By OUR STAFF REPORTER
DEHRADUN, 13 Jul: Whilst most children spent their summer vacations holidaying or pursuing their hobbies two students of Welham Girls School decided to do something more meaningful and rewarding. With an objective of making a contribution to the learning and development of young children Taarika Mann and Hansika Nath, both Class 11 students, volunteered to spend their vacation with the children of Purkal Youth Development Society (PYDS), a renowned school for the lesser privileged children run by the legendary GK Swami. Based on their own learning experiences at Welham Girls School, the girls engaged the children of PYDS in a variety of classroom and outdoor activities with the objective of enhancing the learning outcomes of the enthusiastic young children. The classroom learning included interactive discussions based on current affairs and issues of relevance in the local national and global context. These were followed by an outdoor learning project wherein the children visited the neighbouring villages to understand the problems being faced by the villagers and their expectations from the local administration and government. The outcome of all these learning experiences was a newsletter called ‘Udaan’ where the talented students of PYDS articulated their thoughts in interesting and immensely readable articles under the guidance of their young mentors. Both Taarika and Hansika expressed their gratitude to GK Swamy for his encouragement and support and were unanimous in their view that it was the most memorable summer holiday for them. They were also effusive in their praise for their school Principal, Padmini Sambasivam, who they said is a constant source of inspiration and motivation for them.
