Colourful Science Day Celebrations at PSBB, T. P Road

By Saniya Surana
Class 8, PSBB, T. P. Road, T. Nagar

On February 29, 2008, the students and teachers of PSBB, T.P.Road celebrated the National Science Day at the YGP auditorium at the school..

It was an hour’s celebration between 11am and 12noon. The school students had the pleasure of welcoming the teachers of their sister school, PSBB - Nungambakkam along with the Dean and Director of the PSBB group of schools, Mrs. Y. G. Parthasarathy.

The celebration started with offerings to the Sun God, followed by a dance drama depicting the Sun with its seven horses or the VIBGYOR colours. The students were introduced to the phenomenon of refraction by this dance drama.

Then, the Maths Department taught the students how to add ‘joys’ and subtract ‘sorrows’ by using integers and their principles.

The students were reminded of the human actions to give, take and share comparing with how do atoms do the same with their electrons.

The students of classes 6,7 and 8 had the opportunity to display their talent in writing and acting out skits. The class 8 students explained the processes, which a metal goes through and becomes an object that we use in our daily lives. The students used famous proverbs like ‘United we stand, Divided we fall’ just like how gold cannot stand without copper.

The class7 students described what a piece of bread undergoes the various stages in the digestive system of a human body, while class 6 students carried out various experiments to show all the methods of separation.

The students then witnessed another dance drama showing how the devas and asuras churned the milky ocean to obtain 'Amrith" or the nectar along with Goddess Lakshmi, the deadly poison and various other things. This programme, which also marked the beginning of the 14-month long golden - jubilee celebrations in the PSBB group of schools received accolades from all who witnessed the show.

NSN takes out students on a fun trip

By Vyshali Pandian
Class 8, NSN Matric Hr. Sec. School, Chromepet

A trip filled with full of joy and enthusiasm for the students of class 8. It was a trip to the king of hill stations, Ooty and to its neighbouring village Coonoor. The first day of the fun trip Feb. 28, 2008 began when the students took their journey by train .Full of games, dancing and singing.

The students went off to sleep by 11'o' clock but nobody slept- may be dreaming of ‘how its going to be?’.

Next day morning everybody’s face was filled with the dawn of enjoyment! We were taken to Ooty by bus. While in bus our eyes taught us about the beautiful gift of nature that we admired all through our trip.

After breakfast in the hotel, we boarded the bus and at the first we saw was the steep pine forest and then the famed movie shooting spot and later the Pykara dam and the falls. The fresh and chill water attracted us towards it. But we were cautious not to be overjoyed at the water place!

After a quick meal, we went to Doddabedda peak. Then to the botanical garden. That night everybody dozed off to a sound sleep.

On the last day of the trip we saw Dolphin nose - the edge of the mountain resembles a Dolphin's nose. The Lamb’s Rock was next. In Ketty Valley, we had a good view of Ooty on the right side and Coonoor on the left side and saw some tribal huts through telescopes.

Then we moved to the tea estates. There we enjoyed watching monkeys grabbing eatables from one another.

Then we swiftly went to Sims Park. It is a replica of half of botanical garden. There we purchased rose plants and some croutons. Next day everybody returned home safe and sound. This was really a trip to enjoy, learn and it is a new exposure for everybody.

Sughanya, Thanga Gomathi, Ramya, Subadra, Mohan and their team: of friends said it was really a good trip. Though it was for only two days.

C.G Latha, Sujatha, Uma Thyagarajan and Chitra, the teachers who accompanied the students expressed a different view “We were free from this pollution-full Chennai and stayed for a couple of days in plastic free Ooty.”

Isn’t that a nice note about the fun ‘n’ learn trip?

Science Project Day at P. S. Senior, Mylapore

By S. Sruti
Class 8, P. S. Senior Sec. School, Mylapore

'Water - the elixir of life' was the theme of this year's Science Project Day at P. S. Senior Sec. School in Mylapore.
Students of class 6 to 8 celebrated the day with innovative projects.
The topic given to class 8 was marine resources.
We were thirilled when the teacher announced us the topic. We made the class look somewhat like the interior of a sea. I jumped out with joy when I was asked to do introduction to the topic and welcoming the chief guest.
This year the chief guest was Jaya Jaggannath, former Principal Kendriya Vidhyalaya. The whole of 8th std made interesting projects with captions on water, life of scientists, balloons and festoons. Students made models on extraction of petroleum, bromine and other elements.
A student did a model on desalination plant.
We had a laptop, which had a video clipping depicting extraction of resources in sea. Lively aquariums added colour to the classroom. We welcomed the chief guest in the traditional way by offering a bowl full of flowers.
One of the students was made a power point presentation giving an overall picture of the class project.

Adventure, all the way!

By Pranav Asokan
Class 9, Chettinad Vidyashram, R. A. Puram

The Christmas vacation for these boys from Chettinad Vidyashram NCC group was exciting. This group had been to the Manglakombu forest, which is 47 kms away from Kodaikkanal on an adventure camp organised by the Challenger Academy Foundation, on Dec. 25, 2007.

In the middle of the very deep forest full of greenery and scenery, the boys laid their tents beside a stream. The eight tents accommodated 37 boys and three elders, two teachers from the school and an official of CAF.

As the first activity of the camp, the boys walked on parallel ropes. Two ropes at a distant of four feet were tied between trees 50 metres away. The boys had to walk on one rope holding the other. There was a rope tied to their waist and a tree for safety.

The second activity was tree climbing. They climbed a tall tree with the support of small wooden blocks attached to it. "This was easier than the previous one," say the excited boys.

The rope ladder climbing was fun! They climbed a rope ladder, 20 ft long!

The next day, they did a short trek, which was 5 km long. Climbing the rock, which had small grooves in it, was the toughest of all.

Then they had rappelling. That was to climb down a rock catching hold of a rope which hung from the top. This was easier than rock climbing, declare the boys!

The next day, they crossed a river holding a rope. And on the last day, they went easy and ventured out for sightseeing in Kodaikkanal. Silver Cascade, Bryant Park, Green Valley View, and Pillar Rocks!

For the boys, it was an exciting trip like never before.

On a trip to Mysore. . .

By Saranya B. J, Class 10,
PSBB - K. K. Nagar

For the students of PSBB - K.K.Nagar, it was not only a trip to enjoy but also a trip to get exposed to various forms of nature and the ways in which they had to be handled.
Apart from all the fun and frolic that the students enjoyed they were taught to do Rappelling, River Crossing, Trekking, Chimney Climbing and more!

This was the second level of the programme called 'International Award for Young People'. It was organised by a team named AKARA. This four-day trip began on Sep. 23 when students left to Mysore in the Mysore Mail.

The first day saw the students performing various activities in groups such as Rappling down a steep hill, Crossing across a river and trekking for about 25kms. This was followed by Chimney Climbing, that is, climbing a very narrow path between two hills that lay next to each other. Then they left the camp in Kuntibetta to their rooms in Mysore City where another fantastic event was awaiting to amuse them.

With the whole of India glued to their TV sets, these students got the perfect environment to enjoy a wonderful India-Pakistan World Cup final with their friends which made them hold their nerves till the very last moment. The whole hotel together, with around 350 students screamed and enjoyed every cricketing moment by exchanging hand-shakes and hugs at the fall of each wicket and when every boundary was hit.
The final moments provided great moments of joy to every one including the teachers who joined the partying. Then came the celebrations for India's victory over Pakistan and a perfect day had come to an end.

The next day the activities continued with the students sweating it out under the hot sun. But the little showers that came down never interrupted them but instead only boosted them up by making the climate more pleasant.

The third day saw a long journey towards Koorg and from there the students climbed about 2kms uphill to reach and enjoy a spectacular scenery of the Abbey Falls. From there they proceeded towards Raja Seth, which was the apt place to enjoy the sunset among the beautifully lined hills.
Then it was time to know more on Indian culture. The trip to the Namdroling Monastery educated all of them about various Buddhist practices. The tall statues of various Buddhist monks and Buddha himself left them awestruck. That was the end of another beautiful day.
A visit to the Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary flagged off the proceedings on the fourth day. A fantastic view of all the different kinds of birds was amazing. The students also visited the Ranganatha Temple in Mysore and had a glimpse of the famous sculptures of Lord Ranganathar and many other famous deities.

Some shopping by the students and the teachers got them items as memories of the trip. Then they visited the Jaganmohan Palace and learnt about the various historical roots of Mysore and King Naalvadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar and lots of Ravi Varma Paintings.
Then they headed towards our hotel. It was then time for the grand finale. They spent their last few hours partying, singing and dancing to some great songs. Not just the students but the teachers also participated enthusiastically in dancing to the beats.

When it was time to bid adieu to Mysore, they all boarded the train back to Chennai.
The train journey was also filled with fun. Playing games and singing along, students went to sleep only at around 1 o'clock.
On the whole this trip was a great piece of relaxation and recreation for the students who had spent the previous two weeks toiling and studying hard for their exams.

The IT wiz kids of the city!

More school kids are becoming IT savvy, keeping pace with the recent trends in the IT sector.
In the ICS IT WIZ 2007 inter-school quiz contest held recently in the city, sic teams made to the top from the 1000 odd students who participated in the prelims.

The finalists knew the original logo of Wikipedia, recognised Kevin Rollins, the ex-CEO of Dell, on the screen among many trivia posed to them!

After a close contest with St. Jude's Public School, Nilgiris, the team from the National Public School, Gopalapuram walked away with the first prize. Kushal Bhandari and varun K. Agarwal of the NPS team won a bagful of prizes including a laptop each, at the eand of the tiebreaker question.
The other city schools who made to the finals are the teams from Chinmaya Vidyalaya. Maharshi Vidya Mandir, Padma Seshadri Bal Bhavan, Nungambakkam had another school from the Nilgiris, Laidlaw Memorial School.

TCS IT WIZ quiz launched first in 1999 conducts annual IT quiz for school children during July - Aug. every year.
Contact : The Quiz Co-ordinator, Tata Consultancy Services, Tidel Park, 12 floor, ‘A’ Block, Taramani, Chennai - 600113

Four Chennai teachers win CBSE awards

On the occasion of the Teachers Day, Ministry of Human Resources Development presents awards every year to senior teachers in recognition of their service to the cause of education.

This year four teachers from the city schools affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) were among the national award winners and the CBSE teacher awards.

J. M. Sathyakumari, principal SBOA Senior Secondary School, Anna Nagar, Chennai and Dr. C. Sathish, principal, DAV Boys Senior Secondary School, Gopalapuram are among the National awardees.

S. S. Nadan, principal, Bala Vidya Mandir, Adyar won the CBSE teacher award.

Under the new category of physical education introduced this year by the Board, M. J. Dilip Kumar, physical education teacher, Padma Seshadri Senior Secondary School, Nungambakkam has won an award.

PSBB – 50 years young!

By Varsha Mohan, Class 6, PSBB, T. P. Road,
Sana Surana, Class 9, PSBB, K. K. Nagar,
Saranya B. J, Class 10, K. K. Nagar,
Gurumeet Kaur, Class 9, PSBB, K. K. Nagar,
Ananya N. S. Class 6, PSBB, T. P. Road.

Photos by : Saranya B. J
Click here to view photo gallery

Held on August 21, 22 and 23, the PSBB group of schools celebrated its 50th anniversary at Kamaraj Memorial Hall.

The theme of this year's anniversary was ‘Samaanyaan Sadanaiyaalan Aagiraan’ which means ‘The Ordinary achieves the Extraordinary’.

The chief guests on these days were M. V. V. Prasada Rao, danseuse.Anita Ratnam, actor Revathy and Savithri Vaithi, social worker.

A mixture of dances, music events and dramas formed part of the shows put up the different schools of the PSBB group – the T.P Road, Nungambakkam and K. K. Nagar schools.

Rabindranath Tagore’s ‘Anandha Loke’, and ‘Bharatha Desha Hitaaya’ by Pooya Sri.Swami Dhayanandha Saraswathi celebrating 60 years of independence were the songs of the choir.

The tiny tots put up their show with an extract from Enid Blyton’s ever-famous Noddy.
Next up were Mickey Mouse and his pals disclosed the six secrets for achieving a man’s dreams. This performance redefined “cute” to a whole new level, so much so that Anita Ratnam herself couldn’t help but join them on stage and shake a leg with them.

Stories of Tenali Rama, Valmiki and from Panchatantra came alive on stage.
After the Bravery awards were presented to students, the Nungambakkam School, hosted ‘Koffee with Kavya’, where turning points in the lives of well-known personalities like Oprah Winfrey, APJ Abdul Kalam, Mother Theresa, Mahatma Gandhi and Abraham Lincoln.
'Bombay Dabbawaalas' showed the perfect delivery management of lunchboxes to the respective persons on time, everyday
The grand finale was nothing short of dazzling. It was Alchemy, a play on the lives of Charlie Chaplin, Robert Lee, Helen Keller, and John Logie Baird. It was a great evening, which left the students, teachers and parents with lingering memories.

Annual Day at P. S. Senior

By S. Sruti
Class 8, P. S. Senior Sec. School, Mylapore

The P. S. Senior Secondary School, Mylapore celebrated its 31st Annual Day Celebrations on August 24 and 25 at Sathguru Gnanananda Hall in Narada Gana Sabha.
The annual day began with the Carnatic music orchestra
The chief guest of the annual day on the first day was Usha Krishnan, Principal, M.G.R Janaki College of Arts and science for women.
A welcome address and business meeting presenting the annual report followed. Then the chief guest distributed the Endowment Prizes.

The students of classes 8 and 9 performed an English play, ‘An adaptation of a Christmas Carol’ by Charles Dickens..
Next came the dance -Bharatnatyam on Arupadai Veedu on Lord Muruga's stages of life. The Tamil play ‘Sisubalan’ was presented by the students of class 9 to 11.

The popular choir session followed the play. A Sanskrit song ‘Sathyam Vadha’ opened the session. The Tamil song ‘Azhagendra porul’ received thunderous applause from the audience. ‘Vazhgave’, the school anthem composed by Thenkatchi Swaminathan came as the final choir song.
The next day was the main annual day where we had the orchestra as usual followed by the business meeting. The chief guest was Sundar Rajan, Chairman, Indian Bank and an old student of P. S. High School.
The chief guest spoke on self-analysis, positive thinking and confidence. The former principals Vijayalakashmi Srivatsan and Alamelu Ganapathi were also present on the occasion. Vijayalakshmi Srivatsan was honoured for her service in the school. Filld with emotions, she thanked everyone present there.

The colourful celebrations of annual day came to an end, but the students of the school will look forward to another enhanced version next year.

Rowers Bring Laurels to AMM School

By Poornima V
Class 10, AMM Matric Hr. Sec. School, Kotturpuram

It was a proud moment for AMM SCHOOL when the school rowing team came out in flying colours by winning a gold medal in the Bengal Rowing Club International School Regatta 2007.
The event took place from July 27 to July 31, 2007

The team comprised of Nirup Suresh (stroke), K.K. Abhinav,Janeshwar Raja, Avinash (bow) and Anisha Simon (core).
They had to compete in six races before entering the grand finale, which took place in Kolkatta. They had to race international teams also like Colombo and Karachi.

The AMM team underwent rigorous training for a month practising for two hours in the morning and six hours in the evening under the guidance of James Joseph a silver medalist in the Asian Games.

On being asked about the secret of their success Janeshwar says "We were confident as we had practised well and there was very good team spirit which helped us even in adverse situations. When anyone made a mistake we motivated him and never lost our fighting spirit."
Janeshwar, Abhinav and Nirup are students of class 12.

Says Anisha, a class 11 student, "the winning moment was awesome".
Avinash has completed his schooling and has now at a college pursuing higher studies. So this was his last race representing the school and Janesh's first and so very special for both of them.
Thus the hard work, 'never say die attitude', team co-ordination and above all continuous support and encouragement from parents, teachers and friends brought laurels to AMM School.

Biology for a value based life


By R. Balasubramanian
Class 11, N.S.N. Matric Hr. Sec. School, Chromepet

National Biological Association for Students (NBAS) conducted an Aids Awareness Programme - 'Chase Aids Together' at N.S.N. Matic Hr. Sec. School, Chittlapakkam, on July 28, 2007.

The students of classes IX to XII were invited to attend the programme.

The students were enlightened on the 'value based life' enabling them to march forward to a significant phase of life. The emphasis was on 'Let us live life the way it is meant to be lived' and the students became aware of their responsibilities.

Informative audio-visual presentation, the flowchart and the pie chart on the causes of AIDS were displayed at the programme.

There was a great sense of fulfillment as the objective of NBAS was steered in the right direction for ethical and moral living.

NBAS-National Biological Association for Students is a non-profit, grass root society formed to support and provide the appropriate forum to the student community for a sustainable development through bio-technology. The association also promotes activities related to biotechnology awareness and education.

The members of the association gave an elaborate speech on the Pseudo - apprehension of the much dreaded disease to break the inhibition and hatred towards the affected victims and their inspiring speech furnished a basis for further interest by arousing curiosity and providing discussions.

Finally, the message - Prevention is better then cure - revealed the comprehensive and conscious effort of NBAS in establishing strong motives to attain their valuable goals.

NBAS is at F2, Sterling Swapnalok, 23, Padmavathiar Street, Gopalapuram, Chennai - 86. The association can be contacted by email at nbas_hr@yahoo.co.in
Website : www.nbasindia.org

The exciting excursion

By Sanjana Chakraborty
Class 9, Chettinad Vidyashram, R. A. Puram

Students of class 9 of Chettinad Vidyashram went on a trip to the neighbouring state, Karnataka. The places to visit were Mysore, Bangalore, Belur, Hassan and Halebid.

On the eve of July 26, the students began their journey by train. The scenery outside the window was captivating. The team sang, danced and finally went off to sleep. They woke up on arrival at Bangalore early morning.

The journey to Mysore was by bus. After having the breakfast in a temple on the way, the team reached Mysore at 9 am and checked into the hotel rooms.

Freshened up after the lunch at The President Hotel, the students went on to sight seeing. The Mysore Palace and Brindavan Gardens were the first stops.

The Mysore Palace is a beautiful one. Its decorations and paintings proved it to be the royal palace. Just looking at the palace, leaves one spell-bound. After snapping pictures and discovering the palace, the team headed for Brindavan Gardens.

Brindavan Gardens is said to be the most fascinating tourist attraction in the area. It is a huge garden comprising of several beautiful fountains, sprinkling and spraying water in all directions. The fun was over for the day when it was time to go back to the hotel.

The next day, was probably the best part of the excursion for the kids. After an early breakfast at 7 am the team set out to visit temples. The first stop was at Sravanabelagola in Hassan. The trip to the temple was three hours from Mysore. The T.V in the bus kept the kids occupied, when they were bored during the long journey.

Sravanabelagola is a huge temple and to visit the temple you need to climb nearly 300steps. When they finally reached the temple, a huge statue of Lord Mahavira, which is about 50ft in height, welcomed them.

After this temple, they moved to another temple in Belur. This temple is like a cave and the carvings on the caves are very attractive.

After the lunch break, the team was in another temple in Halebid in two hours time. This temple, though similar to the Belur temple, its carvings are a bit more unique. This was the last stop for the day and the team went back to the hotel in Mysore.

The next day the team was off to Bangalore by bus. After a quick lunch at Bangalore, they went to the Lalbagh Gardens. The Lalbagh garden is basically a huge ground filled with various plants bearing colorful flowers and it also has a little lake and many trees.

After the Lalbagh Gardens came the last and final stop for the whole trip. It was The ISKCON temple. The temple is huge and brightly lit up. There were several people selling various articles too. The students say that this was quite an intriguing experience.
The team took the night train back to Chennai and arrived in the city on the next day morning.
The trip was educative, informative and a lot of fun!

Ignited minds win prizes

By T. Abhinetra
Class 11, Alpha Matric. Hr. Sec. School
West CIT Nagar.

V. Atchara and K. Preethi are students of class 11 (science group) in Alpha Matriculation Higher Secondary School. They are the proud designers of the ‘Breathing Sensor’, which bagged away the first prize in the IGNITE `07, an all-India competition held at IIT-Madras.

This breathing sensor, monitoring the breathing movements, won over 184 entries across South India and was one of the 48 presentations that were displayed on August 7 and 8, during a two-day workshop.

The innovative girls worked hard to present their idea of the breathing sensor to the public. The girls were indeed very happy. “We wanted to win and were very happy when our hard work paid off.”

They showed their gratitude to the school for exposing them to such a competition. “The school showed us the way. We went forward with our own ideas and put together the equipments that we have come across earlier and brought alive our breathing sensor.” The girls are inspired a lot by this victory. “This victory has increased our aims to join the IIT in the future. We will definitely work to design many more such innovative gadgets.”

Besides the first prizewinners Alpha Matriculation was also conferred with four prizes out of the twelve consolation prizes. This competition has encouraged many young scientists in the past and has not failed its purpose this year either.

Colourful Annual Day at Vidya Mandir

By Shruthi Rajaram
Vidya Mandir, Mylapore

The buzz in Vidya Mandir was about the annual day, which was to be held on August 10. It was ninth then and the bell had rung. The last bell for the day, which meant that we could disperse. The students went into their respective rooms to practice and the teachers managed to spare some words.The different events were going to be fascinating, ofcourse!

Next day was the school day of Vidya Mandir.

It was the 10th of August! It meant a lot of colourful events and display of special talents by Vidya Mandir students. At 4.30PM in the Mylapore Fine Arts, the students of Vidya Mandir began their annual day celebrations. Performance, reinforcing the very essence of India -'Unity in Diversity' left the audience captivated.

The events started off with the school prayer and the orchestra. A colourful sight with young musicians. The traditional dress of the students who wore 'Dhavanis', bangles, and sparkling bindhis and the boys in dhottis was a lovely sight, which brought back the heritage of India.

Then came the Middle School English Play, 'The Sheriffs Kitchen'. Students of class 6, 7 and 8 presented the play. The script and the dressing of the students made us travel through the play.

The Tamil Play 'Sattrae Villagi Irrum Pillai' came next. Interspersed with dances and folk songs the story about an 'untouchable' who had a very strong inclination towards Lord Shiva and wished to see Him in the Temple was presented in this play. As he was a true devotee, the 'nandhi' or the holy bull, which sits in front of, Shiva (as a barrier) moved and therefore gives the him a 'dharshan' of the Lord. A good lesson about Equality.

The Dance Drama Choreographed by dancer Roja Kannan 'Bhavayami Raghuvaram' brought rounds of applause from the audience. The story of Ramayana came alive in the dance-drama
'Guity' an English play by the high school was a very catchy one. The cheer group was very eye-catching with the 12th girls and boys draped in sarees and veshtis!

Then was the official fyunction. The principal and the vice-principals honoured the chief guest, Mr. Mitran Devanesan, a theatre activist who has contributed for the Jungle Book and iswell-known in the theatre field. Prizes and awards were distributed at this function.

The show continued with the hindi play 'Navarathri ka Nitya Sangam' which was as bright as Navarathri. Sanskrit play 'Bhaja Govindam' which had enthusiastic performers who topped in the language too.

The overall performance reflected a secular nature of our country with a mix of languages, tradition, culture and moods. The talents of the students of Vidya Mandir were well displayed.

Spiritual Retreat

Sheba Samuel
Class 9, St. John’s English School and Junior College, Besant Nagar

Our School conducted a spiritual retreat – Walk With God, as a tribute to the founder of our school Rt. Rev. Dr. G. Rajkumar on his birth anniversary.

The Chief Guest for the occasion was Pas.Alwyn Thomas. The beautifully dressed choir gave us a good start with a prayer song. Miss. Adlin led us into a word of prayer asking for god’s presence with us. The welcome address was given by Mas. Ashok, secretary of the scripture club. Mrs. Anitha Edison gave us an encouraging talk about the retreat.

Followed was a splendid choreography performance by our school students. The students were served with soft drinks which added an extra pleasure to the event.

Pas.Alwyn taught us a short yet a very meaningful song which was so beautifully sung in various languages like English, Tamil, Malayalam, Chinese and so on. Then Pas.Alwyn led us to a serious moment of prayer. He prayed for each and everyone for their problems to be solved and be blessed. We dispersed for lunch.

There was a puppet show with Tinku, the monkey after the lunch break. The show made all of us to burst out with laughter. We also had a magic show in which Bro. Timothy entertained us with wonderful magic tricks.
We then watched tableau and choreography from various schools which entertained all of us till 5.30 in the evening. Miss. Anisha, assistant secretary of the scripture club thanked everyone. Hot and tasty snacks were waiting for us after the show. A nice evening, well spent.

Sishya Fete – full of fun!

By Vrinda Manocha
Class 11, Sishya, Adyar, Chennai - 20

The biggest annual event at Sishya School – Sishya Fete was held on the school grounds July 7 this year. Every year the fete draws young people from all corners of Chennai and this year was no exception. Though the ominous cloudy skies threatened rainfall, it did not rain on the day.

The fete started at 3 pm and by 4:30 pm it was buzzing with activities. The junior classes had put up game stalls and the senior classes manned the food stalls.

The games stalls included hoopla, skittles, coconut shy, tyre-and-ball, feed-the-clown, derby, ring-the bottle and everyone's all-time favourite, the treasure hunt. This stall was decorated in Indiana-Jones style and the kids had a great time hunting for 'the black diamond'.
A jewellery stall selling silver and junk jewellery had also been set up.
The hair salon, Bounce had a stall of their own and did roaring business in hair colouring, mehendi and sticker tattoos, nail art and funky makeup. Tarot cards reading attracted many girls.

The food stalls, where the older kids hung out, did quick business too. The Chaat stall was decorated impressively with strings of channa and panipuri shells and a sign made with lentil grains in different colours. The collage of a Rajasthani scene done entirely with puffed rice, panipuri shells, green chillies and grains stole the show.
The Corn, pizza and Hotdog stall, boasted of 'Sivaji-the boss' theme with decorated mud pots with actor Rajnikanth’s face!!
The Fruit Shop sold out their infamous Lime Mint Coolers by six o’clock, much to the disappointment of many kids.
At Sam's Kitchen and The Bakery, the items were flying off the shelves and by dusk dishes were rapidly going out of stock.

A selection of English music was played and before long, Sishya students were dedicating their favourite songs to their teachers and asked for marks!
A special Yo-yo show with performers from Singapore also took place. Bullock cart rides and the bouncy castle were favourites with the smaller kids.
At the end of the fete, the Grand Raffle was conducted and a lucky few won exciting prizes such as air tickets to various destination, meals at Chennai's favourite restaurants and gift hampers from various sponsors.

Science Project day in P. S. Sr. Sec. School, Mylapore
By S. Varsha
Class 7, P. S. Sr. Sec. School

February 24 is a day we look forward to every year in our school. It is on this day, we celebrate Science Project Day for classes 6, 7 and 8.

The theme given to our class this year was 'Stone Age'! We turned our classroom into a cave. To bring the atmosphere of early days, our teacher asked a few students who were very good in mimicry to record sounds, which were most probably used by the early men to communicate with each other.

It is believed that the people of the Stone Age wore the skins of animals which they hunted and whose meat they ate. It is also believed that they also wore some layers of leaves as their dresses. So we stitched the leaves of the Ashoka tree into our skirts and wore on top of our uniforms. We also had to wear a brown T-Shirt to bring an effect of that age.

The models and the charts done by our class students related to the sub-topics of stone age such as evolution of man, discovery of fire, discovery of wheel clothing, early communication.

Our teacher decided to welcome the Chief guest in a different manner and selected a set of students to welcome the guest by dancing and cheering. We also decorated the Blackboard of our classroom with paintings showing the tribals of the early times. The students also did face paintings. It was really a very great day in the school.

Newsletter of SRM Nightingale launched
SRM nightingale Matriculation Higher Secondary School in West Mambalam has launched its newsletter last week.
The 37 year old school will be publishing its monthly newsletter which will highlight the activities of the students of the school.
The newsletter will be produced entirely by the students from class 8 to 12 with the help of a teacher in charge. It will be circulated among its students of class 6 and above. SRM Nightingale Matriculation Higher Secondary School is at 68, Thambiah Road, West Mambalam.