BIS Correspondent
WADALA, OCTOBER 10, 2011: 'School is cool' reads a page title of the esteemed students' edition of TOI, the NIE. And if the events in the school over the past month leading to the first term exams are any indication to go by of the mood prevalent on the campus, then this is it. Bright and novel ideas to learn and go green are coming thick and fast. Students of Std. IX, together with their innovative teachers, Mrs. Padmini and Mrs. Sangita, are the latest (nay, they always were!) to join the bandwagon. 'Let's begin today so as to effect tomorrow' is the mantra that seems to be prompting the exciting and challenging projects that begin to take shape in the classrooms and later spill over to homes and cyber cafes!The Ganesh Chathurti festival proved to be a good starting point for our green campaigners. Noticing that this event was posing a hazardous pollution threat to the environment, the students of Std. IX A, along with their Science teacher, Mrs. Padmini, took up the challenge to reverse this trend. After thorough planning and guidance, a group of students set out to visit the houses that brought the idol of Lord Ganesha, enlightening them about the consequences of POP (plaster of Paris) made Ganesha idols. The task assigned to every student of the group was to visit ten houses and impress upon the members of the household –through charts and info - the importance of eco-friendly Ganesha idols. In return, the families were to commit themselves to a green Ganesha in the coming year. Hundred families were covered in this study, and the results were quite amazing. While thirty families rejected this suggestion outright, and another ten remained non-committal, a good sixty families agreed to an eco-friendly Ganesha in their homes the coming year.
The other students of Std. IX set off in their pursuit of novel and experiential ways of learning. As someone put it succinctly, 'Why consume ourselves with tiring thoughts when we have the power to create great things?' A frantic and purposeful search for resources resulted in excellent power point presentations, group study and research, and more importantly, hand made models that unveiled that bright and intelligent spark in them. A well designed submarine put together by a group of students of IX B was the cynosure of all eyes. Its working through a power point presentation and an equally astonishing live demonstration drew the applause of one and all. Well done studens. Go ahead, colour your world green…and bright!