The year 2020 was a tough one and it set on our paths multiple challenges. As we move ahead with new energy, the Child for Child team organized a competition for teachers. They have been the frontline Covid warriors for all schools and colleges. We wanted them to participate, have fun, bring out their creative side. And just “Take a Time Out” as they juggle their hectic schedules at home and at work.
The Concept Behind
In our interactions with the school fraternity, we realized that our teachers are extremely creative and we have seen that manifested in their classrooms when they came out with the most innovative methodologies to keep their students engaged. Some have used puppetry, some storytelling while some actually created the most amazing videos to get through to even their weakest links in the classroom. Last year saw a staggering amount of creative ideas on display when teaching shifted to an online mode.
So, it was time that the overworked teaching fraternity let their hair down, and just as the competition is titled Take a Time Out for themselves. And, even better was, when the teachers did a bit of fundraising to support the underprivileged children associated with children from Smile Foundation’s Mission Education centers under the Shiksha Na Ruke campaign. Under this campaign, our school fraternity has been donating towards the cause of the education of underprivileged children, especially during the pandemic when many such children have fallen off the education grid.
About the Competition
The competition comprised 3 elements: Designing a book cover using artistic skills, Singing a Medley & Writing a short story. Since teachers are extremely busy especially, with the entire hybrid system of teaching & conducting year-end exams, we gave them an entire month to register and send in their submissions. We received an overwhelming response from teachers across schools pan India and some of the most incredible submissions. Teachers have recorded their extremely melodious musical performances and have even shared time-lapse videos while working on their designs for Book covers.
The Winners
We are proud to announce the result of the competition. While our aim is to not negate any participant’s submission, we had to arrive at a result for the 3 competitions. It was a tall task from amongst the remarkable submissions to arrive at the top 3 positions for each competition.
For “Singing a Medley” our top 4 winners (in descending order) are: Malini Koushik from DPS Bangalore, South. Smita Dey from DPS Bangalore East; Manjula from Bhavan Vidyalaya Sector 15, Panchkula, and finally Jagriti Sood again from Bhavan Vidyalaya Sector 15, Panchkula.
For “Designing a Book Cover” our top 4 winners (in descending order) are: Geena Saji from The Choice School, Thiruvananthapuram. Hari Krishna Dhara from DDMS P Obdul Reddy Public School, Hyderabad. Manasi Tambekar from DPS Bangalore South, and finally Dibha Samal, Gopalan National School, Bangalore.
For “Writing Short Stories” our winners (in descending order) are: Abha Ranjan from DPS Bangalore, East followed by Indu Bala from Bhavan Vidyalaya Sector 15, Panchkula.
Congratulations on The Great Display of Talents
Going through the submissions was not only heartening but it was also a pleasant experience. What came out starkly was that our teachers are incredibly talented and often the jury was startled by the creativity. This was especially found to be true for the toughest of the competitions, that of writing a Long Story Short. The stories written in Hindi by the winning participants were found to be extremely beautiful. The narrative, the use of words, and the tonality were equal parts humorous and inspirational.
We wish all our participants and especially the winners Many Congratulations. We hope that in all our future competitions we get maximal participation where teachers can showcase their talents.
Teachers, while you are the role models for all your students, this time via your competitive spirit you also made a positive impact in the lives of so many underprivileged children. Child for Child team thanks you for your support once again.
To know more about Smile Foundation’s Child for Child programme visit https://www.smilefoundationindia.org/childforchild.html
