Return from the Holidays

After a relaxing holiday and getting into warm blankets in the cold winter, we are finally BACK TO SCHOOL. We are going to have to face the terrifying assignments and deadlines (and the horrific detention policy to add to it). We have to hear the bell and run for the next lesson; otherwise we have to get a late slip and get it signed by the respective teacher. We have to open our laptop screens and log in to moodle to complete online assignments and watch videos after which come the confusing web quests. The teachers say we’ll get credits if we complete it in a week; it creates competition and behold: everybody’s planner is filled with stars. We were enjoying ourselves back in the winters and waking up late, but now we are back to school.

 – Radhesh Chowdhary and Rahul Grover Grade 7A

  

Back To School

You’re walking through the corridors; the tension seems familiar somehow. You rumble through your backpack; you know your work is incomplete. Excuses running through your head; half of them have been used before. You take a deep breath and look at your watch; you’re already running five minutes late. You start jogging now but decide to quickly wash your face before going in; you didn’t have enough sleep last night. You look at yourself in the mirror but weirdly enough, you see a girl in a uniform you’ve definitely worn before. With a gasp you look down at yourself… Aw Snap! You’re back to school.

Back to school was a program arranged for the middle school parents on the 9^th of February. In this program, parents came to school and attended classes like a students on a normal school day. Subjects like ICT and DT were taught by students and the rest were taken by normal teachers. After this experience, parents seemed to have more of a feel of what and how their children were learning. They were familiarized with the structure of the day and were engaged in various activities.

I for one was a volunteer in an ICT classroom. We taught some parents the procedure for making a blog. At first, the parents seemed hesitant but later most of the parents couldn’t seem to get their faces out of their laptop screens! They all made some unique blogs on parenting in which they added pictures, comments and templates. They all enjoyed it and some of them even thought of maintaining a blog for themselves.

-Mehak Dewan Grade 7A

Parent’s Voice

Letters from parents to the school...

Admittedly, I was not excited to spend the day at school. However, I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to sit in my daughter’s classrooms, experience the teachers’ teaching styles, witness the types of activities through which she is being taught. It was an effective method for informing us as parents.

-          Anonymous Parent

“Never Let schooling interfere with your education” – Mark Twain

-          Manish Gupta

6B

                Back to School was innovative and interesting. It gave a good insight into the ways of teaching at Pathways. Keep it going!

-          Thimmaiah Pandanda

8A

                An awesome learning experience... Just wished I could go back and learn things in this manner all over again. Made me miss my school.

-          Seema Bhasin
7B

Pathways School Noida MUN

 From 31^st January – 2^nd February, 2013 Pathways Noida hosted its first middle school MUN which was the Pathways School Noida Model United Nations. I was a part of this event not as a delegate but as a head of the volunteer staff and this was my first experience of being at a MUN. Tackling all the responsibilities and preparations, this event turned out to be a great success for Pathways.

                    As Day 1 began, I could feel the environment of the school changing with the presence of all the ardent delegates in formals, who joined us from different schools; all in a serious mood and ready to raise their country to the top and pull their enemies down. The 3 day event commenced with the opening ceremony after which the delegates were split into 3 different Councils including the UN Security Council, The Human Rights Council and the Environment Programme. 

                    Throughout the PSN MUN, there was a lot of active participation involved to make this event a memorable one. The closing ceremony marked its special place as the end of the event with the total recall of the three days and experiences of the people involved. I guess for me the closing ceremony was the flavoring aspect of the event   because it included the certificate distribution. After this experience I look forward to participate in other MUNs as a delegate.

-Divya Tyagi Grade 8B

CAS Assembly

In the CAS assembly, we got to see another side of our support staff. The people that help us everyday such as our drivers, cleaners, assisting didis and the office staff had learnt skills from our senior school students. Two drivers and some didis had learnt Basic English from the students and had conversed fluently on the stage for the whole school to see. It was quite nice to see how people who are less fortunate can learn a language they never knew so quickly and all that because of our students in the senior school. The office staff had learnt IT skills and they presented a Powerpoint presentation about what they had learnt in English. I am very proud of our senior school students for helping these people and I hope I also get an opportunity to help them in the future.

- Ketan Gupta Grade 8A

Internet Safety Week

INTERNET has become an essential part of how we learn and how we do things, not just at school but also in our day to day lives. However, like any other technology it has two sides; the GOOD and the BAD. We at Pathways, constantly encourage our students to understand and reflect upon both the sides.  Internet Safety is an essential component of our ICT curriculum at Pathways Noida. In order to extend this learning outside the classrooms and make it more effective, we have organised an Internet Safety Week with the central theme “CONNECT WITH CAUTION”.  A lot of interesting competitions have been organised that encourage children to express their views about Internet Safety through poems, artwork, slogans, posters, comic strips, digital graphics, animations and video editing. Students have also participated in Internet Games and Quizzes based on various Internet threats like Identity Theft, Malware, Cyber bullying, Cyber stalking,  leaving Digital Footprints and also the ways to counter these threats. In addition to that, we also organised a special assembly to educate the children about this. We also teach our children that while learning ways and means to keep ourselves secure on Internet, we should also not indulge in acts that violate similar rights of others who share this space.

 -Rifat Khan

ICT, Teacher 

Science

Over the past month and previous semester, we covered quite a few topics in science. We did atoms, ecology, acids, bases, salts and electricity. The least interesting for me was atoms. It was simply because I couldn’t picture an atom. Nor could we do any physical activities with atoms in the lab. This simply made the lesson books and notes; no activities and no fun. Acids, bases and salts however got my full attention. We worked with them in the lab, we did small experiments in the class, and the books and notes were obviously there too.  Electricity and ecology were interesting too, but not as interesting as acids, bases, and salts. Overall, I think our science classes are very interesting.

-Anya Lauria Grade 7A

The Brave Youth of India

                The occasion of Republic Day, one that we very recently witnessed, holds a special place in the hearts of all Indians. We remember it for the famous Parade, the patriotic songs, and the spirit of celebration in the air. An aspect of the celebrations that we often forget to pay adequate heed to, however, is the recognition of the brave youth of our nation, who often sacrifice not only their health but also their lives for the purpose of saving the lives of others. I am referring to the awards given out by the President of India to the brave boys and girls of our nation every year for meritorious acts of bravery against all odds. These awards have been given out to children ever since our first Prime Minister Jawarharlal Nehru, fondly called Chacha Nehru by children, did so in 1957. This year twenty four children, eight girls and sixteen boys, were awarded bravery awards by President Shri Pranab Mukherjee. Five awards did, sadly, have to be given posthumously to the valiant children who gave their lives while helping others.

Some of the brave children include Om Prakash Yadav, an eleven year old who pulled children out of a burning van hurting himself extensively, Prasannta Shadilya, another eleven year old who saved her parents from robbers by throwing chilli powder in their eyes, Mittal Patadiya, a twelve year old who saved her mother from assailants by beating them up even as one stabbed her in the neck, Uma Shankar a twelve year old who saved six injured people from a car crash, and Dungar Singh, a child who at the tender age of seven jumped in a fire to save his disabled older brother. These stories are truly inspiring, especially knowing that the ones behind them are all children, some even younger than myself. The children who received awards were all between sixteen and seven, and that is what gives me confidence in the youth of our nation and convinces me that even at our ages we can make a difference.

-Malak Khan Grade 8B

Book Review

The latest book I have read is the anthology of short stories by the world renowned author Ruskin Bond. These stories, no matter how short they may be, carry a strong and powerful image, each and every one of them. There are simple stories about mishaps at train stations and how two blind people meet and don’t realize that they both were blind. However, one story that sticks out is the story about the girl with her beautiful looks and her special baskets. ‘The Night Train at Deoli’ was one of the most moving stories that I have ever read. It is about a man who was taking his scheduled train through Deoli to reach his ancestral house. At the station he meets a girl selling baskets who he instantly falls in love with, but has to leave as he has to catch the train to Deoli. This is the sad tale of how he remembers that girl everyday of his life until the next year, when he catches the same train to Deoli just to find that she’s not there. This is a poignant tale of unforgettable love.

-Karan Pandanda Grade 8A

The Investiture Ceremony

                With the passing of 2012, and the coming of a new year, it was inevitable that a new school council be formed as well. After a week or so of fervent campaigning, enthusiastic speeches and a lot of tension, our new council was finally voted and decided upon. The council members of 2012-13 officially handed over their titles to the new batch on the 6^th of February, 2013. The ceremony began with Dr. Advani speaking about the responsibilities a council has to take on, followed by Mr. Tagore giving a speech. One of our founders, Mr. Jain, was also gracing the occasion with his presence. The flags and badges were then handed over to our new council members by Dr. Advani, Mr. Jain, Mr. Jaffar and Mrs. Sandhir The council for 2013-14 now includes Sonal Chawla as President, Iccha Bhan as Vice- President, Pratyush Gupta and Isha Agarwal as Sports Captains, Vivek Verma as Air House Captain, Parth Kapoor as Air Vice Captian, Siddharth Sharma as Fire House Captain, Radhika Sharma as Fire Vice- Captain, Abhimanyu Bhalla as Earth House Captain, Divian Baheti as Earth Vice- Captain, Saumya Joshi as Water House Captain, Sohini Singh as Water Vice- Captain, Saharsh Arora and Sana Diwan as Cultural Secretaries, and Ritika Sharma as Magazine Editor. Mr. Jaffar and Ms. Sandhir also spoke after that. The function ended with our Ex- President Ifrah Khanyari addressing the school for the last time, and our new President Sonal Chawla addressing the school for the first.