Junior School festivities

On 4th September, the Junior School had a special Onam assembly. Onam is the biggest and most important festival of the state of Kerala. The stage was decorated with a beautiful circular flower pattern and an oil lamp in the middle, called the "pookalam.” Grade 4A students, dressed in traditional Kerala outfits, filed in. Junior School Principal Ms. Latha and grade 4 form tutor Ms. Vidhya began the assembly by lighting lamps. The boys performed the Vallam Kali dance, which is completed before the snake boat race. The girls performed a traditional dance called “kaikottikali” around the flower decoration. In a nutshell, it was a resplendent presentation.

 

The Academy Junior School celebrated International Literacy Day on 8th September 2017. Under Ms. Veena’s guidance, students selected from each grade performed a comedy skit. Both teachers and students roared with laughter! The message was simple, yet strong - reading and writing are life skills that are vital for everyone.

 

On our third Super Saturday for 2017-18, there was festivity in the air over at the Junior School. Students dressed in festive clothes and rotated through the five festival centres: 

1. Bathukamma (local festival)

2. Dussehra

3. New beginnings (Navroz, Easter)

4. Harvest festivals (Sankranthi, Nuakhai, Baisakhi)

5. Chinese New Year

As always, the teachers were just as enthusiastic as the students and the festive atmopshere was palpable. They dressed up in festive attire, each according to their centre activities. Students were divided into five groups and were given half an hour to spend in each centre. There was dance, music, crafts, floral decoration, rangoli, Powerpoint presentations, and story-telling in different stations. To quote Mr. Vijay, our Academy Senior School visual arts facilitator, “It was expressive, vibrant, and lively.”

Hindi Day was celebrated on 14th September. It was on this day in 1949 that the Constituent Assembly of India adopted Hindi as the official language of the country. The assembly included Hindi songs, fun riddles, song performances, poetry and “doha” recitation. Students dressed up as famous Hindi poets and authors and spoke about their achievements. Following the assembly, grade 5 students participated in a silent march in the Senior School and the Academy Building to spread awareness about Hindi Day. 

 

International Dot Day was inspired by Peter H. Reynolds' classic book, The Dot. In the book, Reynolds writes, “Make your mark and see where it takes you.” Dot Day is a celebration of self-expression, creativity and collaboration. All the Junior School teachers – wearing polka dotted dresses – presented a skit during the assembly, in which they portrayed students in an art class. The students had a hearty laugh at the role-reversal. The teachers then made drawings and presented them before the assembly. 

 

The last period of the day was dedicated to Dot Day activities. Each grade was assigned a specific activity. These activities included building 3D danglers and shape sculptors, making jewelry, creating mandalas and producing stop motion animation. Mahin, a 4th grader summed up what he learned from Dot Day by saying, “You must always keep trying and never give up. You can be a star one day!”