Akanksha Update March-May 2010

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Months gone by...EducationBeyond SchoolSchoolsArt and Events Learning to Lead

Social Leadership Program

MarketingFund-raising

Sports

Social WorkFrom year-end projects to Assessments! As busy as a bee...

Graduation, awards, tests and much more...Fun all summer long!

Take a look at ourachievers...

Thanking everyone who made it possible...Watch out for the Art Shop!Coming soon! Miss Muglee arrives in Mumbai!Cricket, Kabaddi and Summer camp...

A short recap...

Empowering, planning and enriching...

Placements for our young leaders...

For more information click here:Www.akanksha.org

HR Updates

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.With March and April came reviews and reportsAppraisals, reflections, and assessmentsTons of data and results Kept busy our teachers, staff and students

The grand finale was the Annual General Meeting Presenting 20 years of achievements With a galore of kids celebrating We pledged to greater commitments May saw us recommitting to our vision Armed with the skills and attitude Through the residential and Ed convention We are ready to tackle challenges of any magnitude

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Assessments in March were a time for everyone to step back and review children's performance across centres in Mumbai and Pune. Children were assessed on English and Math based on their levels. Thank you to all the volunteers who helped with these assessments. Children writing and colouring on charts, working on short skits, creating thank you cards and take aways, drawing complex diagrams, cutting small chits for fun games, all in preparation for their centre graduations which happened at all centres in the month of April. Through these year-end projects children got a chance to flaunt their learning of the entire year. April was a time for reviews and reflections. Centre review meetings were focused on assessing the performance of each centre along with the entire team.

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The Education Convention that followed consisted of intensive workshops, trainings and discussions to help the teachers revisit the curriculum, re-look at teaching best practices and recharge them for the upcoming academic Year.

Rigorous, relevant, reflective and helping build relationships the Akanksha Residential Retreat is held every summer to induct new teachers and staff. This year it was attended by close to 50 participants from Mumbai and Pune, schools and centres. The Residential retreat

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BeyondS

hool c56 children graduated from Akanksha Mumbai this year! Congratulations and best of luck to all the students as they go on to pursue their studies in college or vocational courses.Students who secured above 70 % in their SSC/HSC exams were felicitated with the High Achievers Awards.Centre Stars were nominated and awarded certificates by their teachers on the basis of their performance. Congratulations to all the achievers!Congratulations to the Welspun and DSP Merill Lynch Mentor groups for being the Outstanding Mentor Groups for the year 2009 -2010.Powerful and impactful, the street play by Sunshine children, in Pune was aimed at creating awareness about the ill- effects of tobacco and alcohol consumption in their community. Conceptualized, researched, written and directed by the children, the play was staged successfully in three different parts of the community creating quite a stir!Choosing the right subjects can be quite a daunting task for any teenager and to help ease this process aptitude tests and personal counseling sessions were conducted for the students who appeared in the 10th standard board examinations in Pune.

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Outstanding learning opportunities are what 120 children from Abhyudaya Nagar Municipal School, Shindewadi Municipal School and Vidya Niketan Municipal School got at the Summer Camp. It was three weeks of non-stop learning and fun. The children enjoyed exciting art & sport activities coupled with field trips to the Nehru Science Centre, the Mongini's Cake Factory,the IBM Office, the Thermax Treatment Plant, the Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Gardens, the Traffic Park, Maharashtra Nature Park, and Bhau Daji Lad Museum.

More School updates

School Leadership Institute - With a vision to create outstanding school leaders Akanksha has been running a leadership development programme since 2008. This year the programme was opened to a new pool of participants who are interested in pursuing school leadership as a career option - Akanksha teachers and Teach For India fellows. The Akanksha School Leadership Institute (SLI) officially kicked off on May 23rd with its residential Foundations Course. After undergoing two full weeks of intensive trainings, the fifteen SLIPsters (SLI Participants), as they are affectionately called, are off to a great start for the year, which will involve many more workshops, a practicum and exposure visits to various schools and educational organizations around the country.

Award for excellent education in the government school category, western region was conferred to KCT Vidya Niketan School. The award instituted by Education Quality Foundation of India was proudly received by school leader Shalini Sachdev on behalf of the Pune Municipal Corporation, Thermax Social Initiatives and Akanksha Foundation. Reading Garden is the new library set up for the young readers of Savitri Bai Phule School. Put together by the efforts of well wishers this library will help build the passion and enthusiasm for reading among the children. The tiny learners of Savitri Bai Phule School, Bopodi English Medium School and Matoshri English Medium School displayed their year's hard work through their year-end showcase. The young students captivated the visitors and parents with their show of knowledge. 'Courage to Teach', a conference organized by Disha India Centre for learning was attended by a teacher from each school. It was an inspiring conference with the opportunity to interact with educators from all over the country. Residential Retreat, Education Convention followed by practical training helped orient the new teachers and staff to start the new academic year on a note of high confidence.

Shcools

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This year, Abhyudaya Nagar is growing by leaps and bounds- The school has two Junior KG, twoSenior KG, two first std divisions.We thank the Lion's and leo club for funding the painting of two classrooms at the school.

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d et It's been an exciting quarter for 'Art for Akanksha'. From getting permission to start our very own shopTo designing new productsFrom re-introducing the Art Workshops in a big way To revising prices of all products From recruiting new mothers in the communities To beginning selection for new batches of Design ClassFrom taking art to all our schools through a new curriculumTo designing wedding cards for KanikaFrom launching our first special book 'Miss Muglee goes to Mumbai'To a very unique week long Muglee art camp

It's been as colourful as the rainbow and we know it will just get brighter!!For information on workshops and customized furniture contact us atruchika.gupta@akanksha.org

From a fun stall at the Vodafone officeFrom appraisals, goals and new roles for allTo strengthening inventory systems!!To taking art into each and every one of our centresFrom doing art sessions for Teach for India fellows To dreams of painting all school staff rooms in bright colours!!!

Read about the Art Exhibition in London

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ts KINOE organized two brilliant Art Exhibitions at two schools in London; Channing School and Finton House School. They were both highly successful and raised over £2000 each for Akanksha. Over a 100 pictures painted by Akanksha children were sent over to London, where they were beautifully framed by a very dedicated team of volunteers. Once hung on the walls of the schools, they looked absolutely stunning. Within minutes of the exhibitions opening the pictures were covered in red dots. At both events the children and teachers dressed up in Indian costumes for the day, which made the whole event even more spectacular and gave the exhibition a real buzz. Sweta Shah who is an ex Akanksha volunteer spent a day in each school teaching the children about Indian art and their work was also put up around the school.Watch out for the release of a pack of special edition cards to celebrate Akanksha’s 20th year! Write to rohini.saldanha@akanksha.org for an e-catalogue of Akanksha’s cards for 2010-2011.

Learning t

Leaod

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The end of year project based on the theme 'Education', by the LTL students not only displayed their content knowledge of the subject but also the use of different skills they acquired through the year. These skills were demonstrated by their research on the subject, reading of relevant books such as 'Three Cups of Tea', surveys conducted, information derived from existing surveys like SIDH Rural survey and Nai Taleem and finally the consolidated presentation. “What is Science and what is Math?” was a session conducted by Prof Sunil Garg and Prof Kannan with the LTL students which attempted to explain the concept of Science and Math as an approach or methodology. Working towards excellence in education, the LTL students of 8th and 9th standard continued with their studies during the summer classes arranged for them. The 10th standard students practiced and reviewed their concepts at Mahesh Tutorials. After following a rigorous selection procedure based on attendance, formal school performance, Akanksha assessment results and feedback from teachers, a new batch of students have been recruited for the LTL programme.

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Design Trophy - For Rahul Patil, an Akanksha LTL student it was a chance of a lifetime when he was invited to design the trophy for the first ever LeapVault Change Leadership Awards. This was the world's first Change Leadership Awards in exclusive association with 'Who Moved My Cheese'? - A global leader in change management and leadership consulting and coaching. Rahul proudly unveiled the trophy at the official event organized at the Four Seasons in Mumbai.

To read more check out the links below:http://www.dnaindia.com/speakup/report_helping-them-realise-their-dreams_1382811 http://getahead.rediff.com/report/2010/may/12/interview-with-painter-rahul-patil.htm

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oram Understanding the significance of education, the critical difference between education and literacy, an analysis of the different education boards in the nation, getting inspiration from great leaders in education were all part of the study on the theme 'Education' done by the SLP leaders. SLP leaders of batches 6 and 7 had the opportunity to attend a retreat on leadership and teamwork thanks to the efforts of the social work team, the Youth Venture Group and Rama didi from Seher. The retreat held at JJ Nursing in Marve left the entire team totally charged up.

Passion and interest for a particular cause/ issue were the deciding factors for placement of SLP students with organizations like Helpage India, Dignity Foundation, Mobile Crèche and Praja. These internships would help them get a better understanding of and exposure to social issues they feel strongly for.

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Marketing Mumbai Indians LIVE! Who would get a chance to meet the Mumbai Indians and watch live IPL matches was a question on everybody's mind in the months of March and April at Akanksha. As part of the initiative, 'Education for All', supported by Mrs. Nita Ambani and Mumbai Indians, Akanksha children got the opportunity to meet the Mumbai Indian superstars and watch them in action at the IPL matches of the team in Mumbai stadiums. Annual General Meeting- Akanksha children taking over the stage completely at the Annual General Meeting 2010 was testimony to the work the organization has been doing for the last twenty years in Mumbai and ten years in Pune. Through superbly choreographed dances, insightful skits, inspiring speeches and poems, spectacular presentations and videos the children brought alive the important facets of Akanksha. Akanksha is proud of the achievements of the last 20 years and thankful to all the supporters and partners for their belief in the cause through all these years! Jyoti and Sagar compering at the AGM 2010

Read about the Muglee Book launch

Rahul and Shraddha (LTL students) in an interactive session with Mrs. Nita Ambani and the Mumbai Indians.

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Marketing Miss Muglee goes to Mumbai!-Ms. Muglee is a lonely crocodile who sets out for Mumbai in search of friends along with Faizal the frog. Through her encounters and experiences she introduces children to the value of friendship.This is the plot of Akanksha's first book titled, MissMuglee goes to Mumbai. Co - authored by Shaheenand Saker Mistry, the book is brilliantly illustrated bySirajul Khan, an Akanksha Alumni, with concept and design inputs by Sheetal Shah. Launched at theCrossword book store in Mumbai & Pune, the event saw a jam-packed crowd. The Akanksha Blog - A window into the world of Akanksha, the blog lets you peep into classrooms, share the joy of working with the Akanksha children, experience the commitment of the Akanksha teachers & above all join Akanksha in realizing its vision.Read on and share your thoughts with us.theakankshafoundation.wordpress.com Trekking for a cause - Som and Manmeet are back with their trekking expedition for Akanksha. The expedition this year is more arduous and therefore promises to be more exciting. Their 23-day traverse through the foothills of the Himalayas in Uttarakshi starts at Gangotri, the mouth of the Ganges, and winds its way to the Satopanth peak which is at 7075m.For more details go to - http://www.akanksha.org/trek2010.html

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Socl o k Keeping in tune with the celebration of Women's Day in March, helper meetings in Mumbai were focused on empowering them with knowledge about women's rights, dealing with different issues in the household and domestic violence. This session was made possible with the expert inputs from Sneha FoundationEmpowerment Year end project- All children in the empowerment programme got together for the Empowerment Day where they were assessed on their year's learning through written assessments, quizzes and Antakshari. The children also came up with newsletters to showcase what they had learnt. The focus of Parent Meetings was on 'good time', where we conducted fun games and activities for the parents.A two-day residential meet in Karjat saw the Social Work team plan for the year 2009-2010.

HR Updates

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The agenda for the year's last parents' meeting in Pune was to give parents a good time. Parents brought delicious food from home to enter into a competition at the meeting. It was great to see them participating with enthusiasm in the different fun games and activities. The highlight was the reading of the letters the children had written to thank and appreciate their lovely mothers.For the first time this year all the empowerment program students were brought together for an interactive session where they shared their year's learning and experiences. The students from nine different centres presented their learning through fun activities like mixed bag questions and newsletter writing. The session ended with an informative talk by Dr. Shirisha Sathe, a child psychologist, on issues related to adolescence.

HR UpdatesRecruitment Between Mumbai and Pune approximately 50 teachers and staff members joined the organization. The Akanksha team welcomes all the new employees on board!

Staff and teacher appraisals were carried out with the objective of analyzing the performance during the year and to identify focus areas for each team member. Appraisals

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sSport It was a fantastic achievement for the Xavier's team to win the Man of the Match and Man of the Series awards at the Inter NGO Cricket Tournament organized by Mumbai School of Business. Congratulations to the team! The Kumar Memorial Cricket Tournament for boys & Sayali Kabaddi Memorial Tournament for girls were held for all the children to provide them an opportunity to bring out their skills in sports.The all girls football team from St. Crispins Pune continues to shine in every competition they take part in. At the Pankaj Jadhav Memorial Football Tournament, which is held annually in memory of an Akanksha child, the girls played beautifully against other Akanksha teams and won the tournament. Summer vacations brought lots of fun for the centre children in Pune. The Sport Summer Camp gave them an opportunity to try their hands at cricket, badminton, martial arts and lots of other fun games. This camp organized in Kasarwadi and Kothrud kept children from five centres engaged for over three weeks.

Sports summer camp- Martial Arts

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siFund-

rai ng We welcome AXA Business Services as a new sponsor of the Anand and Wakdewadi centres in Pune. The AXA BS Pune team was also very generous in contributing the proceeds of a global treasure hunt competition that the team had won. AXA held an introductory event for its employees at its premises in Pune and is encouraging them to volunteer with our programme in the new academic year.

Akanksha had the opportunity to present at both the Citi Investor conference and the launch of the IDFC employee volunteer initiative, reaching out to two large new groups of people.Akanksha thanks all donors for their contributions and in particular: Mrs. Nita Ambani for her initiative 'Education for All' during the IPL which has been a wonderful opportunity for the children who were able to attend Mumbai Indians matches held in Mumbai. The donation raised through the sale of the Mumbai Indians friendship band will go a long way in supporting our centres.

Sequoia Capital whose senior management has raised a considerable donation for us together with the company matching the same. Staff of the Consulate General of Canada for raising funds through an auction of items contributed by the staff members.