Photography

On Saturday the 24th April, Ms Liani and Mr Ravindran conducted a workshop on "Photography" for our children...

Dear Liani and Ravindran, Our loving THANKS for this beautiful workshop....Our children truly appreciate the time and effort that went into this joyful learning...

The children were fascinated...to say the least. 

In Liani's own words:

"Last week Saturday started unusually early. At 7.45 AM I dashed off to meet Ravindran, Principal News Photographer, The Hindu, a leading English National Daily in a local train station near Chepauk. We started our journey towards Gurukulam Trust Children, a school in Kovalam, about 30 kms away from Chennai.

We had big smiles on our face and big bags containing cameras and equipments to use during the photography workshop organized for students of class VI and VII.

The two hour workshop was made possible with the help of two significant people: Capt NandKumar, Founder and Mrs Sabita Currimbhoy, Principal-in-charge of  Gurukulam, Trust Children.

Thanks to Ravi and his skillful interactions with the students, the day was eventful. Over 30 students attended the workshop which began with basic and functional rules of photography- safety tips, working with light, apertures, compositions and other technical information. The basic theory was accompanied by live demonstrations by Ravi using digital point to shoot and the Digital SLR cameras.

Later, students were divided into groups of four and sent outdoor to apply what they were taught for half an hour. Each group was given a camera and everyone had the chance to hold, handle and click pictures.  They were given liberty to choose subject, composition, presentation etc.

In spite of the scorching heat outside, Ravi patiently worked with the kids for over 1.5 hours. He ensured that each group had the chance to use the professional DSLR camera. The vibrant photos (more than 200 shots) by the students were sure sign that it was a day of great learning, fun and frolic." Liani.

Here are some of the pictures taken by our children:

Our blossoms...

May our children grow to be the pillars of this earth....

LKG Admission 2012-2013

It was a lovely ending for our LKG admission...

Along with Victor, our Committee member, we visited a Irular community. Two of the children that you see in the picture have joined our LKG :-) :-) As you know, the Irular's are one of the economically poorest communities who exist by catching snakes. They are economically poor but rich in spirit. 

We have now a 19 "strong" LKG, all ready for the coming academic year 2012-2013. They all hail from the economically poorer section of our society. 

Together - let's help them break out of their poverty cycle...

Glass Painiting workshop

Monday 9th April 2012 - was a break from examinations... 

Ms. Meera Rao along with Ms. Suchaita Tenneli, Ms. Uma and Mrs. Shubha, visited Gurukulam to conduct some workshops on art, story telling and games. 

Ms. Meera Rao is a representative of Pidilite and visits many schools to conduct art workshops. This workshop was on glass painting. The art material was kindly donated by Mrs. Malavika Harish. While the art work began in earnestness, Ms.Suchaitha assisted by Ms.Uma told stories and played games with some students, while Mrs. Shubha engaged other kids with mental math games. 

The morning was relaxing for the kids after a weekend of studying. We hope it helped to refresh their tired minds ! 

A big thank you to Mrs. Harish for her very kind donation of the fabulous paints and art material, Mrs Meera Rao, Mrs Suchita Tenneli and Mrs Shuba for their loving work with our children.

World Autism Day

WORLD AUTISM AWARENESS DAY – 2^ND APRIL 2012

Gurukulam received a request from the National Inst. For Empowerment of Persons with Mutliple Disabilities (NIEPMD) on 30^th March 2012 to conduct an awareness campaign for Autism . 

About 18  teacher trainees along with two faculty members, Ms. Srigowri and Mr. Govindaraj visited the school at 10:15 am and entertained the kids with songs, dance and skits which brought out the importance of  being sensitive to people with special needs. 

One of the skits they performed showed an immovable rock, finally being pushed aside only with the collective help of society (doctors, psychoanalysts, children, parents and the general public). The kids grasped the relevance and the main ideas of the entertainment with ease. They also unhesitatingly joined in the dance and clapped along encouraging the performers. The teacher trainees interacted well with the school children and both sides had a great time.

Round Table and Ladies Circle join in helping us again

"Madras Mylapore Round Table 3" and "Madras Mylapore Ladies Circle 4" are helping us with 2 more class rooms :-)


We are thrilled to partner yet again with Round Table and Ladies Circle. All our children join me in saying a BIG - Thank You :-)


The Bhoomi Pooja was held on March 17th 2012. It was a lovely ceremony with our school filled with loving souls from both Round Table and the Ladies Circle.


The Ladies Circle will help with the construction of toilets being built along with this project.

Gardening

Our children are going GREEN :-)


Our children are enjoying gardening. The feeling of being close to nature and watching plants grow is another face of their education at Gurukulam....

SAS Visit Gurukulam

SAS Students visit Gurukulam again :-)

24 students from the Semester at Sea programme visited Gurukulam on the 14th March, 2012. This is their second consecutive visit....it has been a joy having them over :-) 


 "Their arrival was heralded with a loud whisper from all the students "the visitors are coming.." While the kids and teachers quickly brushed their hair down, and tidied up their tables, a few students from Class I & II rushed out with a placard welcoming the SAS alongwith the traditional offering of sandalwood paste, sweets and flowers. After enjoying a simple meal of rice, sambar, vegetable and appalam, they meandered towards the various classes. Some found excitement with the action songs of the Kindergarten, while others delighted students with games. Matt took charge of some art material and headed off to whichever class would have him ! He came out from these classes with some amazing drawings that he claimed he would put up on his cabin walls on board the ship. It was fun to watch the school kids interact with the students of the SAS. As Danielle said " all the children were wonderful and bright" and an "inspiration".  Another student Andrew had this to say " Education is one of the most important things to me, and I am happy to see the children receiving an enjoyable and well-structured learning experinece." They all unanimously said "  Thank you for welcoming us into your school and  letting us have the opportunity to meet your students."  Brittany has given us all the zeal and zest to continue our work with these words - "you are all doing a wonderful job here, teaching a new generation of young learners. I am truly inspired by the children's goals and the teachers' energy and commitment. Thank you for allowing me this opportunity." 


Thank YOU Brittany and all of the other participants of the SAS programme for giving the children a fabulous time and for your very kind donation."