INDEPENDENCE DAY CELEBRATIONS

The 66^th Independence Day of our Nation was celebrated at the Palada Campus and Fernhill Campus. Mrs. Sheila Alexander, Vice Principal - Academics unfurled the national flag at the Palada Campus and delivered the Independence Day Message. This was followed with speeches by Shlok Milind Pimprikar Std. XI – B and Aparnna Sree Asok IX A. Patriotic songs were sang  by  the students of Indian and Western Music Department.

Mr. Alexander Kuruvilla – Senior Coordinator hoisted the National Flag at the Fernhill campus and delivered the Independence Day message to the school community. This was followed by a speech made by Head Boy Adithya Vignesh Ramakrishnan, Std. VI B . Independence Day celebrations concluded with the singing of patriotic songs and the National Anthem. 

Palada Campus

 

Flag hoisting by Mrs. Sheila Alexander, 

Vice Principal -Academics

L-R Ajith P Jacob - Director of Activities,  

Mrs. Sheila Alexander, Vice Principal -Academics,   

Col. Mohan Mathew(Retd.)Vice Principal  - Administration

Independence Day address by  

Mrs. Sheila Alexander, Vice Principal - Academics

Independence Day speech by

Shlok Milind Pimprikar Std. XI – B

Independence Day speech by

Aparnna Sree Asok IX A.

 

From the gallery to the podium: My IB Experience at GSIS

Memories take me back to 2008 when I was filled with fear and anxiety, apprehension and thrill. Was I messing up my career by taking IB? Shouldn’t I be taking up a time-tested, conventional board? If I do not do well in my boards how will I face my friends and relatives back home? Today, however, having covered this small distance from the gallery to the podium, I can proudly claim that whatever I achieved is because of my doing IB at GSIS (Good Shepherd International School, Ootacamund, Centre Number: 1350). Anything else than my level of achievement could have been several notches lower: this is so not only for me but for a whole lot of my batchmates as all of us have joined the top colleges in the world whether to pursue Engineering, Arts, Commerce or BBA.

My scores, particularly in the Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics HL combination, enabled me to get into National University of Singapore (NUS) for my Engineering. NUS is ranked 9^th in the world as an Engineering University whereas the IITs (Indian Institutes of Technology, India’s best Engineering colleges) are ranked 47^th to 300^th in the world. For NUS admission, the cut off marks for IB students was 40 points whereas for the students who had cleared Grade 12 of other boards the cut off was 98%.   Moreover, at GSIS, our curriculum is so planned that each one has access to activities that will enable the fulfilment of even the core components of the IB Diploma Programme, the CAS programme, in particular. All of us Shepherdians have a number of certificates by the time we leave school: of the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme (International Award of Young People), those from the Trinity College of Music, London, from the Rotaract Club, for being in the Symphony and Brass/Pipe band, for our mountaineering activities and being part of the Sea Cadet Corp. I just had to be in GSIS and merely go through the motions my teachers were taking me through during the IB Diploma Programme to get a seat at NUS.

I was in Grade 7 when I joined Good Shepherd International School, a fully residential, co-educational school where students from forty different countries stay under one roof (quite a big roof, I daresay). I was in a dormitory of about fifty students and it was in a world in itself. It made me realize that I had some qualities which would make my friends comfortable. Soon I found myself as a counsellor of sorts for them, helping them during the moments of their emotional depression. I came to understand what a child goes through when his or her parents are divorced, when they are not able to keep up to their parents’ expectations, when they have to leave school due to financial crisis or when they have been offended by a teacher or a friend.

As a prefect of my house I had the responsibility of ensuring discipline among the students. Later, as a house captain, I had to motivate around 250 students to excel in academic and co-curricular activities. I had to find participants for each competition which made me overcome my prejudices and choose the best team to represent my house. I also learnt to handle diplomatically the ones who could not make it to the team and motivate them to keep trying for other opportunities. 

All these experiences culminated in one unique experience that I underwent while pursuing the IB Diploma: I got the opportunity to do community service as part of my attempt to be awarded the gold medal of the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme. The experience I had during this time changed my outlook towards life. I saw the darker side of reality and realized how fortunate most of us are. I stayed for five days in a village as part of the community service activity and this experience was an eye opener. During the stay, some of my schoolmates and I had to help the villagers with food, clothing, medication, the basic education of health and hygiene and by digging drains and repairing roads. After having led a moderately comfortable life, all of a sudden, my attention was drawn towards the ignored and the powerless. That worn-out shoes, threadbare or torn clothes and basic edibles could be a source of joy to anyone was quite a revelation. I cried at my ignorance, materialistic ambitions and misplaced priorities of life. However, I learnt the importance of overcoming scepticism and taking a first step. Soon I was empowered with the knowledge and determination to transform this section of our society. As personal achievements took a backseat, their expressions of gratitude and blessings remain embedded in my memory. The most important realization was that I had the strength to make a difference in someone else’s life even if it was inconsequential or trivial. 

I am now passionate about striving to find workable, beneficial and efficient solutions to the problems of the poor and needy. I have nurtured dreams of touching their lives and providing them with basic survival facilities. My determination should not be diluted with the passage of time and the advent of worldly temptations as I would like to keep my Dare-Dream-Do attitude alive. Empowered with my passion and value system I want to create a road map for attaining my vision and use technology for the management of garbage, water, transport and the environment as a whole and provide overall health care and create a general feeling of well being. I have come to believe that if at all there is something honourable in experience, it is seeing things through the prism of morality and idealism. Thanks to GSIS and IB, for three years now, the vision and mission of my life has been to develop the capacity to use my education and experience to build a happy, healthy and ethical society.       

      

By Ankshita Prasad,

Topper of the 2010 batch,

Good Shepherd International School,

Ootacamund,

Now pursuing Bio-Engineering at

The National University of Singapore.

NEW STUDENTS ORIENTATION

Orientation Programme for the new students of Palada Campus was held on 10 August, 2012 at the Palada Campus. This was conducted by Department of Counselling.  Mrs. Julie Pradeesh - Vice President, Mrs. Sheila Alexander - Vice Principal - Academics, Mr. Ajith P. Jacob- Director of Activities, Mr. V Kalyan Ram-High School Coordinator, other Counsellors and Students attended.

Welcome Address by Mrs. Anila Ann Mathew,  Director of Counselling

Welcome Address by
Mrs. Anila Ann Mathew,  Director of Counselling

  

Rocket Game and Human Bingo Game

 

Priyanshi Dharmesh Gathani Std. XII

Ujjwal Kamalia Std. XII

Conclusion Speech by
Ajith P Jacob - Director of Activities

  Prize Distribution by  Mrs. Julie Pradeesh-Vice President

SCHOOL ASSEMBLY - PALADA CAMPUS

The School Assembly of Palada Campus was held on 8 August, 2012.  It was presided over by the Principal - Dr. P.C. Thomas. The Senior Vice Principal - Mrs. Elsamma Thomas ,Vice Principals, faculty members and students attended.

The Assembly opened with the rendition of the School Song and the School Prayer Song by Std. IX choir. This was followed by the School Prayer by Ujjwal Kamalia- School Captain.

There after, the under mentioned activities unfolded:

     News of the Day read by Sohom Ray - Std. IX C     
     Assembly Speech by Anant Sultania – Std. XII B

Some days back I googled the word ‘trust’. It was a sobering experience. It was more than 20 pages into the results before meeting a single instance of trust in the sense of belief in something or someone. There were all types of financial trusts, business with “trust” in their names, companies eager to help you set up personal trusts, charitable trusts of every kind- but nothing about putting your trust in anything or anyone. This clearly shows that not much of importance is given to the quality of trust and trustworthiness.

Trustworthiness is the quality of honoring and fulfilling at any cost all commitments a person makes whether made formally or informally, verbally or in writing, and whether they are expressed or implied

Trustworthiness is being honest, telling the truth, keeping promises, and being loyal so people can trust you. Trustworthy people don’t lie, cheat or steal. They have integrity and the moral courage to do the right thing and to stand up for their beliefs even when it is difficult to do so

Being trustworthy also means that our outer words are aligned with our intentions. We seek to maintain a level of transparency that let other people feel clear about who we are and what they can except from us. We treat the trust of others as a sacred gift, knowing that it in trusting us they make themselves vulnerable and that we have the power to harm them

Being trustworthy does not mean we will never let others down. Rather, it is an attitude and a pattern of behavior that honors the trust placed in us.

Building trust is very important in order to be able to function effectively in society. We are all social animals and it is important for us to be able to function in society. And one of the cornerstones of being able to function effectively is building up trust. Now perhaps you come from a background which makes it very difficult for you to put your trust in people. And one of the most effective ways you can use to improve your trust in people is to give them the benefit of the doubt. So, if something has two possible outcomes do not immediately assume that the negative outcome will occur. You have to change your won outlook and your own assumptions. And you have to work very hard at this because it is very difficult for us to actually change our basic assumptions about what will happen. So try to focus on not immediately focusing on the negative, but try to give people the benefit of doubt. Also when somebody has done something that has affected you negatively attempt to see the good things they have done. So maybe you had an appointment with somebody and they were five minutes late. You can look at this and say, well, people are always late. Again, this person let me down by not coming through on what they promised. Or you can say, well, they did their best. They tried their best and they actually did come here to meet me, which is looking at the positive side of things. So, by giving people the benefit of doubt and then looking at outcomes in a positive way, you can begin to build trust in people.

Some methods we can implement that allow us to trust people are: THINK GOOD OF OTHERS, TELL THE TRUTH, BE UNDERSTANDING, THINK LOGICALLY, and FORGIVE.

Much more important than being able to trust others is the quality of trustworthiness. Trustworthiness is the quality of a leader. It is quality which prevents the requirement of your being given the benefit of doubt. How does one become trustworthy? Three ingredients make up a trustworthy person. Firstly, develop integrity, that is, say what you do and do what you say. Don’t make promises that you cannot keep and keep your promises. Secondly, enter every situation with a win-win mentality. Your intention must be good and the best intention is win-win. Then certainly, you will be able to keep your word. This requires the third quality, that is, Competence to build up which, requires hard work and sincere: Hard work and sincerity will surely produce positive results which will ensure your trustworthiness.

I don’t know how many of my listeners realized this: The steps that I have listed out, is the basis of our school motto – truth, trust and triumph!!!! Build trust and be trustworthy and you will triumph, materially and morally.”

The School Assembly closed with the rendition of the School Anthem by the Std. IX choir.

News reading by Sohom Ray Std. IX C

Dr.P.C.Thomas - Principal

L - R Mrs. Elsamma Thomas - Senior Vice Principal, 

Dr.P.C.Thomas - Principal,

Mrs. Sheila Alexander, Vice Principal - Academics,

Col. Mohan Mathew, Vice Principal – Administration

Assembly Speech by Anant Sultania XII B

Audience

PRIMARY SCHOOL ASSEMBLY

The School Assembly of Fernhill Campus was held on 7 August, 2012.  The Assembly started with the School Prayer by Maansi Suri, Std. IV. The Junior Choir sang the School Song and School Prayer Song. The News was read by Ameesha Jangid, Std. V. This was followed by Vishnupriya’s (Std. VI) speech.  

Dr. P.C. Thomas, Principal graced the occasion. He was accompanied by Mrs. Elsamma Thomas, Senior Vice Principal. The following were present Col. Mohan Mathew (Retd.) – Vice Principal, Administration, Mrs. Elizabeth Koshy – Primary School Coordinator, Mrs. Sunitha Sherly Margaret, Assistant Coordinator, faculty members and students.

The speech which was prepared Mrs. Manjushree, Geography Teacher and reproduced below

 In 1986, he was born to parents Henke and Sheila Pistorius. He’s from Johannesburg, South Africa. He attented Pretoria Boys High School, where he played rugby, water polo, and tennis.This is not your average boy, though!  When he was only 11 months old, his legs were amputated from the knee down! He was born with congenital absence of the fibula in both legs.
After a serious knee injury in 2003, he started rehabilitation, and a year later was introduced to running. After he started running, he “never looked back.”
He is now known as the “Blade Runner” and the fastest man with no legs. He holds the world record for sport class T44 in the100, 200, and 400 meter events. You may be wondering how he runs if he doesn’t have legs… Amazingly, he runs with the aid of Cheetah Flex-Foot carbon fibre artificial limbs.
This introduction should be enough for anyone to guess the person whom I am speaking about, and also my topic for today. Can you name him?
Yes, it is indeed Oscar Pistorius- a superb example for us that in every way showcases DETERMINATION.
Good morning Dear Principal Dr P C Thomas, Senior Vice Principal Mrs. Elsamma Thomas, Vice Principal Mr. Mohan Mathew, Coordinators, teachers and friends.
Oscar Pistorius says: “You’re not disabled by the disabilities you have, you are able by the abilities you have.” I am sure all of you will agree that it is sheer determination which helped him reach his goals.
Determination is pursuing a goal with energy and focus. It keeps us firmly centered on a chosen purpose. It is the tool we use to keep defeat from overcoming us.
Sometimes we find ourselves distracted from our priorities and goals because of other desires. We often get overwhelmed by obstacles, isolation, pain or fatigue. During these times, it’s only determination which will help us PUSH onward and give us the ENERGY to TRIUMPH. Determination helps us to make our dreams into realities and to live by our highest values.
Friends, determination is “getting out of yourself” which will open the door to true success and happiness. For this, we need to be focused.
Some of us may think that the key to success is intelligence. Well, it certainly helps to be smart, but it’s definitely not the deciding factor. The deciding factor is whether you are determined enough to finish that certain goal.
Determination is not giving up.
Here’s another example close to our hearts and home here at GSIS. We know him as our Principal Dr P C Thomas.

His determination is obvious by the success of our students and school.

Always remember, no one can motivate you more than yourself. It’s all in your mind and actions.

Let the miraculous story of the Blade Runner, Oscar Pistorius, serve as our inspiration to change today. Never give up,  and never let any obstacle defeat you.
I conclude with the quote of Collin Powell “A dream doesn't become reality through magic; it takes sweat, hard work and determination”.

I challenge you all to, be determined to stay determined!

Thank you, and have a nice day!

 The Assembly concluded with School Anthem.

 Prayer by Maansi Suri, Std. IV

Song by Junior choir

News red by Ameesha Jangid, Std. V.

L- R Mrs. Elizabeth Koshy –  Coordinator Primary School, 

Dr. P.C. Thomas - Principal, Mrs. Elsamma Thomas - Senior Vice Principal, 

Mrs. Sunitha Sherly Margaret  - Assistant Coordinator,

Col. Mohan Mathew (Retd.) – Vice Principal, Administration

Speech by Vishnupriya - Std. VI

Dr. P.C. Thomas - Principal

Mrs. Elizabeth Koshy –  Coordinator  

Primary School

 

RAKSHA BHANDAN

Raksha Bandhan was celebrated as the festival of love and affection between brothers and sisters. It always had great significance in the Indian Culture. Raksha Bandhan is considered the sacred bond between brothers and sisters. On 2 August, 2012 Raksha Bandhan was celebrated at the Palada Campus. 

SHIAMAK DAVAR DANCE

Four Trainers from the famous Shiamak Davar Dance Company are in the School for a fifteen days training program for all students. The training commenced on 1 August, 2012 and will be conclude on 15 August, 2012. Shiamak Davar Dance is one of the world’s largest dance movements which reaches out to over 60,000 dance enthusiasts across India, Canada , Australia, The UAE, UK.  The below mentioned Instructors are conducting  the program.

                          Mr. Anand Pillai

                         Mr. Ravindra Kenchappa

                         Ms Khushbu Jadhav

                         Ms. Sohini Banerjee