Each day begins with assembly, during which the students do some stretching exercises and recite a Hindu prayer, a Tamil prayer, and the Lord's prayer; all of which is standard practice in schools, whether private or government sponsored. An older student then offers a proverb for the day, such as "many drops make an ocean," and the students recite it in both English and Tamil. One student then reads a few headlines from the newspaper in English and another reads the same from the Tamil paper (see www.hinduonnet.com). This is followed by "announcements," meaning a message from me, the principal. I welcome the students, compliment them on their dress and behavior, and then announce the Clean Classroom award from the previous day and the Rising Star Respecter award recognizing a well-behaved and respectful student from the previous day. The selected student wears a special star-shaped badge for the day. Announcements are followed by singing/chanting the Tamil anthem and the national anthem, after which the students are dismissed by classes to go to their rooms. This is a photo of morning assembly:
Two of our house mothers also teach, one in LKG and the other in UKG. I am impressed with their efforts and the amount of learning expected. The teachers start right in with English instruction, explaining in Tamil as needed. Teaching and learning involves much more Tamil at this stage because the little ones have obviously had little or no exposure to English. The red outfits are our school uniforms, but not all the kids have them yet. Vickie, as hostel director, is in charge of student clothing and we just received an order from the local tailor that was almost a month late. We also provide a uniform to each of the local village students who attend our school. This is our LKG class led by the dynamic young Shama. The students and teacher are applauding a youngster that successfully recited 1 to 10 in English.
Our students also have a Tamil class each day so they can gain literacy and facility in their own tongue. The Tamil people are one of the original Dravidian cultures in India, with a written tradition of literature and poetry spanning more than 3,500 years. Their culture has essentially avoided the centuries of invasion and crossbreeding that typifies northern India, and they have a strong sense of ethnic and cultural identity. Padmavathi, our Tamil teacher, is an energetic and well-prepared instructor--no wasted learning time in her classes. Notice the beauty of the written Tamil script on the chalkboard.
We have been fortunate to hire some well-educated instructors for our little rural school in the boonies. Some of our teachers catch a 6:45 bus to be at school be 9:00. I am especially impressed with our new science master, Yayathi. He has a B.Sc. in botany and a M.Ls. in library science. He exudes lots of energy and the students really seem to like him. June 16 was his third wedding anniversary so he did the typical Indian thing and brought treats for the staff. His beautiful daughter will turn two in September. Here he instructs our 7th Standard students in the room that will become our computer lab. We have the furniture and we have ordered the hardware, all made possible by donations from the U.S. and expert consulting from a couple of wonderful volunteers.
All work and no play makes Raja a dull boy. Our Physical Training program is in full swing even though our school yard is an uneven recent construction site with broken bricks and debris scattered around. Johnson, our PT master, spent the first couple of days having the students clean up the area. Now the PT classes are going strong and the kids love the break. Interestingly, part of the curriculum is essentially military parade drill. I love it though--our students are greatly benefiting from learning some discipline.
1 comment:
It looks like alot of progress is being made. The uniforms are very becomming to both boys and girls.
Kathy Phelon
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