As a new student in Ekya, many aspects of the school were alien and different. Since I came from other than regular school, every single part of the school was new, but I enjoyed every step I was helped. It was a new way of teaching and education; I made many friends and quickly interacted with almost every person. I felt truly welcomed, which helped me fit in and feel comfortable with the teachers, students and everyone. All the teachers are fun and helpful regarding my doubts and just teaching in general, and the extra attention I get helps a lot.
The main thing that intrigued me was the “Zero Period” hour that we had on Tuesdays and Thursdays, where we did various activities and competitions such as “Fire-less Cooking”, speech and drawing competitions, did small skits about multiple topics. We explored a new side to education and school. We had experts come and talk to us about sustainability in a community and about photography and their life experiences. This enabled me to think about what I could explore as a high school student across specific fields I could also take up as a profession.
Other Events, such as special assemblies, took place once a month in which each class prepared an hour’s worth of entertainment, education and fun to teach the other students valuable lessons and their take on them. This term, the 10th and 9th graders grouped to teach everyone the importance of honesty and hard work, and we prepared a dance, a skit and many short stories so our schoolmates and friends could implement those values into their lives. Overall, I have had a terrific experience at school this past term, and I am eagerly looking forward to the time ahead.
James Joseph, Grade 9
“Is your child reluctant to wake up for school in the morning?” “Is he/she disinterested in attending classes?” “Do you wonder why?”
It is widely understood that a child's learning curve can be greatly influenced by their curriculum, pedagogy and the personalities of educators. However, it could also be argued that issues in the school environment may contribute to a lack of interest. A child spends/Children spend around 4-6 hours of his/their day at school - effectively making it their ‘home away from home’. Child development researchers have highlighted the importance of school infrastructure for student engagement, learning and overall health, both physical and mental. The results of a 2017 National Achievement Survey for grades III, V and VIII indicated that there may be an association between poor school infrastructure and low motivation when it comes to learning. Studies showed that students attending schools with lower standards had an inclination towards lower academic performance than those who had access to stimulating classrooms and facilities. Ultimately, it is clear that appropriate school infrastructure plays an important role in enabling students to grow holistically.Do you love strawberries? I know I do! So, my parents and some family friends set out to find a strawberry-picking farm where you can pick fresh, juicy strawberries yourself!
The farm was about 35 km(around 22 mi) from Bangalore. It took us about one and a half hours to get there. It opens at 9 am, so we reached there pretty early. A road leads to a car park, which is open and spacious. At the farm, it was very sunny, and luckily, we had gotten caps. The car park stands next to a building and a seating area. A little further, there was a man selling tender coconuts, and even further was a lovely, calm place shaded from the sun by a thatched roof. In the seating area were chairs and some granite on the low compound to sit on. There was also a menu of many things made from strawberries ranging from strawberry milkshakes and sodas to strawberry brownies to strawberry jam and even strawberry papads!
The farms themselves were massive. Once we arrived, their official there told us about all the farms and how they don’t use chemical pesticides. This was the best part because we could eat the fruit right after plucking it from the plant. Once we learnt how to pick the fruit(hold the stem, pinch it and gently pull it), we were told about the varieties of strawberries. Each one had a unique taste. We were then given a few baskets to keep the strawberries.
We began going through the fields, with rows and rows of strawberries. The first variety we went to pick was Murano, which grew among a few guava plants(only on that farm, not always). These strawberries were plump, juicy, and tasty, and they were my personal favourite. We tasted a few and picked a lot of these. We then went to pick another variety called Camerosa, which were smaller, more fleshy and had a slightly sour taste. We then selected a few other varieties, like San Andreas and Nabila. Nabila was on the other side of the road.
Once we crossed the road, on the way, we passed by a tamarind tree. We had a lot of fun, taking a lot of pics, picking gooseberries the old style using a stick, and even trying to climb the tree. Before we left, I had a strawberry milkshake, which was nice and cool in the hot sun. We also had a strawberry brownie with the subtle flavour of strawberry.
Overall, I had a lot of fun picking strawberries. Before we left the farms, we spent some time under the thatched roof, sitting on the tarpaulin sheet. It was nice and breezy without the need for any air conditioning. If you like strawberries and want to spend time with your family and friends, you should go and enjoy this experience.
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