On Saturday 26th Nov. 2011, a programme was organized for the students of class 11 and 12 to develop their entrepreneurship skills. It aimed at developing team work, business thinking and logical decision making skills among students. 12 teams of students were formed and they engaged in running a company including all business functions like production, finance, marketing and sales. At the end of the programme, they were evaluated on the basis of their profit earnings, product design and advertisement.

On the whole, it was an enriching experience for the students as their business skills were honed in an enjoyable manner.

On Saturday 3rd Dec. 2011, there was an awareness programme on fire and safety presented by FIRE & SECURITY ASSOCIATION OF INDIA (GUJARAT CHAPTER). Students of Std. III to VIII witnessed the live demonstration of fire being caused by gas, liquid and solid substances. The officers explained how each fire should be extinguished and demonstrated it. A few students were given chance to extinguish the fire specially lit for the purpose. They also explained the other rescue operations carried out by them in case of earthquake, heavy rains, floods and so on. It was a great learning experience for students as well as the staff of the school.

Udgam School was given an opportunity to perform at the Kankaria Carnival 2011. Girls from Std. 8, 9 and 10 performed the inaugural item of the evening of Tuesday 27th Dec. 2011. They performed Bharat Natyam to the song ‘Swagatham Krishna’. Their colourful costumes and graceful dance drew loud applause from the audience. The girls are:

Anshuka Asnani, Kahinee Bhatt, Radha Iyer, Driti Patel of Std. VIII, Saloni Shah, Lajja Gadhavi of Std. IX and Ashwathy Menon of Std. X.

The certificates were given to the above participants in the month of September,2012.

About a dozen students of Std. XI and XII (Com) visited the Income-tax officer on 21st Oct. 2011. They were introduced to the Income-tax officials and shown a documentary film on the evolution of the tax system. It helped the students learn about how taxes are used in the development of India. The students were also given the opportunity to meet the Income-tax Commissioner personally and have some of their queries answered.

This visit helped the students understand the functioning of the Income-tax system.

‘When mother is happy, family is happy. When family is happy, nation is happy.’ These words of Dr. Kalam left an impact on YUVA Unstoppable. YUVA organized an essay competition on the theme of ‘Make Your Mother Smile’. Students from various schools of Ahmedabad participated in this. Out of 22,000 entries, 10 best essays were selected from each school. The writers of these essays were invited to attend the programme on 11th Nov. 2011 at Rajpath Club where Dr. Abdul Kalam awarded certificates to the top 5 writers. Mr. Manan Choksi, the Principal and teachers of Udgam attended the programme along with the students.

Astha Johri, a student of Class 12 of Udgam School, won the first prize. She was awarded a Certificate by Dr. Kalam for her essay.

Ganpati Bappa Moriyaaa!!!

Ganesha Chaturthi is celebrated as the birthday of Lord Ganesha the symbol of wisdom and remover of obstacles. This festival is also known as Ganesh Utsav which means festival of Ganesh. …. On 2nd September 2011, Udgam’s Pre Primary section celebrated Ganeshotsav with lots of Fun and Masti. On this auspicious day, all the children of pre primary section came to school in colorful dresses and Senior K.G. students drew colourful Flower Rangoli with the help of the teachers…
All students were offered ‘prasad’ after the puja.

Note : Please find the attached file for photos…

Students of Std. 7 and 8 participated in Athletics at the School Games (Taluka level) held on 14th Sept. 2011. They have performed excellently winning first, second or third positions in almost all the events.

‘It blesseth him that gives and him that receives’ so said Shakespeare. How true it is of a good deed done to the society!

Udgam School celebrated the ‘Joy of Giving’ week with visits to an orphanage, blind girls’ school and an old age home.

One group of students visited the Mother Teresa Orphanage at Vadaj. The sisters who looked after the children narrated how they take care of them, look after their schooling and even prepare them for examination. Our students played with the children there and also had a look at the days-old and months-old babies. Soon the children got so attached to our girls that they wanted to come out with them! Our school donated milk powder and winter cream for the children. But our students came back with much more – they realized the value of their homes and families.

Another group went to the ‘Swarna Mandir’ Old Age Home at Bopal. The main motive was to sensitize the youngsters towards the issues that senior citizens face in the society. The inmates of the old age home shared their experiences with the students and offered invaluable lessons of life. The wizened old faces broke into smiles of sheer delight when the young ones offered them fruits and clothes and spent time talking with them. It was indeed a moving experience. The visit enabled the students to emerge from the cocoon of familiar territories and their own needs to reach out to the needs of others.

A third group consisting of girls went to the blind girl’ school at Memnagar. The school has about 200 girls studying from class 1 to 7. Firstly, our students and teachers took a round of the school. Then they joined them in their prayer. After that they did ‘garba’ with the girls while some of them sang and played the drums. Our students were amazed at the manner in which the girls went about doing their work, walking around the campus, going to their classrooms and even matching them step by step in their dance! Finally our students distributed chocolates to them.

By the end of the week, the students and staff were enriched with the ‘joy of giving’ experience.

With the onset of monsoon season the students of standard 11th & 12th actively participated in the tree plantation within the school premises on 12th & 13th of July 2011. They planted about 150 saplings in the school campus. In the process they learnt the names of many plants and trees. They have pledged to take of these and watch them grow.

Every year on 7th July the Apurv Kharidia – Memorial Prize is given to the school topper of H.S.C. (Com.) Examination. Apurv was in class 12 when he passed away in 1997. This prize is given away by his father every year. This year it was given to Jagravi Shah who stood first in the school in the examination of March 2011 with 91.71%.