Vuca Chronicles | January 2020
The 71st Republic Day celebrations
An error does not become truth by reason of multiplied propagation; nor does truth become error because nobody sees it. Truth stands, even if there be no public support. It is self-sustained.
Mahatma Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
(1869 – 1948)
The 71st Republic Day celebrations at Shiv Nadar School Noida commenced with the ritualistic hoisting of the Great Indian Tricolour by the Principal, Mrs. Shashi Banerjee. The ceremony was duly attended by the students, parents and staff members including the support staff, of the school. The Flag hoisting ceremony followed by the reading of the Constitution Preamble, both in Hindi and English by all present, reinforced the ‘living up’ to the true meaning of the constitution.
Mrs. Banerjee reinstated an essential Sanskrit shloka in today’s society ‘Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah, Sarve Santu Niramaya. Sarve Bhadrani Pashyantu, Maa Kashchiddukh Bhagbhaveta’. May all become happy. May none fall ill. May all see auspiciousness everywhere. May none ever feel sorrow. The little geniuses of the school truly summed up the meaning of this great day by recalling the sacrifices made by the freedom fighters of the country and discussing love, gratitude and respect for the motherland. The staff members reflected upon the honesty of doing the work without the aim of a reward and teach our children the principles of democracy and freedom.
The valuable elements of liberty, fraternity and equality across the nation was re-established and reaffirmed the daily efforts to ensure that the school achieves newer echelons of success.
F 1 in Shiv Nadar School Noida
F1 in schools is an international STEM competition for school children (aged 9-19), in which groups of 3-6 students design and manufacture a miniature car out of the official F1 model block using CAD/CAM design tools. The regional finals for F1 was hosted by Shiv Nadar School, Noida on January 17, 2020. 34 teams from 11 schools across Noida participated in the event including one team from Jammu. The teams were judged on various criteria like verbal presentation, pit display, design and engineering presentation, reaction time and the time taken by the car to complete the race.
Shiv Nadar School Noida, bagged the ‘Best Verbal Presentation’ award and the ‘Women in F1’ award. 10 teams were selected for country finals including ‘Team Aratic’ which was from Shiv Nadar School, Noida. The members of these teams are Tvisha Raj 8 Kanha, Vaidehi Saxena 8 Kanha, Ekansh Agarwal 8 Kanha, Sidharth Shiv Kumar 8 Kanha, Oorjit Mahajan 8 Kanha, Vani Upadhyay 8 Kanha.
Light, camera and action - Symphony & Expression
Taking an independent decision of making a choice to either act, sing or dance, weeks of practice and patience and holding the excitement to wear colourful props and costumes on the stage, students of nursery and KG put up a spectacular show in front of the audiences. The annual production “Symphony and Expressions- Toy story” was planned for nursery and kindergarten students to give them a platform to exhibit their talent and feel confident and proud of the choice they made while picking up a basket for themselves and to celebrate the festivity in the air. Despite extreme weather conditions our little ones enthusiastically attended all the practice sessions. Not only that, they took another baby step in the course of their school life by staying back in school for longer hours for the first time ever. In Kindergarten from each section, students were divided into 3 baskets comprising dance, music, and theatre. Students were made to practice for days before the final show during zero periods.
Nursery presented the beginning part of the story through dance numbers and melodious singing with parts of small theatre presentations. Students were able to capture everybody’s attention on stage by performing each act with confidence and vigor.
Newsletter - From the Principal's Desk May 2019
Colloquium - Young Innovators
Our students undergo an integrated IT curriculum which includes Robotics, Animation, Graphics, Sound Production, Programming and more. When they reach Grade 10, they are given the opportunity to implement their knowledge by way of a six-month-long Capstone project. These projects are ideated by the students and are designed to solve real-world issues. In developing their presentations, the students bring more than just their IT learning to the table; they also showcase their critical thinking, communication skills, and market understanding.
Colloquium, our annual tech event, provides a platform for students to present seven of the most innovative projects, to be adjudged by an external jury. This year, Mr. Rajiv Makhni, India’s Tech Guru and Managing Editor of Technology, NDTV, Mr. Raj Rishi, Chief Business Officer - Corporate Travel, MakeMyTrip and Mr. Hitesh Oberoi, MD and CEO, InfoEdge (Naukri.com), graced the occasion, constituting the esteemed panel of judges.
Up first was Team Hoverchair. The aim of their project was to make a customizable and cost-effective wheelchair in the aid of the physically challenged and senior citizens, to enable them to lead an independent lifestyle. Upon brainstorming and understanding the flaws of existing manual and electric wheelchairs in the market, they came up with their design – a customized wheelchair, installed on a hoverboard base, with levers installed on either side to enable the user to manoeuvre the hoverchair. Each of the jury members had a quick whizz on the Hoverchair prototype, post the students’ presentation.
Taking the stage next is Team Speranza – a 6-member all-boys team whose innovation is a wearable, non-transmitting, abdominal belt designed for pregnant women to count the number of fetal kicks. Their passionate presentation, artfully sprinkled with moments of humor, held all of our attention as they took us through their journey, from coming up with the idea and concept, to refining the design and technology they used as they went along.
Team Ignara came next, carrying exquisitely crafted lights and placing them in front of the audience as their journey video was played. The video captured the essence of the project, showcasing the all-girl team’s repeated visits to a basti without access to electricity. Their aim was two-fold; creating beautiful solar lights made of upcycled plastic bottles to illuminate homes, as well as to empower local youth into making these cost-effective solar lights themselves.
The fourth Team to come up on stage was Team Pawsitivity. With the aim of using 3-D printing technology to facilitate disabled dogs with prosthetic paws and limbs, they showed us the positive outcomes their innovation – at a local shelter, three disabled dogs were shown taking confident strides, walking and running happily, newly fitted with their prosthetics. Greeted with multiple rounds of thunderous applause from the audience, India’s Tech Guru, Mr Rajiv Makhni, said he had a tear in his eye after watching the dogs being able to run again.
Next in line is Team Sonus, a 3-member team made of passionate music-lovers. Their innovation was a wearable device through which hearing-impaired people can feel music. Their presentation took us through their process – including multiple visits to an organization catering to the hearing-impaired - and subsequent testing on people of varied levels of hearing. Designed as a jacket with arm pads, each of the 3 judges came up to the stage to wear and test out the product for themselves. “I’m stunned at both the idea and implementation,” remarked Mr Makhni, “Fantastic thought process.”
The penultimate team to present their project was Team Fluid Force. Tackling the issue of the alarming amount of water wasted during the RO water filtration process (for every liter of water purified, 3 liters go down the drain), the team proudly informed the audience that they saved more than 40,000 liters of water in just 15 days with their device installed at 5 properties, both residential and commercial. Received with thunderous claps, the team’s engaging presentation held our rapt attention.
The final team at the event was Team Marina – with a visionary project to clean out garbage from both the surface and sub-surface of rivers. Their device was a remotely-operated vehicle, fixed with a camera, to enable garbage-collection. Their presentation highlighted the critical point our rivers and oceans are at, as well as the plight of marine fauna in the context of plastic pollution. They finished off with an on-stage demonstration of their device.
Post the seven presentations, some of the students in the audience had us entertained as they came up to the stage to discuss which projects resonated with them and why, as well as talking about their ideas for their own capstones in the future! Shiv Nadar School Faridabad also made its own presence felt at the event, with a small video of the grade 9 students’ invention, “ALT” – a mist tap fixed throughout the Faridabad school campus, in a bid to conserve water.
Subsequently, post a quick deliberation, the jury returned to announce the results. Mr Makhni graced the stage and declared Team Fluid Force to be the winners! They were awarded a trip to CERN in Geneva, Switzerland. In second place, came Team Pawsitivity, with each member winning an iPad. Garnering special mentions from the judges were Team Hoverchair and Team Speranza.
Concluding the event, each of the jury members were presented with 3-D printed miniature models of themselves. They also delivered a few parting words each, lauding the level of innovation and critical thinking as also the students’ presentation and communication skills.
Our belief is that schools must serve as a launchpad in the emergence of the next generation of innovators, entrepreneurs, social scientists and future visionaries. Twenty-first-century problems can only be solved with a twenty-first-century attitude – inventing solutions that are, in equal parts, innovative, disruptive and fearless.
Meraki - The Cultural Journey of IBDP
The IBDP XI students of SNS, Gurgaon celebrated their CAS Cultural Event – “Meraki”
Meraki is a word that modern Greeks often use to describe the ‘experience and feeling when you leave a piece of yourself, be it your soul, creativity, or love, in your work’. It is a celebration of ‘Creativity’ of our multitalented and multidimensional students! From the brainstorming sessions through the creation of e-invite and posters, selection of the creative pieces, practice sessions, creation of diverse artwork, tech rehearsal to the presentation of Meraki.
There were many insightful and moving performances and presentations. There was a guitar and vocal rendition of “Seven Nation Army” by The White Stripes.
Next was a trilogy of monologues performed by the students. These were short dramatic monologues from contemporary plays, which highlighted the feelings of adolescents, like a girl who yearns to look pretty, the inadequate feelings of an adolescent and confusion in the mind of a young adult. This was followed by an exquisite drums recital, in which an original composition was called ‘We Go Together’.The violin is widely considered amongst the most passionate and expressive of instruments. The next presentation was a scintillating Hindustani violin performance,‘Antar Dhwani’.Following this was a quartet of student singers on the keyboard, singing ‘City of Stars’from the soundtrack of the movie La La Land, in the Western Vocal category.
A soul-stirring poem by the American poet, singer, memoirist, and civil rights activist -Maya Angelou, “I Rise”, recitation was done by a student.
An interactive art workshop where parents participated in two different activities ‘Stop Motion’ and ‘Tie and Dye’, they seemed to enjoy the activity to the hilt. They created works of art - ‘stop motion videos’ and ‘tie and dye handkerchiefs’ within a span of 30 minutes.
Dhol is a double-headed drum widely used, with regional variations, throughout the Indian subcontinent – A Dhol acclimatization was presented by a student, in the form of Lecture Demonstration, based on the nuances of playing a Dhol, keeping the audience mesmerized with the intricacies of the foot-tapping beats.
An oral interpretation of a self-composed poem was presented. Her poem titled ‘Mask of Happiness’ was inspired by her close association with others whom she helped when they needed her support when they were ‘depressed’.
Following these students presented their oral interpretation of the motivational French poem ’Tu Apprendras’, which when translated to English means ‘You Will Learn’. The tone and mood of the poem through incomprehensible to many captivated the gathering as the speakers' displayed exemplary prowess in arousing emotion among the listeners through their expression and voice modulation.
The next part of the show was a short theatrical performance titled ‘Tangled Feet’ by the theatre students, it was a laugh riot and the audience enjoyed the hilarious play.
Finally, the icing on the cake was the Spanish carols sung by the Spanish students reiterating the essence and feel of Christmas.
A beautiful winter afternoon spent amidst melodious renditions, foot-tapping beats, fun, laughter, and mirth will be etched in the minds of all as the pioneer presentation of our first batch of IB DP students.
Newsletter - December 2019 edition
Christmas fire-free cooking session with Parents
To add to the Christmas celebrations, and as a part of our Parent-Partnership program at Shiv Nadar School, team Grade 2 invited parent volunteers to conduct a Christmas fire-free cooking session with the children of Grade 2, in the week before Christmas.
Mother of Divisha Garg of 2 Corbett volunteered to teach the students to make ‘Snowman Truffle’. Students were very excited to prepare something on their own. She demonstrated each and every step on how to make a snowman truffle. Throughout the session, the children were engaged and had a fun time learning to prepare a new delecious dessert.
Mrs. Garg was also delighted and shared that she would love to come again for any such activity.
Mother of Lareasha Sachdeva of 2 Gir volunteered to teach the students to make snowman cookies.
Keeping in sync with the spirit of Christmas, the children were very excited to make the snowman cookies. The ingredients gems and choco chips set their mouth watering.
An interactive session, Mrs Sachdeva demonstrated how a snowman cookie is made. She further shared the recipe with the students. Few students took notes and excitedly shared that they are going to make the cookies again during the holidays for their friends and family.
Mr. Narwat, father of Priansh Narwat of grade two Kanha volunteered for fire free cooking. It was a very engaging session where he taught children to make vegetable sandwiches. Mr. Narwat created a very comfortable environment in the class right from the moment he entered, which surely added to the richness of everyone's experience in the classroom. While he started with modeling it for children, he gave a full opportunity to children to make their sandwiches independently. As he was teaching them he also talked about the nutritional value of vegetables and cheese for children. It definitely motivated them to finish off each and every bit of the sandwich. Mr. Narwat set a great example for children as well as other parents by volunteering and breaking the gender stereotypes related with cooking. It will surely inspire other fathers to engage themselves with the children in non-normative ways.
It was a great session full of fun, warm bondings and of course delicious sandwiches.
Dr Rohini Khattar parent of Myra Khattar from 2 Sariska to volunteer for a fire free cooking program in 2 Ranthambore.
Dr Khattar with her great cooking skills and her natural knack for creativity helped the children prepare a reindeer sandwich which the children absolutely enjoyed.
It was a great pleasure to see the little hands joyfully apply the spread and fillings and assemble the olives and the gems and prepare cute little rudolphs in their plates with Rudolph the red nose reindeer playing in the background.
Mrs. Mahani, the mother of Aneesha Mahani lifted everyone's spirit by teaching 2 Sariska how to prepare Chocolate balls. The children loved the process of crushing the biscuits into a fine powder. They then carefully added Milk maid to it and rolled the mixture into chocolate balls, chocolate snow man and much more! The children relished what they had made and shared their chocolate balls with each other.
Mrs. Mahani beautifully engaged with the children, helping them in each step. The children affectionately thanked her and gifted her a plant. The children excitedly shared that they would go home and make it again for their parents.
Animal Parade
“Animals should not require our permission to live on Earth. Animals were given the right to be here long before we arrived”
Animals play a vital role in the lives of the little ones. Children love animals for the very simple reason that they connect with them without any expectations or outcomes but purely with love and care. They are fascinated by their body structures, fur and the different sounds they make and love imitating them.
In Nursery during the ongoing theme ‘I love animals’, an animal parade was conducted. This showcased the understanding students had of the various animals, their observations and without fail the wonderful homemade costumes! Students came dressed as their favorite animal and went for a parade around the school singing slogans and playing various musical instruments. Post that, they spoke a few words on the animal that they were depicting within their classrooms.
The enthusiasm and cheering with which the little ones were received in the Primary corridors during the parade was endearing. It was clearly visible that it was a fun-filled learning experience for the tiny tots.
