Intrapersonal Intelligence Competition 2013-14

Each and every child is a unique creation of God. To identify and nurture that hidden uniqueness, teachers of Atmiya Vidya Mandir conducted many inter house competitions based on Multiple Intelligence throughout this academic year. One such competition, based on Intrapersonal Intelligence was held on 8th February 2014.

Students with intrapersonal intelligence have a deep awareness of their feelings, ideas, and goals. They have self-reflective capacities i.e. what one’s strength or weakness is. Often they have capacity to introspect and predict their own reactions at certain situations. They generally enjoy analyzing theories and ideas. So, keeping the skills in mind various competitions for different grades were organised for the four houses.

 

 
Good health is the exterior expression of inner harmony. To test the awareness of personal health and hygiene the theme ‘Health and Hygiene’ was selected for grade I to VI. The details for the same are as follows.

Group A: (Std. I to III) – Puzzle, Picture Pasting & Observe and Write

  • For grades I and II, two students from each house were selected, thus total 8 students participated in Puzzle Solving and Picture Pasting competition under the guidance of Vaishali Ma’am and Sunita Ma’am.
  • For picture pasting, participants were given few pictures of “Do’s” and “Don’ts” for good habits. Students segregated and pasted the pictures in two paper baskets entitled: “Do’s” and “Don’ts”.
  • All the students of grade 3 participated in “Observe and Write” competition. They watched the videos related to dental hygiene and then solved the thought provoking worksheet designed by Sharmil Ma’am.

Group B (Std. IV to VI) – Poster Making on General Hygiene

  • Six participants from each house, thus total 24 students participated in the Poster Making competition under the guidance of Anand Sir and Prerak Sir.
  • This competition helped the participants to illustrate not only their artistic talent and creativity but also demonstrate their deep awareness about general hygiene. They made poster on the topics: Respiratory Hygiene, Food and Water Hygiene, Hygiene in Toilet and Washroom, Hand Hygiene, and Laundry Hygiene.
  • One of the posters was so marvellous that the viewers found it difficult to believe whether it was painted or was it a printed picture.

Group C (Std. VII – VIII) – Thoughts and Responses

  • Two participants from each house, thus total 8 students participated in this group.
  • This competition was aimed to stimulate imaginative thinking and reflective writing. Students were given an opportunity to know and express themselves.
  • They were given three different situations for writing their own reflections. Students enjoyed it and got an opportunity to ponder upon the situations deeply. Their writing illustrated their ability to introspect and analyze the situations rationally which was praiseworthy. This reminds that “Wisdom is the ability to interpret a situation through God’s eyes”.

Group D (Std. IX – X) – Mind Mapping

  • Four participants from each house, thus total 16 students participated in this group.
  • The competition was aimed to instil creativity in students by encouraging and rewarding innovative thinking, where they had to analyze the theories given in their textbook. At individual level, they had to think upon the given topic and concisely represent the information on mind map. They were given the topic in advance. Under the guidance of Priyavadan Sir and Samidh Ma’am, all the participants showed mind-blowing performance.
  • Out of all 16 participants, it’s worth mentioning the determination of Harshbhai Gondaliya from Std. 10. As soon as the topic was assigned, he started working on it and approached teachers many times until he was satisfied with his efforts. 

Overall Results: 

Field Trip: A Class outside the Classroom

The students of class 10 got a very educative opportunity on 4th Jan. 2014, to visit plants of some of Gujarat’s leading industries like sugar, weaving and dyeing, thanks to the efforts of the school and our teachers. Swayam Ma’am, our Vice Principal and our Social Science teachers, Rashmi Ma’am and Samidh Ma’am also accompanied us.

The Journey Begins…. 

We started at 9.00 AM from the school premises and arrived at the Bardoli Sugar Factory at about 10:00 AM.

Introduction
We were given a hearty welcome by Dasrathbhai, Director of the sugar factory and were briefed about the factory. We learnt some fascinating details about this 50+ years old plant and its glorious journey towards becoming a leading sugar producer in Asia.

Real life insight into the production of sugar
Thereafter, the students were distributed in different groups and each group was taken separately and explained the functioning of the plant. We had learnt in class about how the manufacturing units focus on Total Productivity, Total Quality, Zero Defect, etc… and this was our first-hand experience on how a manufacturing plant works. We were taken through a complete channel of stations and were explained by the supervisors the complete process of producing sugar. There was a highly interactive conversation between the students and the workers about the different steps in the process. The exposure to highly efficient automated systems which performed these complex tasks in few seconds helped us understand the present level of automation and testing in industrial scenario. To students’ pleasure, at the end of this plant visit everyone was served with a glass of fresh sugarcane juice which they all enjoyed.

Dyeing Industry
We proceeded further to visit a cloth dyeing unit. The well-coordinated processes of the plant snatched away our afternoon sleep as we remained stunned seeing the innovative technology that was used. We watched a great combination of science and colours, learned how the cloth was coloured and how designs were printed on plain cloth with the latest technology.

Textile Industry
Moving further, we were delighted seeing the process of how threads were combined to form the cloths. Manufacturing of cloth is a complex process and it involves many skilled workers, each performing a particular critical step in the overall process. We got to know that the many complex steps can be divided into three general categories – Preparation, Spinning, and Weaving.

The Journey ends…
We started our return journey from the textile factory and reached the school at 6.00 PM, a bit tired, but well informed. On the whole, this industrial visit turned out to be highly fruitful. It helped to gain a better understanding of the industrial processes and also an appreciation of the effort and dedication involved in the successful working of the entire team.

Written by: Class 10 Students

Vande Mataram! My India, My Pride…

Republic Day is celebrated every year to honour the day and moment when the Constitution of India came into effect. This day also resembles unity, acquiring independence in the real sense, where everyone is equal and important. The 65th Republic Day was celebrated with great pomp at Atmiya Vidya Mandir.

This morning event was graced by Respected Fuvaji, Pujya Suhrad Swamiji, Respected Narendra Bhai, Haresh Sir and Honourable Dr. Vijay Patel. They all were escorted by our sports teacher and Students Council members. After our guests performed Thakorji’s Poojan, the programme continued. The chief guests unfolded our tri-coloured flag and there by infused the spirit of nationalism and patriotism at Atmiya Vidya Mandir’s campus. The school choir sung the “Zanda Geet”, “Vande Mataram” and “National Anthem”.

 


A wide range of activities centred on the theme of nationalism were conducted to instil the spirit of national pride and love for the country. A grand march-past by students of Grade 7, 8 and 9 was witnessed with zeal by everyone. A broad smile could be seen on everyone’s face when the excited young kids of classes 1st, 2nd and 3rd presented Mass PT on the beat of beautiful music. The primary students of classes 4th, 5th and 6th added colours to the programme with Hoop Drills. This celebration also included an eye catching dance performed by the students of class 10 on the song of “Satyagraha”. The entire school courtyard was echoed with the rhythmic beats of “Satyagrah”.

Our honourable chief guest Pujya Fuvaji expressed his gratitude in witnessing the program presented by the students. Though in simple tone, he addressed the essential aspects of students’ day to day life. Mukesh sir explained the history and significance of the Republic Day. The guests also acknowledged the student winners from different fields who were awarded on this momentous occasion.

The day’s celebration came to an end by proposing the vote of thanks, where the staff and students of Atmiya Vidya Mandir were thanked for making the day a wonderful success. The event came to an end with the distribution of sweets to all the members of Atmiya Parivar.

Written by: Rashmi Ma’am

Ghanshyam Charitra (Divine play of Bal Ghanshyam)

ભગવાન જ્યારે જ્યારે ધરતીને પાવન કરવા અવતાર ધરે છે, ત્યારે એની પાછળ કંઈક દિવ્ય હેતુ સમાયેલો હોય છે. ભગવાન સ્વામિનારાયણે વચનામૃત કારિયાણી પાંચમાં કહ્યું છે કે, “પોતાના જે પ્રેમી ભક્ત તેના મનોરથ પૂરા કરવા એ જ ભગવાનને અવતાર ધયા પ્રયોજન છે.” પોતાન પ્રેમી ભક્ત તેના મનોરથ પૂરા કરવા અને તેમને સુખ આપવા ભગવાન દિવ્ય ચરિત્રોને ગ્રહણ કરે છે.

Satyam House was indeed blessed to have been gifted with an inspiring value “Ghanshyam Charitra”. Satyam House teachers led by respected Saumya Ma’am had a splendid discussion to organise and plan out the schedule of the daily assemblies.

 


Pleasant weather gave a thunderous call to start the morning assembly in the divine presence of P.P Swamiji. The template of the daily assembly was designed as such to have a video darshan of different charitras of Bal Ghanshyam followed by the unique message each day.

Monday:- The very important and fundamental message of the assembly was that ‘God is omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient’. He cannot tolerate the atrocities incurred on His devotees. To liberate them, He takes incarnation on the Earth and saves His devotees through His divine touch.

Tuesday:- The message of the assembly was: “Don’t suppress and make others feel inferior through the power of muscles or brain. God weakens the power if it is not used for the welfare of others.”

Wednesday:- Inspiring message of the assembly was: “We should respect all the creatures living on Earth as everyone has a right to survive.” The incident watched showed how compassionate Bal Prabhu was towards the tiny creatures like fish also.

Thursday:- One of the exceptional charitras of Bal Ghanshyam was: “Samadhi”. In the episode shown, He saves the crop in the field by sending 1000 sparrows into samadhi through His divine power and thus obeys His father.

Friday:- The loud and clear message of the episode shown was: “Do not claim ownership of things which you have not earned through hardwork.”

The Saturday Creative Assembly, entitled as ‘Ghanshyam Charitra Vihar’ began with a rousing welcome and introduction by two tiny tots. The underlying truth behind the play was Divine miracles of Lord is the source of bliss, peace and happiness.

એવું કહેવાય છે કે, ભગવાનના દિવ્ય ચરિત્રનું ચિંતવન અંતકાળે જો થઈ આવે તો એનો જીવ ભગવાનના ધામને જરૂર પામે છે.

A very fascinating aspect of the play was to witness the commendable performance of 80 participants on the stage.

The play was divided into three episodes from the life of Bal Ghanshyam.

The first episode was about the glory of Bal Ghanshyam. Lord Indra commands Ashwinikumar (the doctor of Gods) to render his medical treatment service when Bal Ghanshyam gets a cut on His thigh while playing the traditional sport ‘Ambli Pipali‘ with his dear friends Veni, Madhav and Praag.

The second episode was about His divine power. Bal Prabhu teaches a lesson of humility to three mighty wrestlers of Ayodhya by defeating them in wrestling.

The last episode was about His ultimate wisdom. At a mere age of ten, in the presence of great scholars, He participates in the philosophical debate and successfully establishes the Doctrine of ‘Vishishtadvait’ (qualified non-dualism) at Gomath, Kashi. By giving a divine vision of their istdevs, He brings the realisation to those age old scholars that Brahma Darshan is not a matter of debate but of experience.

It was really a tough job to work with tiny tots but being the director of the play, Suhradam Sir exhibited tremendous patience and enjoyed their innocence. He successfully brought out the best from them.

Our inspirational source beloved P.P Swamiji’s divine presence has remained the constant guiding force without which the creation of the assembly would not have been possible.

All the members of Satyam House strongly felt that it was a charismatic experience to deal with young Bal Ghanshyams of AVM and getting involved wholeheartedly in the making of the play that has left the everlasting impression on everyone.

Written by: Samidh Ma’am

Making the miracles within reach: Sundaram House

At Atmiya Vidya Mandir, every day is a
tiny step towards the ultimate goal of life. The daily morning
assemblies are the onset of this gradual march which brings daily dose
of values strengthening and preparing the students for this journey of
life. To fulfil this very purpose of making the students better human
beings, in daily morning assemblies, we share inspiring material which
forms weekly reflection. In this manner, in the second week of January,
Sundaram House members presented the incidents and details of inspiring
lives of the Nobel Laureates from India.

This
inspiring week started with the detailed introduction of the Nobel
Prize and its making. On the first day, the students were explained the
humanitarian purpose of Alfred Nobel in establishing this peace prize
which bears his name. Students were also given a short insight on the
lives of legendary Nobel Laureates of Indian origin, like Mother Teresa
and Rabindranath Tagore. The following day, the success journey of
another Indian Nobel Laureate C.V. Raman was talked about by Priyavadan
Sir. C V Raman’s contribution to the human society was explained through
videos. It was followed by another inspiring day, as the students were
explained how Nobel Laureates like Amartya Sen and Har Gobind Khorana
made their way to this most prestigious award of the world. A power
point presentation elucidated the motivational lives of these renowned
personalities and details of their research work. The yet another
morning of this week again unwrapped history of unprecedented
achievements of Dr. Subramanyan Chandrasekhar.

Thus, though the
list of the inspiring Nobel Laureates is long and the inspiration is
unlimited, but a secret spark in these young minds was ignited. This
way, these assemblies about Nobel Laureates induced a dream in students’
hearts that they should stride towards their glorious future in such a
way that they also contribute to make the world a better place.

Written by: Seema Ma’am

Anger – Just one letter short of Danger

ANGER doesn’t solve ANYTHING; it builds NOTHING, but can destroy EVERYTHING

Suhradam House members elucidated the value “Anger – Just one letter short of Danger” during 23rd Dec to 28th Dec’13 with a divine intention to enter in the New Year 2014 taking a heart full of joy and love for others, leaving the Dangerous Anger behind. During the week, tremendous efforts were made to understand one of the most unpleasant aspect of human emotions – Anger. Efforts were made not only to help the students know what anger is, but also to know the various ways to deal effectively with it and control the behaviour in certain situations.

On Monday, students were introduced to Anger as one of the common human emotions such as happiness, sadness, etc. Different situations which make them angry were discussed with some illustrations like – children get angry when they get hurt, teased by fellow friends, left alone some times, get bullied or embarrassed by the peers or more often when they listen ‘No’ from anybody denying something they want.

Tuesday was a very enlightening day for all as Archana Ma’am discussed the biological effects of keeping anger inside us through a very informative PPT. She explained that keeping anger inside one’s body can be very harmful and repeating it for longer period of time causes serious problems such as high blood pressure, high sugar level, withdrawing from life, taking risks, over eating, using alcohol or drugs and also developing negative attitude towards everything.

On Wednesday, the effects of anger when let out and its external physical effects were brought into light. It consisted of different behaviours like insulting or harming others, teasing someone, throwing tantrums, destroying property and even taking revenge over somebody through humiliating pranks. Some people also express their anger on innocent people and helpless pets or animals as they can’t fight back.

The assemblies on Thursday and Friday were simply inspiring as the young talents of Suhradam House immaculately explained students the ways to find source of their anger and how to manage it. They discussed constructive ways to find, express or release anger by thinking positively about the situation, talking to others, writing it out in a diary, letting anger get off, diverting mind and body to any creative activities, relaxing and then getting active again, etc. It was very well explained that getting to the source of anger and coping with it positively yields fruitful results.

Saturday assembly also proved to be a splendid one as senior students explained a variety of ways to deal with people in different situations when they are angry. First of all, one should wait till the person calms down. And after sometime to approach him and suggest going for some activity like singing, relaxing, performing creative activities, listening to the music, etc.

Thus, the week turned out to be remarkably fabulous and immensely helpful to students due to praiseworthy hard work of students as well as teachers. It is utterly divine not to get angry. But Suhradam House has surely tried very well to enlighten the ways to cope up with anger positively without allowing it to harm one’s life as it’s rightly said by Vijay Eswaran that – “You can keep a sword or a gun but never have to use it; so it is with ANGER.

Submitted by: Harsh Gondaliya (10-A) & Keyur Patel (10-B)

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Mathematics: Gateway to all Sciences

Mathematics has been an inseparable part of education since the beginning of formal education.

It has played an important role in the advancement of any civilization. Sadly though, there is a common belief that Mathematics is a dry, boring and a difficult subject. On the contrary, if it is presented in an enjoyable manner, it is one of the easiest and most interesting subjects.

 

 
To further instil interest in the students, teachers at Atmiya Vidya Mandir have made a humble effort to organise an Exhibition on Mathematics. The exhibition presents Games, Activities, Magic and Puzzles, all based on different Mathematical Concepts. There is a section on Amazing Facts and Patterns based on Mathematics to cater to the curiosity of students and teachers. Another section provides several Shortcut Methods for easy calculations.

The exhibit also provides insight into the lives of great Mathematicians and in fact, it was inaugurated on 22nd December 2013, on the birth anniversary of the great Indian Mathematician,  Srinivasa Ramanujan who has inspired millions so far. Interviews of many skilled people of different fields helped students to understand use of Mathematics in every day’s life.

Mathematics + Joy = Effective Learning

When learning is fun, children become interested in the learning process and are motivated to learn even more. The ongoing Math Exhibition aims to further develop that interest and motivation in our wonderful children.

Written by: Swayam Ma’am

Inter House Basketball Competition 2013-14

Over the 10 years since its inception, Atmiya Vidya Mandir has increasingly put in efforts, learnt and got better in many of its celebrations. This time it was the turn of Inter-House Basketball competition. One of the true global sports, Basketball has many admirers and enthusiasts in the school. Popularity of the sport in the school should not come as a surprise due to the presence of healthy number of the students from US and Canada. The competition begun on 4th January, and unfortunately ended on 7th January 2014. But the 4 day event was full of enthusiasm and excitement along with some outstanding performances by the students.

The students were grouped in 3 categories for the competition:

  1. Sub Junior – Class 5 & 6
  2. Junior – Class 7 & 8
  3. Senior – Class 9 to 11

 

 

 
The competition involved two knockout matches for each house. The winners of the first knockout match in each category shook hands in finals, whereas the losers met for a 3rd place match.

After the first set of knockout matches, this is how the teams stacked up against each other for the finals and 3rd place match in respective categories.

Sub Junior category

  • Final: Sundaram vs Shivam
  • 3rd Place match: Satyam vs Suhradam
  • Summary: Satyam and Suhradam houses played each other for a 3rd place match.
    Satyam House won this closely fought match with 6-4. In the finals,
    Shivam House had a comprehensive win with a score of 24 – 8 against
    Sundaram House with Shreemadbhai and Parambhai being the top performers.

Junior category

  • Final: Shivam vs Sundaram
  • 3rd place match: Satyam vs Suhradam 
  • Summary: On the back of some good performances from Rajveerbhai and Rahulbhai,
    Suhradam House won the 3rd place match against Satyam House with a very
    convincing score 38 – 10. After tasting a defeat against the same
    opponent in the junior category, boys from the Sundaram House were
    determined to turn the table. Nimitbhai from Sundaram House showed his
    class and skills as his team demolished Shivam House with a staggering
    score line of 38 – 5.

Senior category

  • Final: Shivam vs Suhradam
  • 3rd Place match: Satyam vs Sundaram 
  • Summary: Satyam House and Sundaram House met for the 3rd place match in the
    category. Vishwajeetbhai and Harshilbhai led Sundaram House to a very
    narrow win with the score of 29 – 26. In the very last match of the
    competition Shivam House played against the Suhradam House. In the early
    exchanges of the play there was nothing to choose between the team. But
    the Suhradam House team stepped up their game in the second half.
    Hardipbhai in particular was very sharp and scored quick points for his
    team. Harshbhai also contributed with many rebounds as Suhradam House
    sealed the match with 29 – 18 points.

After 4 days full of excitement, enthusiasm and matches, this is how the 4 houses stood on the points table:
Position    House      Sub Junior    Junior    Senior    Total Points
     1          Shivam             10                8             8                26
     2        Sundaram           8                 10            6                24
     3        Suhradam           4                  6            10               20
     4          Satyam             6                  4             4                14

In conclusion, on behalf of all the students, I would like to thank all the sports teachers for organizing such a fantastic Basketball competition. A special mention of the School Basketball Coach, respected Bankim Sir for his tireless contributions. His hard work throughout the year helped all the students to improve their skills which only improved the overall performance and level of the Inter House Basketball Competition.

Smit K Patel (Class 8)