Trust Children

Republic Day Celebration 2012

2012-01-31T20:28:00.000+05:30

Actor Dhamu, our Chief Guest arriving

Mr Dhamu being received by our children and teachers

With the children

A section of the parents during the Parents Meet

Hoisting the flag with Mr. Dhamu

Dance by Class VII

Guests taking the Pledge

Prayer Song

Dance by Class VII

Karate in full swing

Mr Dhamu's address

Finalist (Ilayas) from Class VII in the Inter-School Yoga Competition

Finalist (Harishankar) from Class VI in the Inter-School Yoga Competition

Dance by Class V

Teachers and Staff with our Guests

Republic Day Post Event Report 26.01.2012

We started our program at 9.15 hrs. Our Chief Guest - Actor Mr. Dhamu reached our school at 9.10 hrs.The program started with Parents – Trustmanagement Meeting in presence of Mr.Dhamu, Managing Trustee Capt. Nandkumaralong with Ms. Sabita Currimbhoy in charge for school & Mr. SaseendranAdmin Officer.

Our Chief Guest pointed out many things aboutthe value of education, discipline, dress code and about extracurricular activities. Thissession ended on a nice note and all parents were reminded of their obligationsand duties.

All parents, honoured guests and students were warmlywelcomed by Emcee Master. Pragadeesh of VII std followed bythe regular school prayer led by a fewstudents of class V.

After the prayer Master.Ameenof VII std escorted the chief guest Mr.Dhamu to hoist the flag followed by allassembled taking the national pledge.

List of events in order:

1. Tamil Thai Vazthu - 5^th std. students guided by Ms. Rajapriya.

2. Kodi Padal - girls of class VI guided by Ms.Grace .

3. Dance (Hindi song) - 7^thstd. girls guided by Ms. Anusuya & Ms. Grace.

4. Dance (Tamil song) - 5^th std students guided by Ms. Majeeda and Ms. Kalai Selvi.

5. Hindi Patriotic Song - 7^th std. students guided by Ms. Madeena.

6. Karate demonstration - assorted students guided by Karate Master Sensei Murali.

Our Chief GuestMr.Dhamu appreciated our students performances, and the good co-ordination of the events by the Teachers, during his speech.

Our Guests of Honour Mr.Kishore Reddy and Mr. Vijay Sambranidelivered their valuable speech and conveyed their happiness in being with us.

During the parent meeting conducted at 9.15am, We also conducteda Yoga Competition for I std. to VII std.Our Special Judge was Ms. Jyoti Shanbag. Our Chief Guest Mr.Dhamu along with the guests of honour distributed Prizes to the Winners.Winners of 6^th standard and 7^th standard students(Harishankar & Ilyas) demonstrated their favourite asana on the stage guided by our Yoga Master Mr. Vajravelu

Guests were received at the gate and escorted to their seatsby Teachers Ms. Shobana & Ms.Reavathi. Ms. RajaPriya along with two students welcomed the guestswith sweets and national flags to pin ontheir clothes.

The entire program was co-ordinated by Ms. Subha.

Mr. Krishnanarranged the sound system at the stage. Our security person along with our twomaids did the seating arrangement.

The cultural program ended with Vote of Thanks by Mr.Pragadeesh and the National anthem wassung by the students at 12.00 after which the students dispersed. This wasguided by our games teacher Ms. Vennila

Pongal CelebrationsP

2012-01-15T12:03:00.001+05:30

Pongal being cooked

Ameen of Class 7 welcoming the children for the celebrations

Pongal O Pongal - LKG

The old and the new.. note the RBK Tee :) Class I

Village belles :-) with pots of pongal walk by a sad farmer who has none! - Class II

Modern kids groove to village beats ! Class III

Traditional sing song

Girls swirl to pongal music

Crow - Joining in to taste the Pongal

A rough draft - Rangoli in progress

The finished product. Rangoli

A rangoli message... Global warming !!

Whoops... end of the game ! Joyful Kabbadi :-)

Students and staff at Gurukulam celebrated the harvest festival ‘Pongal’ in style. Kids from kindergarten to class VII entertained the school with celebratory scenes of pongal from the villages to the city. The traditional mingled with the modern as girls in silk sarees with flowers in their hair danced to folk tunes and boys in jeans and T’s jigged to the latest mod numbers – all sung by the children themselves. Little kids dressed as Cows, tossed their heads to shouts of pongal O pongal. Teachers cooked pongal ( a mix of rice, pulses, jaggery and spices) the traditional way over a wood fire which was relished by all.

The boys competed heatedly for honours at Kabadi while the girls made beautiful (rangoli) patterns on the ground using coloured powders, flowers and earthen lamps. It was difficult to judge the best so full honours were given to all.

Christmas Celebrations at Gurukulam

2012-01-01T15:21:00.000+05:30

Angel Gabriel with Mother Mary

Angel Gabriel brings the good tidings

3 Wise Men coming to visit Baby Jesus

Choir by our Children

Christmas Tree and Manger

Captains and Vice Captains of our School Houses

Christmas Celebrations at Gurukulam :-)

Mr Bushan, one of our Sponsors visited us and joined in the celebrations.

In his words:

"It was nice meeting all staff. You all are doing great job in upbringing of these little innocent children.

I would only say that every child is different & they are good in different field. We all need to cultivate that speacility within him/her and make them excel in that field. I am sure school must be working towards that direction.

Merry Christmas & Happy New year to Vishal, Capt, All staff & lovely children. May God bless All."

New Uniforms for 2012 :-)

2011-12-19T19:27:00.000+05:30

On the 18th of Dec 2011, all our children received New Uniforms :-)

Sailing Event - Merchant and Professional Regatta

2011-12-19T19:23:00.001+05:30

Our 7th grade children, participated in a lovely Regatta at the Royal Madras Yacht Club on the 10th and 11th Dec 2011.

It was fair weather, lovely winds and great company :-)

Our young sailors enjoyed themselves, apart from learning this challenging sport of sailing - thanks to RMYC.

Children's Day Celebration 2011

2011-12-19T18:56:00.000+05:30

Fancy Dress

Prize Distribution

Tailing the Elephant

Songs by our 7th Grade children

It was a fun filled Children's Day Celebration on the 14th Nov 2011.

Our children had a whale of a time with games, songs, fun and prizes :-)

Visit by Shailu Shuresh

2011-12-19T18:12:00.000+05:30

On 20.11.2011, Ms Shailu Suresh of "Om Vedic Heritage Centre" Singapore, www.omvedicheritage.com.sg visited our school and spent a whole morning with our children...

She gave a wonderful talk and an interactive session on "focus" to the children of 7th grade.

In her own words:

‘GURUKULAM’:THE INSPIRING PATH OF AN ALTRUIST

I am sure all of us agree that unquestionablyeducation is significant for one’s overall growth. When anychild fails to acquire the basic skills needed to qualify for well-payingearning opportunities and escape poverty, he/she will also fail to function asa productive and responsible member of the society.

Sadly, but not surprisingly, even till today in many very low-incomeand underprivileged families, children are much less likely to be in schoolthan children from more affluent families. My path crossed the path of analtruist who even as a child became sensitive to this inequality that existedand continues to exist in the society. Being inspired by the ‘goal directedforce’ within Captain Nandakumar, I saw myself automatically being drawntowards becoming part of this great cause and help prove with significance (in scientific terms), the hypotheses that‘the cost of educating children far outweighs the cost of not educatingthem’.
Hence, a visit to the‘gurukulam’, a school started by Capt Nandu in 2004, that offers Free educationto children from very low-income families in Panayur and Kovalam villages inTamil Nadu became essential and I was there for a day on 19 November 2011.
Imust say that reasonable inferences can be made even on the first visit to thegurukulam, from just observing the school premises, administration, good policiesand most importantly key outcomes such as the behavior and attitude of the‘gurukulam children’. Apart from the regularprovisions for school children such as teaching and learning material,stationery, uniform, play material etc, I noticed thatgreat attention was being given for the overall growth and well being of thechild by providing extra-curricular activities such as karate, yoga andexclusive yatching lessons even.

Many children who do attend such free schools receive inadequateeducation because of poorly trained, underpaid teachers, overcrowdedclassrooms, and a lack of basic teaching tools such as textbooks, blackboards,and pens and paper and here I noticed that all these key aspects were well studied and taken care of. Important aspects such asensuring that teachers do not physically or mentally abuse children, ensuringthe quality of food being served to the children, provision of a library etcwere all being looked into with great attention to detail. Children are evenmotivated to be better citizens of tomorrow by being trained on good values andprinciples in life by means of personalised motivational talks, ‘How to Live’classes and effective tools such as awarding the child ‘+’ points or ‘-‘ pointsbased on his behaviour, attitude etc.
SoI must say that this effort witnessed by me in my 1-day trip, has two messages forme and the public:
i) It is not agood idea to just observe from a distance as if this mission were just CaptainNandu’s and his team’s, but you and me can also become part of it by devotingourselves (contributing in time, service, money etc to the best of ourcapability and capacity) and make our lives more meaningful and purposeful.
ii) Having seen such models of ‘Increasingthe welfare of fellow citizens through seva’ we toocan lead an altruistic path by freeing our heart fromany self-centered desires and devote ourselves in believing that we live forother people’s sake.
Last but not least credit for thisexemplary service rendered to mankind/to our fellow but less fortunate brothersand sisters, goes to Captain Nandakumar and his other committee members fortheir commitment and visionary and administrative abilities.

A trip to the Planetarium and Library

2011-09-18T21:27:00.001+05:30

Class 4 and 5 had a field trip on the 26th Aug. Here is a description by the class teacher:

"Class 4 and 5 went for a one day trip to Anna library and Birla planetarium. The Students and teachers gathered at Panaiyur and started at 8.45 am sharp on 26-8-2011, by our school bus. We reached the library first and visited all the floors. Students were very happy and excited on seeing the building, and the beauty of Chennai from the top floor. Then we moved to the Children's section and they all got excited again when they saw the many story books, atlas and games. We left for the Planetarium by 11.30 am and went first to the show, all the students were fascinated and listened to the show carefully, then we went to the 3D show and to lunch, then to the science world and finally to the park. We left from there by 3.15 PM and reached home safely. We enjoyed a lot. - Class 4 teacher."

Less than Ordinary Trip

2011-09-18T21:06:00.000+05:30

Carol Lee, who has been supporting Gurukulam for a very long time visited our school. Her experience in her own words:

"Aboveall, my best wishes to all in Gurukulam, Trust Children School.

Ithas been my pleasure to meet the children, teachers during the schoolvisit on Aug 20th. I have had a hilarious andunforgettable experience, with fun, laughter, sharing with thechildren and learning to understanding the needs of our littlefriends' progression at Gurukulam. Their excitement,energy, happiness and warmth are so inspiring andtouching. Having watched of their karate practise in the earlymorning in which they demonstrated it with full enthusiasm,we shared a lively conversation in a numberof interesting topics from sports to martial arts, geographyand cultural exchanges.

Over all, themost impressive part of Gurukulam is children'sachievement in their UNSW assessment in Mathematics where they haveachieved High Distinction and Distinction. And, they were happilyrewarded for this achievement. Children, your great resultshas shown that the standard of your mathematics is similarto that of Singapore's students from topnotch schools. Nonetheless, in very near future there will be potentialmathematicians from Gurukulam with the credit of thiswonderful achievement going to the teachers who had made this possiblethrough their contribution. Three cheers to all of you!

Onthe other hand, the extraordinary cum multitude contrastingschooling environment from home has reminded me of how fortunate ourchildren in Singapore are having all the great facilities and theopportunities to attend school. Our children at home should spare athought for the less fortunate and appreciate more what has beenprovided for them by the Government, community or family.

Lastbut not least, I would highly recommend everyone's participation to helpgrow and evolve Gurukulam, for all economically under-privileged children, fora better future, which is the point of me being here in the first place.

Warmestregards,

CarolLEE"

Energising Programme with Actor Dhamu

2011-08-08T07:56:00.007+05:30

Actor Dhamu with our faculty

Enthralling our students with his mimicry

Helping our children energize their brain cells...

I AM A CHAMPION!!!

Students opening up to their faults and confirming their positive attitude towards change

I AM A CHAMPION!!!

These words were ringing in every child's ear after a workshop with Actor Dhamu.

It was a day that began at 8 am and ended at 4 pm with a non-stop workshop. It was a day which brought tears and laughter - and more importantly a conviction to grow into better adults...

Actor Dhamu took the children through a series of exercises aiming at opening their hearts to their love for their parents, for their faults that needed to be corrected and towards becoming a "Champion". He succeeded in bringing all this and more to every child in Gurukulam.

He then enthralled everyone with mimicry and jokes...

Dear Actor Dhamu, you have touched each one of us and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts...

You are a part of Gurukulam now, through your love and together let us bring up our children to grow into wonderful human beings.

We are touched that you had taken a whole day off from your hectic schedule to reach out to our children...

School Begins

2011-06-16T20:22:00.005+05:30

....and the school begins :-)

The school reopened for the new academic term on the 15th June, with games, fun and new hopes for a better future...

We have now 8 full time teachers, working under Mrs Shuba Subramaniam, our Academic Adviser:

FIRST NAME

LAST NAME

QUALIFICATION

NITHYA PRIYA

PRABU

B.A.,B.Ed.,English

SANTHIYA

SELLIAH

B.A.English D.P.T.T

DEVI

DURAIRAJ

M.Sc.Bio-Technology

RAJAPRIYA

GUNASEKARAN

M.Sc.Medical Biochemistry

PARVEEN BANU

RAFI

B.B.A

HASAN FATHIMABEE

BODHUBA

B.C.A, M.C.A

ABUL KALAM

AZAD

B.Sc., B.Ed.,

GRACE

LILLY

B.A., B.Ed, B.Lit Tamil

Ms Sabita Currimbhoy, who has worked along with me at the Royal Madras Yacht Club and a sailor herself among others, will be working with us part time and bringing in her expertise.

Mr Vajaravelu continues as our Yoga teacher,

Sensei Murali continues as our Karate teacher,

Ms Venilla will work as our Accounts Assistant...

...along with our non-teaching staff will be instrumental in bringing our children up.

Let us wish them all success, and the satisfaction of bringing in a positive change to our society...

Semester at Sea students volunteer time at Gurukulam

2011-03-10T22:27:00.002+05:30

JEFFREY A. KOTTLER, Ph.D, Professor of Psychology, Semester at Sea

http://www.semesteratsea.org/

along with 20 students volunteered time at Gurukulam. It has been a wonderful time of learning, creativity and fun.

In Prof Jeffrey's words:

I wanted to thank all of you for providing such an amazing experience for our students and staff during our visit to the Trust Children school these past few days. The exchanged between your students, teachers, administrators, and our our group from Semester at Sea were so meaningful. The children were crying when we left yesterday, as were some of our students. Three of our students stayed behind to continue their visit for another day. Everyone was so happy with the generosity, hospitality, and warm welcome that you provided at the school and with the Rotary Club. I know that you have never arranged an extended service trip like this before but I want you to know that I hope it is the first of many such trips in the future.

Although I have spent time in many lower caste schools, and worked with children and teachers for many years, I was SO impressed with the work you are doing. The enthusiasm of the teachers, the warmth of the students, was so inspiring to all of us. I hope that our visit remains a lasting memory for those in your school just as I'm certain it will for all of us.

With warm regards,
Jeffrey

JEFFREY A. KOTTLER, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychology
Semester at Sea

Medical Camp

2011-03-08T09:48:00.002+05:30

1st March 2011

Kamakshi Memorial Hospital conducted a full fledged medical camp for our children with 6 doctors and 5 para medicals. Ms Poornima was the co-ordinator.

The doctors did a thorough check up of all the children along with their parents and have recommended a few children for further investigation.

Thank you dear Doctors and staff of Kamakshi Memorial Hospital. We are grateful for your loving care...all of us here join together, in saying - Thank you :-)

Pongal

2011-03-08T09:36:00.003+05:30

14th Jan 2011

Pongal or the Harvest festival is very colorful in India.

Our children had a wonderful experience too.

Under Ms Gomathi's, supervision, our children drew colorful pictures and enjoyed a special treat - "Pongal" (which also means - sweetened rice). Art and celebration went hand in hand :-)

Parents Meet

2011-03-07T17:22:00.004+05:30

17th Jan 2011

It is time for the Parent to see their child's progress...

Teachers took time to meet parents individually and chat with them about the progress of their child.

Proud Parents - THANKS to YOU, who is making it possible :-)

Sea Shells Day

2011-03-07T17:10:00.003+05:30

11th Jan 2011

Under Shabana, the 2nd Standard children presented their "Sea Shells Day"

Great effort by the kids... it was lovely to see what a 7 year could come up with...

Their presentation received an enthusiastic response from the whole school.

Well done Grade 2 :-)

Rip Van Winkle

2011-03-07T16:47:00.003+05:30

16th Dec 2010

All our children from Grade 1 to 6 had a great evening out -

Thanks to Ayesha :-) of the Little Theatre. She treated our children to "Rip Van Winkle" at the Egmore Stadium.

An evening of fun and happiness. The kids just loved it - and so did the teachers :-)

Melba and Sara visit Gurukulam

2011-03-07T16:34:00.003+05:30

Nov 2010: Melba and Sara from the UK visited our school and spent a week volunteering time with our children.

They helped our children make beautiful decorations for Christmas. It was a week of art and fun along with studies for our kids :-)

Thank you Mel and Sara. You touched all our children's hearts...

Republic Day 2011

2011-03-07T16:25:00.005+05:30

Jan 26th 2011, Dr Mythili Ravishankar unfurled the National Flag at our school.

Our children gave a lovely performance in yoga, karate and dance, to celebrate India's Republic Day.

May our children grow to make us proud....

Happy tidings

2011-01-29T12:24:00.005+05:30

Our kids have proved themselves again :-)

Pragadeesh of Class 6 secured "High Distinction".

Dharini, Ameen, Basha and Dhanapriya of Class 6 have secured "Distinction" in a recently concluded assessment in Mathematics for Indian Schools by the UNSW Global, The University of New South Wales, Australia.

We are proud to be part of their achievement.

An inspiring visit to cherish forever…

2011-01-29T09:37:00.015+05:30

Personal experience shared by Mr. Ruben Rajagopalan from Eindhoven, The Netherlands regarding his visit to the Gurukulam School on January 03, 2011.

An inspiring visit to cherish forever…

It’s with a great feeling of happiness, humility and gratitude, I am sharing my inspiring experience during my visit to Gurukulam, a Trust Children School on January 3rd, 2011. I wish to sincerely thank my friends from Eindhoven, The Netherlands, whose support, prayers and wishes are behind this testimonial.

In a world filled with a multitude of contrasts, children belonging to economically under-privileged backgrounds pay the highest price for no fault of theirs. Education and other facilities which to some of us is easily accessible, and sometimes even a luxury, to many others remains only a dream that perhaps never really turns into a reality. The Trust Children team and their Gurukulam School at Panayur, Chennai have been creating miracles and making a difference since 2004, to ensure those dreams turn into reality for a few children (143 children as on date). With their strong determination and dedication, since their inception their vision has always aimed to provide, for FREE, their children with education (in English medium), Text and note-books, Uniforms, Lunch, Extra-curricular activities (Karate, Yoga), and Medical & Dental care.

My association with them began informally mainly thanks to Mr. Harsh Kulkarni and friends at ASHA, Eindhoven. Thanks to the efforts of some of my friends from Eindhoven, we were extremely happy to raise funds as a contribution that will benefit the annual cost of education and travel of Ms. Sureatha for the academic year 2011-2012, who is current in her LKG Grade (LowerKinderGarten).

After all the discussions via email and phone, it was a wonderful feeling to finally get to visit their campus and meet the volunteers and the hildren. The enthusiasm and happiness of the children was great to see. We visited them on the first day of the school after the holiday break, and the children were buzzing with excitement to get back to their lessons and school activities. Mrs. Shubha Subramaniam, the Principal, was very happy to show us around the Campus, and the class rooms, and also interact with the children of the VI standard. We shared lively moments with the kids talking about various interests, discussions ranging from Sciences, Karate, Movies, …, and the current hype about the Cricket World Cup being hosted in India in February. We wished them the very best for their future, and handed over our donations, and left the campus, after what was a great inspiring day, and a wonderful beginning to 2011.

On behalf of my friends in Eindhoven, I’d like to extend my gratitude and support to the team of Trust Children for all their wonderful efforts, and the very best wishes for the future.

I’ve uploaded all the pictures taken during my visit here. For any additional information, feel free to reach me via email at zenben@gmx.de.

Kind regards,
Ruben and his friends from Eindhoven.

When I went back to school…

2010-12-22T10:42:00.015+05:30

“Remember…bus will leave at 8:30 sharp – be ready in the morning” Captain reminded me like a school headmaster. Any why not, it was ages since I went to school in a school bus. Come next morning, like a good student, guess what I was among the first one in the bus with the first and second grade Gurukulam students. Little did I knew, I was in for a big surprise that morning…

The moment I enter the bus, I see these little angles welcoming me like an old friend – I hear a chorus - “Good Morning Sir. Please come and have a seat next to me…” I was literally taken off guard by the confidence and the boldness of these tiny little kids. I was telling myself I was the most shy kid around at that age, and here are the bunch of kids who were literally assaulting me with their confidence! I took a seat next to Pavithra and asked her about her favorite poem, and guess what; the next opera was the “Boogie Woogie” rhyme. If this was less, Asmitha shouted “I like Cinderella story – do you want to hear it?” Pleasantly surprised, I nodded and next 20 minute ride witnessed a chorus on “Cinderella”, “Snow white” and the “Golden Axe” stories. I just couldn’t believe that these kids are first generation learners speaking so fluently to even take a native speaker by surprise. With such a roller coaster ride, I never realized we had already reached the school.

With an assembly of 143 students from LKG to 6^th grade, roared with National Anthem during the weekly National Flag hoisting ceremony. I was pleasantly surprised to see the Vice Principal distributing gifts to the birthday kids during the assembly. In no time, students were back in class and school was buzzing with activity. As I enter the first grade, I’m greeted with “Good Morning Sir!” I couldn’t help noticing the artistic “English” on the blackboard with “E” beautifully morphed as a cute little cat. My curiosity zooms and I ask “Who has drawn this beautiful cat?” Quick comes the reply “It’s our English teacher. I can also draw it.” I gesture Aishwarya and with a confident stoke of hand, she mirrors the exact ‘painting’. Not to mention, I was really surprised to see this from a first grader.

I can go on and on with similar surprises throughout the day, but there is one particular incident which I can never forget my life. Its grade 6 and thought for the day on the blackboard is “Dare to do the right, fear to do the wrong”. Interesting I said and asked “Can anyone explain me the meaning of this thought?” I knew this was tricky for anyone to explain, but given the days experience I’d started to expect the unexpected now. Guess what, Pragadeesh summarizes it all – “When you do the right, you should come forward!”

The comment from Pragadeesh really made my day. I’ve been visiting Gurukulam since its humble beginning in 2004 with 20 students and a handful of volunteers who shared Captain’s vision of “breaking the viscous cycle of poverty-manual labor by empowerment through education to the under privileged”. With 143 students and a dedicated staff of 6 teachers and an academic advisor, Gurukulam has come a long way. What really amazes me is the fluency in English of these children and more importantly, the confidence these kids have developed. Hats off to the dedicated teachers, especially in an environment where the children are first generation learners.

I met Captain later in the say with some awe and he is quick to add ”We have come a long way and still have a long way to go. Lets get back to work!” It is with some sense of pride, I sign off my visit signing up for the next mission – raising $12,000 for the construction of upcoming science laboratory. Looks like an upheaval task, but as they say a thousand mile journey starts with a single step…I hope to catch up Gurukulam students working at the lab during my next visit… :-)

Our Talented Children

2010-11-28T11:18:00.003+05:30

Our children had a colorful Rangoli Day :-)

They are so talented...what started as a Rangoli competition for the 4th 5th and 6th grades on the 4th Nov, ended up as an eye opener for all of us...Our children are very talented :-)

The school house "Tiger" won the competition with their "India" under Ms Hasan

The school house "Whales" came a close runner up with their "Lord Ganesh" under Mrs Grace Lilly.

Mr Ravikrishnan our Committee Member, Mr Murali our Karate instructor and Mr Vajaravelu our Yoga instructor were the judges.

Way to go children... :-)

Parents Teachers Meet

2010-11-28T11:00:00.002+05:30

Mrs Shuba Subramaniam our Academic Advisor, Mr Ravikrishnan our Committee Member along with Ms Shabana and Mr Parvez our Vice Principals' conducted the Parents Teachers meet on the 23rd Oct 2010.

The importance of bringing the children on time to school, not being absent unless due to a medical condition, the importance of helping the child with a conducive atmosphere at home were all reiterated.

The parents then had a look at their children's art work and were ALL SMILES :-)

Another BIG Heart :-)

2010-11-19T13:47:00.003+05:30

Mrs Meera along with our Academic Advisor Mrs Shuba Subramaniam took a very different class for our children on 23rd Oct 2010.

Mrs Meera joined in as a volunteer and taught the children to make

1) paper bags

and 2) Vegetable salads

...after which all the children enjoyed some delicious salads :-)

Mrs Meera also spoke about the importance of vegetables in the daily diet.

Thank you Mrs Meera :-)

Children's Day

2010-11-18T16:42:00.005+05:30

The program started with a prayer by the girls of class VI

There were a myriad of shows from the teachers and the students…a truly memorable children’s day

Dhanapriya and Pragadeesh of Class VI were the MCs’ for the day

It started with a colourful fancy dress competition – Farah of Class II took everyone’s heart away as “Avvaiyar”. There were a galore of policemen, doctors, engineers and more :-)
UKG sang their rhymes…as cutely as only they can.
Followed by songs from Class IV and V
Mr Abul, our Math teacher came forward with mimicry.
Class II came out with 2 dances…”Alekra” from “Kanthasami” and “ooh lala”
To beat that, class VI came out with “Jai Ho” from “Slumdog Millionaire” :-)
Not to be outdone, Rahamath Bhee our caretaker came out with a Tamil song…we are getting to know how talented our staff are!
It gets even better with a Puppet Show from our Yoga Teacher.
Then came a group song by all the teachers with Ms Shabana and Ms Hasan dressed up as school children :-) They literally stole evryone’s heart in the program…
To top the program the teachers put up a dance show! Ms Hasan, Ms Shabana and Ms Sujatha put up a lovely dance together…

Now came the games…truly a happy children’s day :-)

Musical chairs, Blind fold pot breaking, Lucky Dip, Ball in the basket….and on and on. Just loads of fun for the children on Children’s Day.

Kudos to Mr Abul for putting together one of the most memorable evenings...

Sanjay Shetty runs the Philadelphia Marathon for Gurukulam Children

2010-11-15T09:58:00.012+05:30

Sanjay V Shetty who regularly sponsors the annual education of Mstr. Khadar Hussain, a VI Std. child at Trust Children's Gurukulam School, has taken a big step forward in supporting the entire School by running the Philadelphia Marathon. Like all marathons sanctioned by USA Track & Field, the Philadelphia Marathon is 26.2 miles (42.16 kilometers), and Sanjay will run this stretch on Sunday, November 21st, 2010 urging all his supporters, friends, and fans to support the education for the underprivileged children at Gurukulam School.

The staff and children of Gurukulam School are extremely thankful to Sanjay for representing us and for taking the effort to spread the message. We request all our sponsors, friends, and well wishers to support Sanjay and help him make a difference to the lives of the children at Gurukulam. Below are a few words from Sanjay himself.

Hi:

I am Sanjay V Shetty and I am running the Philadelphia Marathon on 21st November, 2010 for the underprivileged children at Gurukulam School, a Trust Children Organization.

I strongly believe that each and every child has the right to pursue a life filled with happiness. While education is a critical tool in this life long pursuit, not all children are privileged to get it. Trust Children, with its FREE education, offers this opportunity to underprivileged kids. The Trust has worked hard for many years to bring happiness to over a hundred children and it continues to alter life at an early age in a meaningful way.

Being an investment professional, I believe that Trust Children is an efficient channel for privileged donors to support this cause. Since all administrative costs are borne by Trust Children Trustees and Committee Members, every penny of your contribution reaches the Gurukulam children directly. This makes Trust Children an ideal medium for me to give and help. And I invite you to join me and the hard working team at Trust Children to take this forward.

I am reaching out to invite you all to join me in this worthy cause. Please use the link below to donate to Trust Children via Gurukulam, Inc, a registered non-profit in the United States. Donations to Gurukulam Inc are tax exempt as per section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. 100% of the funds received by Gurukulam Inc in the US is transferred to Trust Children.

I greatly appreciate your generosity.

For any additional information, please visit the Trust Children website, or you can also reach me directly at svshetty@gmail.com or 215.760.0313.

Best Regards,

Sanjay V. Shetty
Philadephia, USA

Facebook

2010-10-18T03:02:00.001+05:30

Ladies and Gentleman, may I kindly introduce a new part of TrustChildren. A brand new page on the revolutionary website – Facebook. On the site we’ve got lots of information, pictures and videos. The site gets updated every week, so it tells the world what’s happening as it happens.

This fully operational and functioning apart of TrustChildren‘s online awareness has picked up like wildfire. We have many people from all over the world taking notice of the hard work that is happening in India and the word is spreading....

Feel free to have a look at - http://www.facebook.com/TrustChildren

Another young BIG heart :-)

2010-10-17T10:35:00.006+05:30

Nitish is another young man with a BIG heart :-)

Here is the story of another teenager who has touched our hearts at Gurukulam.

Nitish is studying his 1st year of A Level in UK (XII as in India). He formulated and conducted a spoken English class for our children - with such a depth of thought and research, that it amazed me...

Nitish is now taken on another big challenge - he is managing the "facebook" for Trust Children all by himself!! You can meet him at

http://www.facebook.com/TrustChildren

Dear Nitish, thank you for taking time off from your studies, sports, free time and lending a hand to those who are not so lucky...thank you from all of us at Gurukulam :-)

Vijayadasami Celebrations

2010-10-17T07:45:00.003+05:30

True to our appreciation of all religions, our school celebrated Vijaydasami - prayers to the goddess of learning.

As told about it by our Vice Principal, Primary School, Ms Shabana Begum "Today all the children assembled in a classroom and were told the importance of praying to God who will help them in their everyday studies and fulfill their vision and dreams in education. This was done to inculcate in them that hard work in education is very important. And if they pray to God, He will help them, assist them in their everyday studies. They were told that - Prayer + hard work is the key to success. All of them prayed and understood the importance and then enjoyed the snacks".

2010-10-14T08:30:00.005+05:30

Just as the Gurukul of yore, our children actively help in keeping their school clean...

Ms Anusya, who was the teacher in charge of the school cleanliness until Sept 2010 gave away prizes for the children who had put in their best...

Let us pray that our children grow up to be good human beings who will help themselves and help others...who find joy in all things great and small...

Our kids have done it again :-)

2010-10-14T07:52:00.003+05:30

Our kids have done it again :-) in the National Level.

In the "All India Open Karate Championship" held at Kanchipuram, Tamilnadu, on 25th and 26th of Sept, our children brought back a good medal tally

1. Pragadeesh-- Individual Kata III place. Team Kata II place

2.Anandh of grade -IV-- Team Kata II place

3. K.Arunkumar of grade IV- Team Kata II place

4. Varsha of Grade VI- Individual Kata II Place.Team Kata II place.Kumite III Place

5. Dharani- Team Kata II place.Kumite III place

6. Dhanapriya-VI grade- Team Kata II place

7. Shilpa-Grade IV- Kumite III Place.

Our loving congratulations to the kids on their effort and Sensei Ravikrishnan and Sensei Murali on their continuous efforts in bringing up our children to standard...

One BIG Heart :-)

2010-10-07T19:10:00.004+05:30

Natasha Desai is a young lady with a BIG HEART.

What could someone in high school do to reach out to others not so privileged?

Natasha simply opened up a bracelet shop on the internet - the Zigzag Store :-) Made some beautiful bracelets, sold them and raised money for the children at Gurukulam. Do visit her at www.zigzagstore.net

She is one of the growing number of young adults helping out with Gurukulam...more about the other young helping hands soon....

Oct 2nd Gandhi Jayanthi at Gurukulam

2010-10-07T18:31:00.004+05:30

Mr Ashwin from the "Hindu" along with his friends and the "Story Trails" group Ms Anu, Ms Sandhya and Ms Lakshmi visited our school and celebrated the birth of Mahatma Gandhi.

The "Story Trail" group enthralled our children with an interactive story "India and I". The children loved it. The children were then treated to a movie "Toy Story".

Read about it in the national newspaper - the "Hindu":
http://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/kids/article824906.ece

Samosas, Pastries, Chocolate and Juice completed a wonderful day.

Thank you dear Ashwin and friends :-)

Aug 15th 2010

2010-09-22T10:42:00.019+05:30

The Independence Day programme was a lovely dedication to our freedom fighters of yore.
Mr Jayakumar MLA, Former Minister, Govt of Tamilnadu as our Hon'ble Chief Guest
Mr S Rajaram, President of Rotary Club, Downtown and
Mr SohailCurrimbhoy, Chairman, Madras Mylapore Round Table 3 as our Guests of Honour, it was a re-dedication for all of us to work harder that every child gets the best education possible to make this society grow into Mahatma Gandhi's and Rabindra Nath Tagore's dream India.

...this was the scene on the morning of Aug 15th. Lashing rains, flooded grounds and a shamyana that had collapsed. True to the spirit of Gurukulam - the shamyana was up in no time, children, guests and teachers got the chairs in place and lo - the programme was ON :-)

The other time we had a similiar situation was when Mr Jayakumar had honoured us as the Chief Guest in 2005 to open the 41 toilets that we had built as part of the post tsunami work. The Shamyana had collapsed under similar rains and Mr Jayakumar took it into his stride and we made do with the common shed of the fishermen!! He was then the law minister and we still remember fondly his dedication to the community and his positive nature.

Thanks to "Gurukuam UK" we have been able to build 2 more toilets and a store room for our children. Dr Vandna, Dr Sunder Dharmar who founded "Gurukulam" in UK, along with our Chief Guest Mr Jayakumar and Mr Shail Currimbhoy opened them for our children.

The children, as usual, put up a wonderful performance. Each cultural event had been painstakingly thought out and rehearsed by the kids and the teachers. It showed in every performance.The Indian classical dance put up by the girls took everyone's breath away and so did the dance programme of the other classes.Speeches in English, Hindi and Tamil showed the children s' grasp of all 3 languages.

Karate was as scintillating as ever. Kudos to Sensei Ravikrishnan and Sensei Murali in keeping the martial arts programme of the kids going full swing.

The Tai Chi by the girls was impressive. One could see the progress they have made in this art. Thanks again to Sensei Ravikrishnan.

The yoga demonstration for this time was well conducted and the children finished with meditation in padmasana. Thanks to Mr Varadarajan, our Yoga teacher.

The Chief Guest conducted an impromptu General knowledge quiz and our children acquitted themselves very well and managed to win a large number of Rs 100/- prizes that he distributed to the winners.

Mr Jayakumar concluded with a heart warming speech...

Mr S Rajaram, our Guest of Honour, spoke on Rotary Clubs' commitment to our school and gifted Rs 100,000/- of this years funds raised by Rotary Club.
Thank you dear Rotarians - our heartfelt thanks as always.

Mr Sohail Currimbhoy, Chairman MMRT3, again reiterated their club's enduring support. Something that gladdened all our hearts and further gifted more sports items, books and CDs'. Thank you dear Tablers. We appreciate every single gesture from your side and will ever be indebted to your kindness and support.

Our heroes and heroines....

School Reopens :-)

2010-06-26T15:33:00.003+05:30

On the 4th June, our school re-opened with cakes, games, gifts and smileeeeeeeeessss :-) :-)

It was wonderful seeing the children enjoy themselves on the first day of school.

Everyone had their share of fun, food and games...

The Next Generation

2010-06-26T12:12:00.006+05:30

Taking in a new batch of students for LKG:

Selection process:

1. Posters are put up in the slums, that applications for the school admission is open.

2. The first 100 applications are taken in.

3. 40 applicants are shortlisted for interview as per minimum age and earning capacity of family. Interviews were completed by Feb 2010.

5. A house visit is now done to ascertain that the family earning is below the poverty line and that the family needs our support.

6. An interview is now conducted for the parents and child.

7. 20 students are selected and informed of the same.

And vola :-) our new batch of students are ready...

8. On the 19th May 2010, Parents of the newly inducted LKG students were called for a Parents meet and the policies of the school clearly explained.

Annual Day Celebrations

2010-06-26T11:19:00.003+05:30

The Annual Day Celebrations held on 20th March 2010 at our school premises, were a wonderful end after a fruitful year...

Thanks to your support...the children are growing into wonderful young adults :-)

We had Rotarian Mr Benjamin as our Chief Guest and Rotarian Mr Vijay Sambrani as our Guest of Honour to grace our celebrations. Rotary has promised to raise funds and support our school regularly over the years to come...

The children came out with wonderful musicals and culturals.

Mr N Somasundaram gave away the prizes for the year.

HOLI HOLI HOLI!

2010-03-02T11:16:00.006+05:30

The children enjoyed Holi with the teachers. The children are encouraged to celebrate all the important Indian festivals of all religions. This was one more fun filled day in their lives...

Our Team!

2010-03-02T11:04:00.003+05:30

It just occurred to me that, we have never posted pictures of the all the staff!
I have to tell ya! It is such a pleasure to work with every teacher and staff member in this school! They have so much heart and pride for Gurukulam, and I just love my team! This is truly a very unique group of people with the most amount of love for teaching, mentoring, guiding I have ever seen!

Thank you Gurukulam staff for all that you do! :):) :)

Republic Day 2010

2010-03-02T10:28:00.005+05:30

Well Gurukulam students did it again. We ROCKED the RD celebrations and showed our patriotism to the guest who attended the show.

We started off with the Welcome speech from Pragdeesh of 5TH Grade. Then we welcomed our Chief Guest Mr. Vijay Sambhrani and Guest of Honors- Mrs. Mythili, Mr. S.L Reddy to the school.

Then we kicked it off with the opening of our new classroom which has been funded wholly by her and family! Thanks Mrs. Mythili, Mr Ravishankar and dear Venki!!!!

Then it was off to the program. I am so proud of our Teachers, Staff and most of all our Children, for coming together and making Republic Day super special.

I would also like to thank Mr. Kishor Reddy for Donating a brand NEW computer for our much needed computer lab! I would also like to thank Chennai Social Services for donating the story books for the children to read! Thank you sooooo much for everything you do for our school!

Happy Republic Day India!!! Jai Hind!

Happy New Year- and Welcome Back Students!!

2010-01-05T11:08:00.003+05:30

Welcome Back Students, Teachers and Staff of Gurukulam! Well we are back for an awesome 2010 3rd Term. Our children performed so well in the last term, we expect nothing less, then perfect scores for the 3rd term. We started out with a our normal routine of prayer, songs, and hoisting the flag. Then the children wished all the staff and fellow students "Good Morning" and " Happy New Year"! Then the students with their " Brand New Uniforms" were off for fun and games. The children played, cricket, ball toss, and musical boxes. Then we stuffed ourselves silly with yummy cake! Then we had lunch! LOL.... we couldn't wait to eat the cake after lunch... hehehe. The rest of the afternoon was for studies! But the children were super happy to be back at school!

Happy New Year :-)

2009-12-26T22:39:00.004+05:30

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Wonderful New Year..

Thank you... dear one for making 2009 happy for us...

Thank you for keeping us healthy, caring for us and showing us your love in so many ways...

We pray for your happiness always...Have a Wonderful 2010

from

All the children of Gurukulam :-)

We ROCKED the HCL Program

2009-12-09T10:51:00.003+05:30

Well Gurukulam Kids did it again! We were invited to give a performance at HCL for their O 2 Annual Day . The children from 4th and 5th Standard rocked the 1000 person awards cermoney by singing and dancing. They sung two songs.- Hi and Ho- We plant trees and Bubblegum.

I was so proud of them. They only had 4 days to practice two songs, and they mastered it on stage! In the beginning, we were not sure if we could do it, but what can I say,,, our kids are just AWESOME!

Mr. Porres of the Community Service Council in HCL, really made us feel part of the HCL family. The children were gifted sweets and the school was given a check for Rs. 15,000/- to be used for outdoor play equipment for Gurukulam.

We were also invited to stay back and watch the program of the staff putting on skits, songs, and dances for their function. Then after that the children stayed back for a super yummy dinner.

As the children were leaving to head home for the night, HCL surprised us with 5 boxes worth of candy to give to the rest of the students at Gurukulam! : )

We would like to thank HCL for letting us come and enjoy your O2 Annual Day. We had a great time!

Hooray, Hooray its Children's Day! Lots of Fun for everyone, HOORAY!

2009-11-25T09:32:00.006+05:30

Well it's that time of year! To celebrate all the children in India, and to thank them for being KIDS!

This year at Gurukulam it was decided that we would let the children, sit back, relax, and put their feet up to enjoy a program of laughter and fun from their teachers! The program had - skits, songs, dances, and a fashion show. The lady teachers were hoping to grab the trophy for the fashion show, but it was stolen by Mr. Solomon. He dressed up as both Mr. and Mrs. Solomon. Since our children were the judges, he won!!! LOL

Let me tell you, we had the children laughing so much!

Great job to all the staff at Gurukulam for making Children's day sooooo much fun for the kids.

How to make a bridge!

2009-11-25T09:18:00.004+05:30

Children of Class 3 were learning about bridges, and how bridges were built in their Science Class.

I asked the children why this class was so much fun, and they responded back; Mr. Solomon lets us experiment and lets us bring what we read in the text book come to life. He's a lot of fun! We love science!

Way to go Mr. Solomon! Excellent job kids!!!! : ) : )

PARENT TEACHER MEETING 1ST TERM

2009-10-18T21:00:00.004+05:30

Woohoo! We completed our 1st term of the 2009-2010 school year, and we are all so excited to tell the parents what's happening in the school and what their children are learning.

Almost all parents came to our first Parent Teacher Meeting.

We started out with a quick introduction of our Teaching Staff and our Non-Teaching Staff. Then we talked about a few agenda items, such as; coming to school on time, curriculum changes, policy reminders and parent involvement.

We ended the meeting with the "Best Parent Award" for each class. We talked about how we picked the best parent and why that parent was chosen. We encouraged all parents to help us out by just reading the daily dairy and asking their children "what did they learn today" . Parents were gifted a Sari, and thanked for all their support!

Then we dismissed the parents, and invited them to their child classroom to see "what's new", and to meet their class teacher.

Overall the day was awesome!'

Way to go Gurukulam Parents!

School Reopens "Opening Day 2nd Term 2009"

2009-09-26T20:43:00.005+05:30

Welcome Back Students!!

Our day started out extra special, with Mr. Venkatesh Sankar donating a wonderful Breakfast for all our children, to honor his daughters Birthday and Word of Life Church in Chennai, donating the "yummy" cake for the event!

The next part of our day was all fun and games! LKG played "breaking the balloon", UKG played "Musical Chairs" 1st Grade played "passing the balloon" 3rd Grade played "relay stone race" 4th Grade played "3 legged race" and 5th Grade played " Don't break the water balloon toss race"

We ended the day with the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade playing a cricket game.

Watch out IPL - we have some pretty talented players here!!!!

We had blast, and the teachers enjoyed the events as well!

A "BIG" thank you to all our sponsors for this wonderful day.

Coastal Clean up along with the Coast Guard

2009-09-25T10:34:00.004+05:30

This year again we have joined the Coast Guard to clean up our beaches...

Our children did a great job along with Capt Shanbhag and Mr Pervez, our English teacher, in cleaning the debris.

Dr Mythili Ravishankar visits Gurukulam

2009-09-25T10:14:00.003+05:30

Dr Mythili Ravishankar spent time with our children and school...

In her own words about her visit "Children of Gurukulam all dressed in neat attire ,quickly and efficiently assembled at the school premises for the morning prayer. I (Dr Mythili) felt the morning so beautiful as the children welcomed unanimously with a "sweet good morning madam" !! Then followed the prayer and the session ended with a small story with moral by Dr Mythili.

" I spent time in the 4th class during the science period. Children were very interactive and and were able to differentiate between herbivorous, carnivorous and omnivorous species.... it was soo very satisfying to see the children progress in academics.

In standard 5, children were able to solve sums like LCM and HCF fairly well...have understood the concept of the problem well.
Last 10 mins I had a memory game which can help improve the ability to focus and strengthen the retaining capacity..... wherein all the children in the class participated with great enthusiasm and won prizes and gifts .
I was amazed to see the perfect answers by most of the children. As I took leave from the classroom I mentioned to them the next time they will have a tougher game Ok children....there came a prompt response from all children " Yes, madam WE WILL DO IT "....that is the spirit of Gurukulam children !!!

Later had an opportunity to witness their knowledge in social science classes...they had gained knowledge on Mauriyan empire, Ashoka empire, about Nelson Mandelaa.. just to name a few areas.

It was a very fulfilling day for me as I joined the children during their lunch break where nutricous food was serverd to all the children .

It was interesting to see the creative,visual and application based teachings by the Gurukulam teachers.Well done !!

HAPPY GURUKULAM, A TRUST CHILDREN SCHOOL !!!"
Dr Mythili Ravishankar

.......It was wonderful having Mythili here. She along with her family have sponsored an entire Classroom :-)

Our school and children Thank her in all their happiness... God Bless.

Happy Independence Day INDIA!

2009-08-18T17:40:00.007+05:30

It's been 60 years since India won their independence, and our children at Gurukulam sure know how to celebrate this day.

It started with a prayer, followed by hosting our Flag with our Chief Guest - Honorable Mr. Justice K. Sampath.
We also honored our sponsors for all their loving financial support. Mr ShanBhag, who donated the teachers' table and chairs for our school. Mrs. Mythili Ravi Shankar who sponsered Visual Aids, and Mr and Mrs Sunil Asher who donated lunch for our kids.

Our children performed dances, skits and songs.
Parents and Guest enjoyed the event and so did the Staff of Gurukulam!
A big thank you to all! : )

Interschool Competitions 2009

2009-08-17T08:27:00.005+05:30

We had 5 schools from the neighboring areas come and compete in the Gurukulam Interschool Competitions.

We had 2 events. Math Competition and a Drawing Competition.

Our students of Gurukulam shined in the Math part, taking 1st place.
GOOOO GURUKULAM!!!

All the students who participated during this event would be honored at our Independence Day function.
Stay tuned in for pictures of
our next event!

We won them ALL :-)

2009-08-10T08:19:00.003+05:30

Sensei Ravikrishnan being felicitated by the Tiruvallur District Karate Association as one of the Seniormost Karate Instructor in India

On the 9th Aug 09 our children swept the prizes in a District level Karate Competition :-) conducted by the Tiruvallur District Karate Association affiliated to the World Karate Federation and All India Karate Do Federation.

They competed with over 300 participants and walked away with most of the prizes...Kudos to Sensei Ravikrishnan and Sensei Murali

The highlight of the day was the First Prize by Pragadeesh of 5th Standard, who with his Orange belt, competed with Black Belts and won it fair and square...

Our Winners:

1. M Pragadeesh - Boys Kata - First

2. M Pragadeesh - Group kata - Third

3. E Anandh - Group kata - Third

4. K Arun kumar - Group kata - Third

5. K Varsha - Girls Kumite - First

6. N Dharani - Girls Kumite - Third

7. K Varsha - Girls kata - First

8. G Dhana Priya - Girls kata - Second

9. N Dharani - Girls Group kata - Third

10. K Varsha - Girls Group kata - Third

11. G Dhanapriya - Girls Group kata - Third

12. K Tharik Anwar - boys Kumite - Third

I wanna be a....... :-)

2009-08-07T23:25:00.005+05:30

Video of Farah Begum as a Gypsy Girl.. She stood first in the "Fancy Dress" Competition and also took all our hearts away :-)

Doctors:-)

Mahatma Gandhi, Nehru and Bharathiar...

Baby Gypsy...

Policemen :-)

.....We had it all. It was wonderful to see the parents and children come together and create such a memorable "Fancy Dress" Competition

Visit by Vestas

2009-07-28T18:40:00.007+05:30

Vestas came in 30 strong and went back 155 strong :-) Mr. Aravind Kaul the MD of Vestas interacted with the children, as they show cased their talents in drawing and coloring. The vision for the event was for children’s creativity to be encouraged and nurtured in and out of school.The interaction between the children and guests was truely amazing!

Taj - Fishermans Cove in Gurukulam

2009-07-23T18:06:00.006+05:30

Taj - Fishermans Cove have always brought a smile to our children...and the 21st Aug 09 was no different :-)

Mr Tanay spent time with our children...He took a scintillating class on the Solar Eclipse.. It was simply wonderful to see the topic that he had chosen to share, the pains to bring forth a great presentation and the love that made this happen...Thank you Mr Tanay :-) Our children loved it..

A typical morning assembly

2009-07-23T08:24:00.003+05:30

The winners of the medals for Academic excellence, Discipline, Dress Code and Best Effort for the week

Ms Crystal, our Academic Advisor, gives away the medals

The morning assembly is conducted by every teacher in turn. The start is very punctual...a typical Monday assembly takes a maximum of 10 minutes and the other days take around 5 minutes..

1. Prayers: "Where the mind is without fear" by Tagore, "I will be Thine Always" by Paramahansa Yogananda and Tamil Thai Vazthu are sung everyday

2. National Flag hoisting (Mondays)

3. Annoncements.

4. Weekly medals (Mondays)

5. Birthday wishes, if any.

6. Class teachers check turn out, nails etc., before the children disperse to classes

Working with Nature

2009-07-16T08:35:00.003+05:30

The race is on :-)

....for the class with the green thumb.

Teachers and respective classes have taken a small "plot" as their own to make it green...with loads of enthusiasm as you can see... In the days to come, it will be a joy to watch their progress together...

School begins... with fun and Special Guests

2009-06-08T23:06:00.002+05:30

The new school term started with our usual joy and...this time with special guests :-)

The children started the day by cutting cakes, enjoying games and simply feeling the joy of being in Gurukulam :-)

Today, we had so many lovely people sharing our joy...

We had Dr Nandakumar, President - Rotary Club of Vadapallani and Past Presidents Mr Lakshmanan and Mr Sam donate school diaries to all our children...

We had Jean, Arun Mathew, Tanay Singh, Mohammed Siddiq and Krishan Kant Aggarwal of Fisherman's Cove - Taj Hotels join in the first day of school...

We had Seetha from USA, Mrs & Dr Nandakumar from UK and Capt Muthiah from Air India join in and share some lovely moments with our children :-)

It was one memorable first day of school :-)

A delightful afternoon

2009-06-08T22:53:00.004+05:30

Dr Mythili Ravishankar and Venkatesh Ravishankar spent a lovely afternoon interacting with our children... the children showed their dance and karate and have asked Venkatesh to teach them western dancing the next time he comes over...

A brand new Brochure

2009-06-08T21:19:00.005+05:30

Once again :-) our loving THANKS to Mr Vasant Shanbhag of Canara Traders & Printers Pvt Ltd for printing and helping edit our brochure and Ogilvy & Mather Pvt Ltd for helping design it...

We now have an updated new brochure :-)

A lovely start

2009-06-01T18:53:00.003+05:30

Thanks to Mr Vasant Shanbhag, Canara Traders and Printers Pvt Ltd., our teachers got a pleasant surprise on our reopening day :-)

Mr Vasant Shanbhag has donated 8 brand new tables for our teachers... We finally have a table for each teacher.

Our loving THANKS :-)

Towards a bright future

2009-06-01T18:39:00.002+05:30

Today 25 new students have joined our school :-)

...what surprises me every year, is that, hardly any of the children cry! On the other hand, within 10 minutes of coming in to our classrooms they are having a whale of a time :-)

The picture above was taken hardly half an hour after we started off...

Almost every child told me that they enjoyed the school...it was so touching to hear it from the little ones :-) God bless them

Classes continue :-)

2009-05-22T22:43:00.003+05:30

....one thing that we at Gurukulam don't do - is rest on our laurels :-)

By evening, it was back to training of the body, mind and soul again.... The children have used this summer holiday to improve themselves very well.

Karate lessons by IG of Police, Dr. Sylendra Babu, I.P.S

2009-05-22T21:18:00.008+05:30

Dr Sylendra Babu, Inspector General of Police took a class that none of us can ever forget...

With all his committments as the IG of Police, it was heartening to see him taking time from his busy schedule to inspire economically under privileged children. He has been conducting regular classes in karate, being a Black Belt himself, for economically under privileged children. Today, he took it upon himself to personally inspire our children from Gurukulam.

Our children, also in turn, put up a lovely demonstration....today, Pragadeesh of Class V took everyones heart by his rendering of Seienchin kata

Gurukulam never stops :-)

2009-05-10T21:08:00.005+05:30

While the school is enjoying the break...

Our kids are busy with karate practice...upgrading themselves, thanks to Sensei Ravi and Sensei Murali.

That is not all... Vinu, the tall tale teller is busy getting our kids ready for a play "wizard of Oz" for the school reopening day...yes, the same play that they witnessed a few months ago.

The teachers have been busy preparing their lesson plans... It is touching to see the dedication of our teachers who have been at school regularly, beyond the call of duty :-)

Teachers day out :-)

2009-04-27T10:07:00.004+05:30

It was all fun n games all the way :-)

After a year of hard work, the teachers with their children and spouses joined together to celebrate another successful academic year...

One of the high lights of the evening was a break-dance by Pervez :-) We were enthralled :-) Muthiah did a great imitation of Kannagi... Grace, Kadar, Sampath, Latha and Rahamed sang...Abul had jokes which needed booing :-) Shabana, Shamshad, Ravi danced and so did the kids :-) we definitely have loads of talent in our school :-)

May God bless all teachers - who bring up every generation, and in doing so, bring up the whole society... May God give them the right direction, strength and patience in abundance :-) and God bless you dear reader for helping it happen here...

Parents Meet (UKG to V Std)

2009-04-19T09:44:00.006+05:30

The Parents Meet for the parents of our older children went off with our usual gusto :-) It was so heartening to see 90% of the parent strength for the meeting...

The general feeling was one of contentment at the progress their children were making and our care for them. They were so thankful to the donors who were making it happen :-) I wish I could express their love and gratitude to you dear friend... They were so thankful that their children were getting nutritious food and expressed surprise that their children LOVED coming to school rather than stay at home :-) Kudos to our teachers :-) One parent was so happy that Dr Sheela's medical camp had shown a condition that they never knew existed in their child, and were so grateful that it has now been rectified :-) THANK YOU Dr Sheela :-)

As is our custom, all issues were taken up. Some of the self regulations that the parents have taken on by themselves are:

1. Knowing the importance of coming on time to school, the parents have increased the fine on themselves to Rs 25/- from a fine of Rs 5/- for late-comers.
2. They have promised to be role models for the parents whose children have joined this year.
3. The parents trophy for the "Most supportive Parent" was instituted, and a daily mark register for the parent has been started. Till now we have been giving prizes class-wise. Now there is an overall trophy to be won.
4. The parents have volunteered time on weekends to work in the school. Our Vice-Principal has been made in charge of continuing the process.
5. The parents have promised to strictly not take any leave for their children during the term days.

The "Most Supportive Parent" prize was given away for each class. Every Parent has promised to try win it next time :-)

Parents meet

2009-04-12T20:45:00.004+05:30

The parents of our new LKG batch attended their first Parent Meet.

It was heartening to see their joy, enthusiasm and support. It was truly wonderful to welcome them to our family.

The tall tale teller ended up saying a story to the parents too....i could see that they were touched by the story... i guess everyone loves a good story :-)

FIRST NAME	LAST NAME	QUALIFICATION

NITHYA PRIYA	PRABU	B.A.,B.Ed.,English
SANTHIYA	SELLIAH	B.A.English D.P.T.T
DEVI	DURAIRAJ	M.Sc.Bio-Technology
RAJAPRIYA	GUNASEKARAN	M.Sc.Medical Biochemistry
PARVEEN BANU	RAFI	B.B.A
HASAN FATHIMABEE	BODHUBA	B.C.A, M.C.A

ABUL KALAM	AZAD	B.Sc., B.Ed.,
GRACE	LILLY	B.A., B.Ed, B.Lit Tamil