Download - VIDYA VANAM SCHOO L An Report 2013
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2013
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Table of Contents
LetterfromthePresident 1
BiographicalInformation–PresidentandDirector 2
Trustees 3
VisionofVidyaVanam 4
ScopeofServices 5
Facilities 6
Location 8
Staff/Faculty 9
Curriculum 11‐14
HighlightsofAcademicYear2013‐2014 15‐20
BiodiversityintheClassroomandOutside 21‐22
Statistics 23‐25
WordsofWisdomfromaVisitortoVidyaVanam 26
PlansforExpansion 27
Donations 28‐30
ListofDonors 31‐32
1
Letter from the President We are on track to graduate our first batch of students through the 10th grade by March of 2017. We have kept our focus on our mission to serve the under privileged groups. Forty percent of our children are from the tribal villages, fifty percent from backward communities, and the remaining from other underprivileged communities. We are adding close to 25 children a year and we will reach an estimated school size of 330 by year 2016, the same year our first group will graduated out of 10th grade. Also, to keep in line with our mission that education needs to dovetail with opportunity of employment, we graduated the first group of women certified in early childhood development program. This will be the first of many vocational tracks which will be established in the next few years. We have and continue to face challenges. These include maintaining a reliable revenue stream to keep the operation of the school smooth and without breaks. We are forever appreciative of the efforts of so many friends and well‐wishers to keep our mission alive and well. The following pages will outline the many accolades the school has received and I am deeply indebted to all who made this happen.
Subramaniam Sriram, President of Bhuvana Foundation 2917 22nd Ave South Nashville, TN 37215 USA Email: [email protected]: 001‐615‐476‐4994 (cell)
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m the townThuvaipathrawn from
n of Anaikahy Road. Thm about 50
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DirectoAdminisPre‐K FaPrimaryMiddle HousekCooks‐2Drivers‐SecurityMaintenFull‐tim The 18 fUGBed‐
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culty
wing levelsBed‐3 .
taff pictureresident, tary 2014.
s of certific
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with Chief GAnnual Day
Guest, y in
Vidya Vdance, vaids areMiddle countrie School The schand facand leavMontesEnglish,after lubilingua
Vanam has vocal and ie recruitedSchool faces and far
Day ool opens ulty have lve on footssori classr, and projench and a al instructio
part‐time instrumen locally so culty are rereaching p
Monday‐Funch and a, bicycle, ooom instruect‐based lnap. Kindeon.
consultanttal music, they are faecruited froparts of the
Friday at 9a snack beor by Vidyauction, hygearning. Stergarten an
10
ts for specand theateamiliar witom a widee Indian co
:00 am witefore depara Vanam bugiene and utudents in nd Primary
cial educatier. Pre‐K tth the tribar area, ofteontinent.
th morningrting at 4:0us. Pre‐K suse of toilePre‐K leavy School st
ional needteachers anal dialect. Pen represe
g assembly00 pm. Stutudents haet facilitiesve school audents con
ds assessmnd classrooPrimary anenting othe
y. All studeudents arrivave s, Tamil, at 2:00 pm ntinue
ent, om nd er
ents ve
The currelevanactivitieachieveworkshegroupinclass. Thinstructwork, coprojectstablets;and craactivelybackgro Middle awarencomputSaturdaacadem
riculum is t to the ches utilize leement. Theeets, journngs. The chhese grouption, or reiooperatives, and disc Montessoft projectsy recognizeounds as so
School stuess, art/crter and iPaay morningmically.
developmhild’s life anearning tooese tools arnals, etc. Eihildren wopings are bnforcemene learning oussions. Viori classroo are all intes and nouongs, storie
udents studaft, and phd use, prog remedial
Cur
entally appnd environols tailoredre thematiighteen to rk individubased on innt. These vopportunitideos and om techniqegrated inrishes the es, and tra
dy math, sohysical edujects, and classes for
11
rriculum
propriate anment. Tead to the stuc or genertwenty ch
ually, in panterest, leavarious groties, particlectures; hques, learnto the acatribal cultuaditions are
ocial studieucation thrextracurricr students
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es, sciencerough intercular activneeding a
ically desigcted and cherests ande, continuork in multigroups, or e, need forromote indctivities forse of compies, and toogram. Thediverse studnto the sch
e, Tamil, Hractive clasvities. Ther little more
gned to behild‐directd level of ously updat‐age as a wholer skill dependent r large puters andools; and ae curriculudent hool activit
indi, healtssroom wore are e support
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In additAV equifor an u
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chool is eqr educationted power
uipped witnal needs. supply.
12
th comput The instal
ers and iPallation of s
ads, docu‐solar panel
cameras, als has allow
and wed
Extracuchoral atrips to Mahaba
rricular actand instrumthe Nilgiri alipuram w
tivities durmental instBiosphere
were made
ring the patruction, fae, Salim Alie.
13
ast year incarming/ga Center (SA
cluded Bhardening, chACON), Ye
aratnatyamharka, andercaud, Sirt
m dance, d theater. Fthuli, and
Field
Choral cconcerts and dance pperforman
14
ces were ggiven in Chhennai andd Coimbatoore.
Each yeare invitProject invited
Hig
ear, three sted to atteDay (Secoto speak to
hlights
school‐widend. Thesend Term), o the stude
IndeVidyut
of Acad
e events a events incand Annuaents at the
pendenceSivaramak
15
demic Y
re held. Thclude Indeal Day (Thiese school‐
/Sports Dakrishnan, T
Year 20
he public apendence/ird Term). ‐wide even
ay in AuguTamil Nadu
013‐201
and parent/Sports Da Keynote snts.
ust 2013 u cricketer
4
ts of studeay (First Tespeakers a
nts erm), re
Studentperformfun. The
ts sang Neemed aerobiere was a d
erarum Kaics and yogdrumming
daluduthaga, sprints,show. Par
16
a, the Natio, shot put, rents and f
onal Anthelong jumpfaculty join
em, and otp, hurdles, ned in the f
her songs,and races fun.
, for
DSlesstinte
During the agari, tweearned muupplementtudies, andn the hills ieacher, Ka
two week nty studenusic, dance ted by a pod Tae Kwoin the evenruna, were
Dance W
intensive dnts from Vitheory anottery worn Do. A trinings, alone highlight
17
Workshop i
dance wordya Vanamd practicerkshop, garp to Perur g with viewts.
n May 201
rkshop conm and othe. The Dancrland makiTemple inwing a per
13
nducted byers from Cce Workshing, templen Coimbatorformance
y Karuna oimbatoreop was e architectore and waby their
e
ture alks
Sstmh
Sa
Dpwfe
unil Kumatudents tomovie is cattp/youtu
unil Kumand introdu
Dr. Bhanumpuppetry wwere used tear of spea
r and Sajano produce alled, “Natube.be/3ccA
r and Sajanuce the use
mathi from workshop foto tell storaking new
n Sindhu, Tan animateure MakesAVNNA‐W
n Sindhu we of compu
the Pavaior Primaryries, which languages
18
TV and moed movie, Friends” aA.
working wituters.
Center fory and Middis a strate, in this ca
ovie animatbased on aand can be
th the child
r Puppetrydle School sgy found hse English.
tors, worka student s viewed at
dren to ma
y in Chennastudents. Thelpful in o.
ed with story. The t:
ake movies
ai conducteThe puppeovercomin
s
ed a ets g
MSti Mwh Tteresc
AInCwto
Mohammedanctuary Aigers and t
Mohan Deswith Middleygiene, pe
The Directoeacher visiegarding schools serv
Aruna Roy, nformationConstitutiowere exhibopics.
d Saleem fAsia magaztiger conse
spande ande School stersonal gro
or of Puvidited Vidya imilarities ve rural po
eminent sn Act, spokn. Studentitions of st
from the Kzine spoke ervation in
d Anjali Mhtudents onowth, ange
ham SchooVanam forand differopulations.
Project D
social and pke to studets performetudent rese
19
ids for Tigeto the chiIndia.
hasme fromn a wide raer managem
ol accompar two daysences betw.
Day in Dece
political acents at Projed dance, earch on n
er Project ldren abou
m Pune conge of topment, and
anied by 1s to observween the t
ember 201
ctivist and ject Day abcharka, sonatural disa
sponsoredut the extin
onducted wpics includigender dis
15 studentsve and exchtwo schoo
13
pioneer ofbout the Inongs, and dasters and
d by nction of
workshops ng health, scriminatio
s and a hange ideals. Both
f the Right ndian debate. Themany oth
on.
as
to
ere er
School SStudents w
20
with Aruna Roy at Prooject Day
Childrencollectiowhere tprofit reof the Neducati
The higChennareportethe sho
Biodi
n participaon for theithey receiveserve whiNilgiris. Theon of the c
h point of i. This foru
ed by The Hw.” Speak
iversity
ate in outdr projects.ve instructiich is dedice biospherchildren of
the year wum was a pHindu on Feking flawle
y in the
oor activit They alsoion on horcated to the is a greatf Vidya Van
was the prepresentatioebruary 4,ss English
21
Classro
ies, which go on fieldrticulture. The preservat asset for nam.
Students biodiversia compet2014.
esentation on by 10 sc2014, the they said,
oom and
include gad trips to tThe Nilgirisation of ththe scienc
collecting ity. The prition held
on biodivechools fromchildren o“We live a
d Outsi
ardening athe Nilgiriss Biosphere local florce and env
specimensresentationin Chenna
ersity by thm Tamil Naof Vidya Vaamong tree
ide
nd specims Biospherere is a non‐ra and faunvironmenta
s for a studn was madi in Januar
he childrenadu. As anam “stoles, birds, a
en e ‐na al
dy of de in ry
n in
e nd
animalsThey naphotogrgolden sat enthof a beefeather
The
s. Our pictuamed everyraphed. “Bbeetles arehralled durehive, sun s.
students fP
ures may ny one of thButterflies e used to ering their pbird nests,
from left toravin, Durg
not be perfhe birds, inmigrate toembellish jpresentatio, a cobra s
o right shoga Devi, Ar
22
fect, but thnsects, snako Anaikatti jewelry”, ton, they mkin, an unu
owing theirrchana, Ka
hey were skes, and pbecause whey statedade a finalusual tree
r collectionrthika and
hot entirelants they we don’t usd. To the aul offering —pods, and
n are, Abhi Subash.
ly by us.” had se pesticidudience th— a collectkestrel
ijit, Manav
des; hat tion
v,
23
Statistics The school has 277 students, 53% boys and 47% girls.
Demographic of Student Body
Distribution of Underprivileged groups in the student body 2010‐2014
Tribal42%
BackwardComm52%
ScheduledCaste5%
MostBackward
1%2013‐2014
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
BackwardCommunity
ScheduledCaste
Tribal MostBackward
10‐11
11‐'12
12‐'13
13‐'14
24
Annual Dropout Rate 2010‐2014
Transportation of Students from their villages to Vidya Vanam
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
BackwardCommunity
ScheduleCaste Tribal MostBackward
10‐11
11‐'12
12‐'13
13‐'14
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
Bus Van Rickshaw Walk
10‐11
11‐'12
12‐'13
13‐'14
25
Annual costs for education (Indian Rupees)
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
10‐11 11‐'12 12‐'13 13‐'14
INR
INR
26
Words of Wisdom from a Visitor to Vidya Vanam There have been a number of visitors to Vidya Vanam who have interacted with the staff and students. The most memorable event was the visit of Aruna Roy. Writing in our Guest Book she notes, “My brief interlude in Coimbatore restored my sanity and helped get a perspective on issues that were overwhelming me. The dialectic between the essentially serene nature of living and the artificial and self‐aggrandizing pressures of institutions of governance, remain the 2 poles between which I continue to swing. I want to thank the wonderful children and the teachers, and you, for creating a pool of sanity and an atmosphere of inquiry, in the midst of this chaos.”
27
Plans for Expansion
1. 2014 Infrastructure expansion of Sports Ground and Vocational Block.
2. Increase in the number of students to the vocation training program in
Early Childhood Development and Education leading to Primary Teacher Certification.
3. Develop a vocational program which include additional vocational stream
for school drop outs and students who have completed their 10th or 12th grade education.
4. Develop ties with regional industries to support vocational education.
The BhuVanam Founda(80G) a
Please cone yeauniform
uvana FounSchool andtion is a nond under t
consider mar: R 18,00m, field trip
ndation wad has 501(on‐profit cthe Foreign
making a co0 R($300, ps and extr
Do
as formed c)3 status haritable on Contribu
ontributionUSD) whicacurricular
28
nations
expressly in the US aorganizatiotions Regu
n to cover ah includesr activities
s
and solelyand India. on, eligibleulatory Act
all the costs tuition, tr.
y to supporThe Bhuvae for 50% et.
ts for one ransportat
rt the Vidyana exemption
student foion, food,
a
or
29
Contributions may be made online through the website or by personal check or electronic transfer by arrangement: Subramaniam Sriram, President of Bhuvana Foundation 2917 22nd Ave South Nashville, TN 37215 USA Email: [email protected]: 001‐615‐476‐4994 (cell) Prema Rangachary, Director Thuvaipathy Road, Anaikatti Coimbatore Dist, TN 641108 Email: [email protected] Office Phone: 0422 – 2657 296/297/298 Phone: 94444 13957 (cell) Please make checks out to the Bhuvana Foundation. Eligible matching funds through employers are actively sought and in place at the current time for Microsoft, IBM and Novartis. Donations of cameras, laptops, tablets, art materials, PA system, AV equipment, books, and furniture are needed. If you wish to donate any items or materials, please contact the Director. We honor the efforts of a number of unique supporters in the past year.
1. Pooja Aiyer, an 11th grade student from Westlake, NY, USA, organized a fund‐raising Walk‐a‐Thon to support Vidya Vanam, as President of the Junior States of America Club.
2. Mr. Jesudas runs marathons every year to raise funds. Last year he raised R1.0L running the Bombay Marathon.
3. Vardhman Jain of Chennai donated the solar units which are now fully operational and support the entire power needs of the school.
4. Pfizer Pharmaceuticals donated 15 laptops and 5 printers.
In the pand orgis entiregovernm
past year, wganizationsely supportment fund
we have grs, from as lted by thes or grants
ratefully reittle as $5/se generous.
30
eceived don/month upus contribu
nations frop to R12L ($utions and
om the foll$20,000). Vd operates
lowing peoVidya Vanawithout an
ople am ny
31
Donor List
Adler, Sally Malizia, Kathryn Aier, Pream Mandadi, Vikram Aier, Vignesh Mani Subramani Aiyer, Geetha Marin, Octavia Aiyer, Kamesh Mathews, Sue Amann, Ken Mishra, Shantilata Balasubramaniam, Raj Mohandas, PrakashBarnes, M. Moorthy, Pallavi Brahmam, Raji Nallathambi, M.
Breame, Ken O'Conner, Kevin Brenda Pack, Margret Brown, Amy Padma, R Burr, Rebecca Panda, Arun Capano, Carol Playle, Priya Chandrasekhar, Akila Pradeep, Sudha Chandrasekhar, Dr. B. Pragani, Aravind Demarco, Victor Ramakrishna, N. Deva, Dinesh Ramani, Poonam Dickson, Amanda Rammohan, Dr. K. Dorman, John Rangarajan, Krishna Fallis, Robert RanjitGarcia, Melissa Rao, Dr. Tharakanth Geggel, Thomas Rao, Prakash Greco, Tanya Rau, Dr. Prakash Haren, Catherine Rau, Poornima Harkey, J. Reeser, Eric Huff, Geraldine Sankaran, Vivek Jones, Sherrie L. Sathian, Krish Kennedy, Sonya Sekar, B. Chandra Khalil, Abou‐Bassel Sekhar, Mridu Krabbenhoeft, K.P. SelvarajKrishnamoorthy, Shyam Shakir, Amathul Kumar, Devender Shekhar, Anu
1
Lamba, Guneet Sidhu, Gurijeet Sidhu, Jasjeet Singh, Pradumna Singh, Sudha Sivaprakasam, Hariharan Slyter, Howard Shutman S Sridhar, S. Srinivasan, Krishna Sriram, Nikhil Sriram, S. Stewart, Lionel Stinchcomb, Christy Stratton, Chuck
Stratton, PiaSubrahmaniam, Ramiah Subramaniam, Gauri Sundaram, Menakshi Timpone, KristyUllal, PrasadVidya ManiVijayalaxmi ReddyVisalam Chandrasekhar Warner, Mary Alice Warner, ScottWarner, SusanWebb, Elizabeth J.Wingo, Andrea
Wingo, Gene Donors From India Anita Raghavan& Ram Rammohan‐SNMV College B.G. Krishnan Badrish Balasubramanian Bhooma Parthasarathy Chandra Sri Ram Dr. Uma G.Palani Gurumoorthy Jaya Krishnaswamy Kalyan muthukumar Muthukumar Krishnamoorthy Lakshmi Chandra Lakshmi Narayanan Maithri Ashok Marathon Team‐Mr. Yesudas N.P. Murali
Narayanan Subramaniam Ramraj & Kamala Ramaraj Ranji MenonS. AdithyanarayanS.D. RajanSaraswathy Raghunathan Shiela Rangaswamy
Dr. Shivakumar Rajappa Shree Sarita Jain Foundation Sidvim life scienceSowmya RajanSusheela Raghavan T.M. KrishnaTTK Health Care Limited V.R. MuralidharanVisalam Chandrasekar