Joy of Sharing
The Joy of Sharing has a very special reason attached to it for us. Our founder Mr.Shiv Nadar's birthday falls on 14th July. Each year, all three schools organize a Fundraiser event.
Grades Nursery to 9 students not just participate but also create, innovate and plan how they can raise maximum funds to support a philanthropic initiative in the city.
In the past we have donated our proceedings to Prakash Deep Trust, SOS school, our own guard who lost her husband and was in financial dire straits. My deepest gratitude to you for supporting the initiative and donating generously to the cause.
The children across grades are busily engaged in creating unique artifacts, paintings, pottery and best out of waste products to sell to you to raise the funds. Many parents have volunteered to put up stalls and sell their creations to contribute substantially.
This year we will be supporting 2 charities-The Earth Saviours Foundation- Gurgaon/ Faridabad Road and SOS Hermann Gmeiner School, Faridabad.
Our Pre-Primary started the day on a joyous note by sharing gift hampers with Didis which included the items that children brought for them. They also made and served tang to the support staff. It was a token of appreciation for the work they do in the school.
Throughout the week children enthusiastically made bookmarks, paper bags and paper bowls reusing newspaper and paper, and bird feeders out of earthen clay for the fund raising event that was held on 19th July 2019. Our young entrepreneurs displayed their marketing skills, and promoted their merchandise with ebullience and vigour. The week came to an end in a jiffy but the values that our children have gained from ‘The joy of sharing week’ will always be a part of them.
The Joy of Sharing began with the ‘Circle Time’ in the primary school where students discussed how to be ethical, respectful, happy and purposeful citizens of society.
Grade 1
Children made beautiful diaries and planted saplings which were put on sale for parents on culmination. They were introduced to values like Kindness, Appreciation, Forgiveness, Helping and Sharing.
Grade 2
The week commenced with the teacher reinstating ‘Why is Joy of Sharing celebrated?’ The students spoke about values like kindness, forgiveness, compassion and empathy. Celebrating the spirit of “Joy of sharing” the children made beautiful craft items using waste material. With great precision the young minds turned the waste materials into beautiful craft items like diaries, tic tac toe, table mats, coasters, lamps and pen holders to name a few.
The children of grade 3 volunteered to make envelopes, multi-organizers and pen-stands out of waste material. From plastic bottles, disposable plates, newspapers and ice-cream sticks to old crayons, students found creative ways to use waste material to create every-day items. The children enthusiastically worked in teams and rejoiced in craft work.
The children of Grade 4 were engaged in making small bags from old jeans or sari’s. They also made natural scrub from coffee and oats. Children were really excited to do the same.
Grade 5 children made different styles of dreamcatchers and wall hangings.They also discussed the need to carry out Fundraising. They also discussed about how they would do it.
The students of the middle school celebrated the JOS by starting the kindness wall where they thanked their friends, mentors and Head of School for their support and encouragement.
The Joy of Sharing culmination saw the students showcasing their marketing and sales skills in convincing the guests to buy the Knick knacks to raise funds. Grade 9 children were engaged in washing cars of the parents.
Co-scholastic department:
School Band Performances:
Western Music had put up a paid band show for Joy of Sharing. Our school band which consists of 5 members played 3 band songs and each song was about 5 mins each in one show. School band had 5 shows on that day. Songs that they chose were very inspirational, rocking and very groovy. A large crowd of parents showed up and thoroughly enjoyed the performances.
Shadow Play:
For Joy of Sharing 2019, Aha Theatre basket of grades 3-4 presented a 7 minute long shadow play - adaptation of the children’s story ‘The Magic Paintbrush’ on 3rd Floor, Theatre Room, North Block. The original plan of doing three shows at one hour intervals, changed due to a bigger footfall of parents and students and the play was performed seven times. This was partly due to the play itself and also, partly, due to the excellent work done by a team of seventh and eighth graders who were handling promotion and ticketing. In total fifty eight parents attended the performance and the whole show went off smoothly.
Musical Instruments Curatorial Presentation:
Aha 7-9 students presented a Lec-Dem on Indian Musical Instruments. The event took place on the 3rd floor Library and kept running in a loop. A range of different instruments like wind, string and percussion instruments were displayed and talked about. Harmonium, Shruti Box, Swar-mandal, Tabla, Pakhawaj, Dholak, Sitar, Tanpura were some of the instruments in the presentation. The historical, social and musical significance of each instrument was thrown light upon. The engineering and making of each instrument was also explained. Concepts of musical notes were demonstrated with full fervor. For music students it was an educational drill that they thoroughly enjoyed. A large number of parents turned up and felt that it was a very nurturing experience overall.
Art and Craft Exhibition cum Sale:
The Art department showcased art and craft creations by Aha Painting, Aha Pottery and Aha Art and Craft students of Grades 3-4, 5-6 and 7-9 on the Ground Floor dispersal area of the North Block. Apart from the rich collection of paintings, pottery and craft items already created by them in their Aha classes, students of different age groups came together to create artifacts like terracotta toys, Warli folders, handmade bags, crafted and recycled bottles as plant holders and show-pieces during the JOS week. The willingness to start from where a peer left, to work with dedication and collaboration were some of the highlights in the learning and contribution by students. The overall theme was organic, re-cycled and handmade. A large number of artifacts were sold to generate a significant amount for the JOS cause.
Sports: Sports department orgainsed Table Table, Squash and Badminton for parents on the culmination day.
This year, few parents put up stalls like cakes and muffins, candles, best from waste, homemade soap, artifactes, peronalised gift cards among others.
It was indeed a fun filled and memorable week for the students. The purpose is to instill the values of gratitude, sharing and expereince the joy of giving.
A glimpse is attached in the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noVjaxJ0xsA
