It was yet another Monday morning. We students had already been burdened with a never-ending (two month long) wait for the results. But, finally the wait was to end as CBSE announced that on 28th May, the 12th std results would be out at 11 AM.

I was just back home from a morning game of shuttle when I heard my phone ringing. It was around 9.30AM. The caller was one of my friends who informed me that the results were indeed out. Only a few minutes back, one of my other friends had called up home and my parents were already aware that the results were out. They were anxiously waiting for the computer to switch on.

As I typed my roll number, my heart missed a beat just like it would when Ramalakshmi ma’am distributed papers in the class. None at home had any idea as to how much I’d score as I never had the habit of analysing a question paper after the exam. Once the exam was over, it was over for good. For some unperceivable reason, chemistry was always tough, for me.

My computer displayed my result and everyone at home stared at the screen in disbelief! I heard my sister mumble “Is this real?” No one had a clue I would score 98% though all of us were expecting a ‘good score’. I was ecstatic and was jumping with joy. I was literally ‘awe-struck’.

I had scored a 99 each in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Computer Science; and a 94 in English. Within 15 minutes, I got to know that I topped the school, which was by itself a great surprise for me. But it wasn’t until around 3.30 in the evening that I came to know that I topped the state (with a few others, of course).

Later that day, I gave my first ever TV interview. It was indeed a very proud moment for my parents and teachers to see me on TV. Newspaper reporters called me up to have a small chat. I relived the proud moments when I saw the news clippings in different newspapers. Those couple of days will always remain among the best in my lifetime.

Exactly 12 months ago, I was enjoying the last few days of my 11th class holiday, with a very crucial year ahead. I hadn’t used much of the vacation studying the part of the syllabus which was taught in the first few weeks of April before the vacation. After all, I was confident that I had a full year of studies in front of me.

Until the revision exams, one routine continued – around 3 hours of study a day. Every morning, I woke up around 6AM and studied for an hour. Additionally, in the evening I would try to squeeze in 1 to 2 more hours of study. Quite obviously, during revisions, the number of hours of preparation increased.

It is also very important to keep yourself physically active lest it should hamper your grasping capability. Also, it is important to have hobbies and recreations to revamp your attentiveness. I never missed my keyboard classes or shuttle sessions with friends until the exams.

At the end of the long year, there’s one lesson I learnt. It is smart work that paves the way for success; not mere hard work. Also, one has to devise one’s own strategy to work. It is not possible for someone to be taught to study. Studying must be a habit.

At the end of my tenth standard, my dad jokingly told me once that he would get me a car should I score a national rank in 12th std and should my photo be published in the newspapers. A joke back then has turned into reality. So “pa, where’s the car?”

GLOABAL SCHOOL PARTNERSHIP

Our school received the prestigious International School Award from THE BRITISH COUNCIL in the year 2010. In continuation with this, the Global School Partnership agreement has been reached between our school and Stanton Under Bardon Primary School, U.K. The purpose of this partnership is to share ideas and skills on topics like environmental sustainability, peace, inter-cultual communicatin and human rights, thereby empowering students to critically analyze global issues and become agents of change. As the initial part of the exchange programme, Mr.Daniel Shirley from Stanton was in our school in the of April 2011. Mrs. Chandra Chandrashekaran visited Stanton as a part of reciprocal visit. A common agenda was drawn of for the students of both the schools to continue to work with increased connectivity and interaction via skype, epals and other tools available. In the month of February 2012, students of primary classes of both the schools had a story telling session about the culture and tradition of their respective countries. In the month of June, it is proposed to celebrate the theme of Olympics between two schools. It has been further decided students of both the schools will celebrate a common ‘GREEN DAY’ in the month of November 2012.

THE PILOT PROJECT

Our School and Copenhagen High School, Denmark have developed a partnership and are working on the project , “Effects of Climate Change”. Mrs. Thilothama Ravi visited Denmark in October2010 and participated in the co-teaching program me aimed at motivating students to participate in different educational activities and learn more on the cultural differences and global issues of the world. In continuation to this program me, Mr. Jacob Anderskou from Copenhagen School visited our school in June 2011 and conducted a workshop on Creativity and Innovation for the students of class IX & X.

A NEW INDO-SINGAPORE BOND THROUGH INTERACT

 Students and teachers from St. Andrew Secondary School, Singapore visited our school in November 2010 as apart of the exchange programe initiated by the Interact Club and the Rotary Club, Chenna Patna. The Interactors from the two schools exchanged contact details and decided to work together to combat global problems.

A keen student of Carnatic music with immense talent and potential, Apoorva Ravindran has been making a name for herself since several years now, both in concerts and contest scenes. She honed her skills under Satalapathi Balasubramaniam, Neyveli Santana Gopalan, T.G. Badri Narayanan and Tirupugazh Maamani Subramaniam and is currently receiving advanced vocal training from Musician-Composer-Director Chitravina N Ravikiran. Some of Apoorva’s many achievements have been listed below:
1. Apoorva is a recipient of the Government of India Scholarship for Carnatic Music.
2. She has swept away prizes in almost all major competitions, including compositions of Annamacharya, Oottukadu Venkata Kavi, Purandara Dasa, Tyagaraja, Neelakanta Sivan, Shyama Shastri, Muttaiah Baghavathar, Gopala Krishna Bharati, Tirupavvai and Tirupugazh, conducted by organisations like Indian Fine Arts Society, Narada Gana Sabha, Mylapore Fine Arts Club, Rasika Ranjani Sabha, Hamsadhwani and Tirumala Tirupati Devastanam
3. She also won the Muthuswami Dikshitar Super Singer Award, after going through various selection rounds, testing both vocal and theoretical knowledge on Dikshitar.
4. Apoorva has been a guest artiste in an audio production Hari Samarpanam- a compilation of kritis set to music by Chitravina N Ravikiran.
5. She performed during the launch of the book, Voices Within, by Smt. Bombay Jayashree and Shri T M Krishna.
6. She made a successful tour to the United State of America to participate in the Cleveland Aradhna Festival 2011 and at San Diego festival as a lead singer in the operatic Dance Production ‘Ramayana’.
7. She was the lead singer in the Music album for the dance ‘Divine Equation’ that was released during the World Premiere at Chicago in 2012.
8. Apoorva also participated in ‘Unity in Diversity’-a cultural meet held Hyderabad, conducted by the Governments of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh
9. She won the ‘Golden Voice Of The Episode’ at the Tanishq Swarra Sangeetham Show on Raj TV and was awarded a gift hamper worth Rs. 10,000 from Tanishq.
10. She has also had success in inter-school competitions. Apoorva won the First place in the light music event at Kalpakosha conducted by Sir Sivaswami Kalalaya Senior Secondary School, Mylapore; the First place in the solo singing event at Impressionzs conducted by the National Public School; the First Place in singing event at Reflections 2012 conducted by Vidya Mandir, Mylapore; Second place in the singing event at Bala Vidya Mandir’s interschool culturals; Second place in the singing event at Sishyamitra conducted by Sishya
11. Apoorva was also a part of the school team that won the overall Third place at the interschoolbhajan competition conducted by the Bhakthaswaraa Bhajan Mandali.
The team also won the prize for the ‘Best Ayyappan Song’.

Shriram Kannan has done it again! With back to back triumphs!

Having won the State Championship last year, he continued his winning streak by emerging as a champion in the State Table Tennis Tournament held from 10th to 12th June 2011 at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Chennai.

Shriram has been a consistent winner in this field. He started his coaching around the age of 7 and his interest towards the sport has won him laurels at a very young age. He is being trained under the Chennai Table Tennis Foundation (CTTF). He beat G.

Chitresh from SDAT Medimix in the Cadet Boys (10-12 years) finals. He beat the top four players to win this title. The scores in the finals were 10-12, 9-11, 11-3, 14-2 and 11-6.

Our hearty congratulations to this young Champion!

Shruti Swaminathan is a student of class V of our school. She is a budding writer and has published her collection of stories recently.
Shruti, a cheerful person, at the age of 10, has published her own book titled ‘Straight from a Child’s Heart’and surely has a reason to feel happy! The book comprises of five stories written by her. It is a mixture of different elements. One of them is based on school and examinations and a parent’s trip to childhood, another includes a zodiac planet story, and yet another involves a mystery based on robbery.
Her interest in the field of writing began when she was just five years old. Her favourite books and authors include Malgudi Days, Ruskin Bond, The Adventures of Sherlock Homes, The Diary of Anne Frank, David Copperfield and Great expectations by Charles Dickens. Sometimes, her writings drew inspiration from news events. On the occasion of her 10th birthday her parents decided to self-publish a few out of her many stories as a birthday gift.
So cheers to this budding writer!

Reading books beyond school texts is an important aspect of education. To stress on the same point, we celebrated One Nation Reading Day at our school. The celebrations involved story-book reading sessions, making posters and placards, speeches on importance of reading etc. The day was fun and truly educative