The growth of each individual is a blend of the the various faculties that shape her/his personality. The National Life Skills, Value Education and School Wellness Programme of Expressions India, undertook The International Adolescent Summit on life skills, gender, safety and school wellbeing - 2019 at the National Science Centre, Pragati Maidan on 12 and 13 December.
The programme celebrated the energy and fervour of the youth. During the summit, students of different schools engaged in lively competitions with participants from schools across the country. This helped the students appreciate the diversity of opinion, ways of life, even as they engaged with literary enrichment.
This year 5 students from our School, namely Aryan Singh, Urvi Beswal (XI-B), Akshita Panwar (XI-D), Mayank Ahuja (XI-D) and Saransh Jha (IX-B) participated in the summit which was attended by participants of 40 schools from across the country representing states like Punjab, Kerala, Haryana, etc.
The first day began the with setting up of stalls for the exhibition Myriad. The theme of the exhibition was life skills, gender equality, school safety and well being. Our team put its thoughts together to present theme-based posters. We also assembled an art installation to depict safety and well being at our School. This attracted a lot of appreciation and attention.
The inauguration was held in the auditorium, where chief guests, Mr. Vineet Joshi ( Director General Testing Agency and former Chairman CBSE), Mr. Anurag Tripathi ( Secretary CBSE), Prof J. L. Pandey (Advisor Expressions India and former leader of Adolescent Programme, NCERT) and Dr. Jitendra Nagpal ( Director, Expressions India) were present.
The ceremony commenced with the lighting of the lamp followed by a thematic welcome song and Dev Stuti presented by students. Five students namely Mayank Ahuja, Akshita Panwar, Divyansh Rajouria, Kumar Ritouvash and Sejal Gupta presented a Nukkad Natak on the topic Paani, prepared specially for the occasion. Students from DPS, Faridabad staged a Nukkad Natak on gender discrimination.
All the dignitaries interacted with the students during the ceremony. In his speech, Mr. Joshi spoke about the need to incorporate changes in the various public examinations, keeping the changing needs of students in mind. He answered the queries of the students which included the role of CBSE results in career choices and for eligibility to appear for competitive exams. Mr. Tripathi spoke about various behavioural issues observed amongst adolescents and the effects of these on their conduct in different situations.
Students were then told to report at the event venues. Aryan Singh spoke confidently at the Youth Parliament. He was given the topic, Sex education in our society and he spoke to present facts on the issue, the stigma attached and the problems appearing in our society from the relative absence of sex education. The event was adjudged by Ms. Ankita Sharma, criminal psychologist and Dr Nagpal. Saransh, who participated in the western dance competition (Sur Tal) chose to perform in free style, with an impactful message on female foeticide. His dancing skills were greatly applauded by the audience. The event was adjudged by Ms. Anshika Chopra, Founder Delhi Dreams Dance Academy, Ms. Maria Beju, Bharatnatyam expert and Ms. Sheema Hafiz, child and cancer specialist as well as dancer.
Urvi Beswal took part in Utopia ( On the spot painting) and expressed her thoughts on canvas on the topic Women-the founding stone of our society. Dr. Nagpal judged the event, interacting with the participants on their creations. Aryan and Akshita expressed their thoughts underlying their exhibits in the stall at Myriad. They also shared the various activities and initiatives taken by our School to make the premise a safe place and to promote life skills, gender equality well being and health amongst students. The stalls were adjudged by Drs. Rushi, Ritu (Prof. Amity University) and Ankita, criminal psychologist.
After lunch, Aryan proceeded to attend the competition titled Rhetorics. The topic he was given was, Some rise by sin and some by virtue fall - stumbling blocks in pursuance of health and well being. He articulated his thoughts focusing upon the conflict between success stories arising from unethical short cuts taken in life and waiting for success by ethical play. He spoke of the unfortunate shift in moral focus from Sarvam to Aham. He was appreciated by one and all.
At the end of the day, the participating teams were given topics for a Nukkad Natak each, which they were to present on the following day. We were very excited to be performing on Save the girl child, save society and scripted the natak on the spot!
The second day took off with the Nukkad Natak event. The accompanying teachers were given the benefit of attending workshops at different venues. The student workshop was about the role of life skills. A film about an adolescent victim of substance abuse from peer pressure, was screened. Discussions were then held to discuss the example and the importance of family bonding to protect one from going astray. The teachers also attended similar sessions where they talked about various psychological difficulties faced by students leading to poor academic performance. The student workshop was led by Dr Nagpal.
After a short break for lunch we gathered again for the Valedictory ceremony. We were very excited and happy to win in four categories. Saransh Jha of IX-B, Akshita Panwar XI-D and Aryan Singh XI-B received Special Jury Awards for 'Sur Tal'-the western dance competition and Myriad- the global health exhibition, respectively. The On- the- spot painting competition 'Utopia ' saw Urvi Beswal XI-B receive the Outstanding Artist trophy while Aryan Singh XI-B bagged the Meritorious award for 'Rhetorics-young orators'.
Overall, the event was a huge success. All the students and escort teachers returned enriched with new knowledge and experience.
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