Language & Cultural School Happenings

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Link to Youtube Garba assembly

Last week , the ISW School had a fun assembly on our new outside Patio, built by funds donated by Vithal & Bharti Bhakta.

It was conducted by the Gujarati teachers.  Anjali Amin, the new student teacher taught the children on how and why Navratri is celebrated in different part of India. All the teachers then showed how to do Garba which  is danced in a circle while barefoot. and Dandiya Raas which is also danced in a circle barefoot with Dandiya (wooden sticks) .

Presentation Summary:

In the east, Durga puja is celebrated over the last 5 days of Navratri. Durgashtami is the day that Goddess Durga slayed the demon. On this day life sized clay idols of goddess Durga and the demon are immersed in water after being worshipped for 5 days in a temple.

In North India, Navratri is celebrated as the victory of Lord Ram over the demon king Ravan. Durgashtami is the day that Goddess Durga slayed the demon. On this day life sized clay idols of goddess Durga and the demon are immersed in water after being worshipped for 5 days in a temple.

In South India, during Navratri, friends, relatives, and neighbors are invited to look at the Kolu, which is a display of different idols and figurines of Goddess Durga.  

In western India Navratri is celebrated with Garba and dandiya Raas, which is danced everyday of the 10 days navratri is celebrated. 

July Storywalk® at Lake Street Park, Shrewsbury.

 Throughout the month of July - Walk through the park and read the Hindi book: Malli written by Jeeva Raghunath.  Listen to Ruchi Chauhan as she narrates the story in Hindi & English. This bilingual Storywalk® was created in partnership with Shrewsbury Public Library, Park & Rec Staff and ISW's  Cultural and Language School. Priya Rathnam, Director, Shrewsbury Public Library had approached Arathi Cowlagi, also on the Friends of SPL, to add multilingual version this summer. With Ashish's help, we added QR Codes, so  the children can enjoy the story in Hindi and in English. The pages were printed and laminated and the Parks and Rec staff installed the stakes and affixed the pages. The Friends of the Library funded the books and the lamination costs.

We hope to add more Indian languages to create awareness of the different languages offered by the ISW  School. There are other StoryWalk projects installations in 10 neighborhood parks across Boston.

---Ruchi Chauhan & Arathi Cowlagi

ShabdMadhura Marathi Bee-ISW Marathi Shala.pdf

On May 22, we held the ISW School's Annual Day program at INDIA CENTER.

The event was held on the patio and their attendance certificates were presented by the teachers.  The attendees  wore masks and followed social distancing.   Almost 95 students  came with their parents in three shifts, per their classes, as listed below . 

1.00 to 1.45 pm Tamil, Telugu, Hindi K1 Beg, Hindi 4

2.00 to 2.45 pm Gujarati, Hindi K2, Hindi 2 Beg and Adv, Hindi 3,  Hindi Adult, Hindi ++ Beg

3.00 to3.45 pm Marathi, Hindi K1 Adv, ,Hindi 1, Hindi ++Adv

 Many donated toiletry items to support  Nalini Goyal, one of  the founders of the school for ‘Gifts of Hope’.  In all we also collected $130 in donations also for it.

 We presented graduation certificates to  our 5 Hindi School graduates, Tanvi Gahlot,  Leisha Gupta, Prachet Mahawar, Priyanshu Sahu, and Diya Sadhu.  They had prepared appreciation speeches for Sonia entirely in Hindi.

We also want to give a big shout to Carolyn Passey for preparing the certificate of attendance for each and every one of our 140 students.  "Thank you Carolyn", and the calligraphy tags made by Suchitra and cupcakes by Priya Vaidya

As the year draws to a close , we specially want to thank our 4 student teachers, Mansi Gera  (taught Hindi for 2 years) Krishnaa Amin (taught Gujarati for 5 years) Menaja Raja (taught Tamil for 5 years) and Aanya Sachdeva (taught Hindi for 2 years) .   All the best to Mansi, Krishnaa, and Menaja who are off to college.

 Donation for Teacher Appreciation 2021

HI Parents, it is that time of year again, the academic year draws to an end.  Many of you wanted to show your appreciation for the great volunteer work done by the ISW  Language Teachers, Assembly Teachers and Staff.  Our school has been going strong for 28 years with the support  of our teachers, so thank you to them.  
Last year $900 was donated on behalf of teachers to Greater Worcester Community Foundation GWCF for the 'FIrst Responders Fund'. This year as agreed  by the teachers the donation collected for 2021 will go towards the ISW building expansion fund. Once again thanks to all the teachers and volunteers for their hard work and dedication.

 Should you wish to donate, you may do so at this link by the end of June 2021 and once thank you for your support

 https://iswonline.org/page-18137

We are very proud to announce that Mansi Gera, ISW School Hindi Student Teacher for two years and a graduate of ISW Cultural and Language school, achieved the Seal of Biliteracy for Hindi at Westboro High School this month.

Congrats to Mansi for going one step beyond, we are very proud of you.

The state of Massachusetts and the Department of Education describes the award as “A recognition of students who have achieved proficiency in English as well as one or more additional languages. It is a statement of accomplishment that helps to signal evidence of a student’s readiness for career and college, and to engage as a global citizen.” The State Seal of Biliteracy is an award that recognizes high school students who attain high functional and academic levels of proficiency in two or more languages by high school graduation.

---Ruchi Chauhan and Shiamin Melville

ISW School celebrated Saraswati Puja on March 14, 2021.  

Here is the utube link, 

Sarita Deshpande, ISW Music Teacher welcomed the students.  It began with a rendition of 'Hey Ram'  sung by Aadhya Raghavendra, Tanisha and Kian Rao, Tanvian Saket Gahlot, Surabhi Dindore, Aayushi Das Gupta, Sohan Hegde, Ashita Agarwal & Ria Seth.  It was followed by 'Sharde Sharde', sung by Dhruv and Arush Jagan, Tanvi and Saket Gahlot, Surabhi Dindore & Sohan Hegde.  Anju Shukla explained the rituals of Saraswati Puja and in conclusion Soumya Warty, sang 'Ya Kundendu'

Thank you all for contributing to the event.  Especial thanks to Shivagi Das Gupta for compiling the videos and Sanjul Seth for preparing the recording of the event/puja

Ruchi Chauhan 

Co-Director ISW Cultural and Language School

Shiamin Melville

Co-Director ISW Cultural and Language School

During the Republic Day assembly, Prachet and Adrika gave a short presentation on Republic Day, and the meaning of the colors used for the Tri Color.  Ria Seth followed it instructions of how to make the Indian National Flag using slime.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESGIdXKdQFE&feature=youtu.be

It was followed by a very informative session by Hindi 4 students  about "Pioneers of Modern India" in which they talked about the great Indian scientists and researchers. Prachet Mahawar initiated the idea of making it more interactive by creating the presentation using infographics. Both he and Tanvi Gahlot led the rest of the class in working on the presentation using Canva. All the students collaborated on researching on one pioneer each. They met deadlines, edited the slides together, and took feedback positively. It was a great learning experience for all of them but what stood out from all of this was the camaraderie they all showed and the result was outstanding!

List students who made the following presentations:

1. Homi J Bhabha - Leisha Gupta

2. Jagdish Chandra Bose -Jaya Singh

3. Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Azad- Tanvi Gahlot

4. Dr. Har Govind Khorana- Diya Sadhu

5. Dr. C V Raman- Priyanshu Sahu

6. Raja Ramanna- Kunal Chauhan

7. Srinivas Ramanujan- Adrika Singh

8. Meghnad Saha- Saflta Shukla

9. Vikram Ambalal Sarabhai- Aashi Gupta

10. JRD Tata- Prachet Mahawar

Hope you enjoy their presentation.(Link)