that they could interact with each other freely. They distributed blankets, biscuits, fruits, stationery items and some groceries to them. It was a heart-warming and eye-opening experience for our students.

Inquiring Minds

The IB PYP at DRSIS, organized IK I – III ‘End of Unit Exhibition’ to showcase and share with parents the students’ inquiries and give them insights into their learning journeys.

The IK-1 students presented on the transdisciplinary theme- ‘Sharing the Planet’ and displayed exhibits of soil, seeds, 3-D models of different sizes and shapes, 2-D chart relating to the central idea, ‘Plants are an Important Part of Our Environment’.

Meanwhile, the IK-2 students depicted the transdisciplinary theme-‘Where We are in Place and Time’ and displayed exhibits to explain the purpose, types and different modes of transportation such as airway, waterway, landway, traffic rules and safety measures.

The IK-3 students portrayed the theme- ‘How the World Works’ and displayed exhibits of ‘our solar system’, ‘sequence events of day and night’, ‘seasons’ – winter, rainy and summer seasons.

The students were enthusiastic in expressing their thoughts, feelings and experiences gained from their Units of Inquiry through their well-organised colourful and attractive exhibits and there were many sections to attract the visiting parents and peers who went through the portfolios of the children and encouraged the students by asking questions related to the Inquiry. The overall success of this exhibition can be attributed to the collaborative efforts of the students, parents and facilitators involved as a learning community at DRSIS.

Techie Talkers

Grade IX IGCSE students Vansh Jalan, Lagan Agarwal and (ICT- HOS) Ms Aarthi Singam visited the IT Fest ‘TECHNE 2017’ conducted by DPS Nacharam in their campus. The school had displayed one floor with robotics and on another floor the visiting schools along with the host school had displayed projects on animations, IOT’s and games.

DRSIS students presented a ‘ Voice Controlled Car’ , which would operate on the voice commands using an app from the mobile. Over a period of 7 days, the students prepared the model of the automated car with online help and the facilitator’s advice.

The fest was initiated to foster learning and knowledge in students and was informative and a good opportunity for tech freaks. It had many areas like application based projects, Robotics, IOT, Games and Animations, etc. The students got a chance to visualize artificial intelligence and it provided the perfect platform for them to develop and showcase their technical prowess.

Conference on Food Security

The video conference held on 28th November, 2017 at DRSIS, was a grand success and featured intense diplomatic discussion between students representing India, Taiwan, Turkey & Brazil. Following the Model Diplomacy procedure, the topic of ‘Food Security’ was firstly addressed by DRS International School who took the lead. The participants spoke at length on issues concerning food security and possible solutions to food concerns in their respective countries. Sixteen students from DRSIS participated in the conference, and did so confidently, speaking as the prime minister and other cabinet ministers of India with policies that tackled challenges of food security in India.

Our students’ contributions to the conference were followed by that of students from

MPS High School in Bursa, Turkey whose representation of their country’s food security challenges was worthy of consideration. Taiwan saw Ms. Mei Mei bring together elementary and high school level students who highlighted the dangers and implications of a specific food problem in Taiwan-Fake Cooking Oil. Brazil demonstrated recipes and famous food of their country through a power point presentation. You can see the full conference on the following link. Link https://youtu.be/uHnXb6fighc

The conference collaborator Mr. Michael Cunningham, said, “Today we had a wonderful Modern Diplomacy Conference. We used multiple grade levels, multiple countries and talked about Food Security and how it impacts different countries. This is a great example of what can happen when you have outstanding teachers from all over the world and use a program like yours. DRS International School from India – led the way with traditional speeches. They are excellent and I really enjoyed listening to them. Ms. Janet & Ms Mathangi did a wonderful job with them”…

A Day of Bubbles!

For the Activity of the Month, the IK students at DRSIS, came together in the Jungle Gym Play Area to enjoy their favourite water play activities and practice some real-life tasks to celebrate ‘Washing Day’. In this activity, they were explained the various steps and techniques for washing such as Foaming, Dipping, Rinsing, Scrubbing, Pegging and Drying. The hands-on activities help them develop fine-motor skills, hand muscles co-ordination and let them explore up close how to use a clothesline. They also learned that adding fabric conditioner to clothes maintains the fabric texture and helps them smell good. The toddlers had a great time playing with foam and bubbles in a big tub of water, squeezing the water out and setting them out for drying, and enjoyed feeling ‘grown up’.

Singing Sensation

Group singing beauty lies in harmony and unison and coordination of the rhythm. When you sing with a group of people, you learn how to subsume yourself into a group consciousness because group singing is all about the immersion of the self into the community. That’s one of the greatest feelings – to stop being ‘me’ for a little while and to become ‘us’.

The students of Grade VI to VIII represented their houses in the Inter-House ‘Group Singing Competition’ organized by the Secondary Wing. They brought out their singing talent and highlighted the great virtue ‘Empathy’ same as the ‘Theme of the Month’ for November in various ways though their sensational melodies.

The songs selected were based on the theme ‘Motivation’ and Patriotism’ and with their songs like ‘Hum Sab Bharatiya Hai’, ‘Waving Flag’, ‘Chak De India’, ‘Taakath Watan Ki Hum Se Hai’, cheered the spirits and lightened the hearts of the audience. The important aspects and criteria for judging comprised of stage presence (energy level), vocal presentation, technique, time & rhythm, coordination, selection of song and time management.

Each house showed their proficiency and were eager to emerge as victorious and the judges surely had a tough time to decide the winners.

Green Warriors!

The ‘Conserve My Planet’ Grand Finale Program was held on 5th December, 2017 at St. Peter’s Engineering College. The green ambassadors of DRSIS participated in this finale as a part of the CMP program.

Adip Krishna, Shaan Rai, Vaibhav and Tanush Agarwal presented two impressive models on ‘Alternative Sources of Energy’ i.e converting magnetic and wind energy into electric energy. DRSIS students reached till finale and bagged the second runners up position with a lot of appreciation from the Judge Panel members coming their way.

The students also proved themselves in various other events conducted. Mithilesh and Naiil Hiran performed guitar solos that truly struck a chord with the audience. Tanusree and Aneesha also gave the audience a couple of memorable songs they sang to perfection.

Mayank, Satwik, Sreeshanth, Chanakya, Vaishnavi and Rithika shared with the audience, their experience as green ambassadors and suggested few measures to conserve our planet which were thought provoking.

The program concluded with the announcement of the awards. DRSIS bagged two awards. Sahasra of grade VI, received the ‘Best School Campaigner Award’ for collecting around 2200 signatures in support of the CMP program and Adip Krishna of grade VIII received the coveted ‘School Championship Award’. Overall, DRSIS students stood in third position in the ‘Green Championship Award’ and have emerged from the experience more environmentally aware and responsible, with a cause they truly believe in.

Quizwiz

The IB PYP Wing at DRS International School, conducted Inter-House ‘Guess Me Right’ and ‘Quiz Competition’ for the students of Grade I to III and Grade IV & V respectively.

The teams of all the four houses participated with great enthusiasm and skillfully answered the questions asked. Though some of the questions were very tricky, the teams tried to answer them with confidence.The questions put forth to the teams were intriguing, exciting and made the audience clap and cheer when their respective teams answered correctly. The audience also got a chance to participate every time the teams answered incorrectly.

The rounds for the Guess Me Right were Guess Me Right, Pictorial Round, Music Round covering various topics and the Quiz comprised of four rounds like General Knowledge, Literary, Jigsaw Puzzle and Rapid Fire. Every round was a mixed bag of questions from history, geography, environment, Current Affairs, Art, books, personality, places, science, sports & some miscellaneous topics.

On tie up, the final round on ‘International Baccalaureate’gave the two semi-final teams a chance to catch up with their knowledge about ‘IB’ and also put-up a tough fight. Everyone clapped and cheered for the ecstatic winning team.

One Nation Reading Together

There was pin drop silence in DRSIS today as we observed One Nation Reading Together (ONRT) in the school between 1:10 pm and 1:45 pm on November 24, 2017. It was a great opportunity for the students and the whole school staff, including admin and support staff to participate in this program and engage themselves in reading, for fun.This activity aimed to create awareness about the importance of books and reading and also a small step to encourage everyone to make them their best friend.

The program started with a Pledge written by renowned writer Jerry Pinto. It was a memorable day when the whole school was involved in the same activity ‘ reading’.

A Day With Chess Maestro

Grand Master Vishwanathan Anand and former World Chess Champion, visited DRSIS on Tuesday, 21st November 2017. The morning assembly was special that day with the Grand master around.

He inaugurated the new school logo and Live Chess on the grounds of DRSIS. The first ever game on the Live Chess was played by Mr.Anand and our very own champion Pranay Venkatesh of grade V and Shaan Rai of grade VII. Mr Anand spent some quality time with the stakeholders.

Mr Vishwanathan Anand is a role model that students look up to and were very excited to have him amongst themselves. His presence at DRSIS was an inspiration and motivation for all to achieve greater heights.