Vidya Vanam Newsletter Page 1

Newsletter February 2010

Volume 2, Issue 2
www.vidyavanam.org
Report from School Director
- Prema Rangachary
The new academic year began with
43 more children. To accommodate
these and to make room for
Contents different learning levels we add a
transition classroom called
Director’s Reports 1 Kadamba. We also added three new
First term Highlights 1 teachers and two full time
Profile of V V Student 2
volunteers. In addition we have part
time instructors for music, dance
Parent Teacher
and yoga.
Conference 3
The facilities that were part of our
Our New Teachers 4 initial plan have now been
Our Volunteer 5 completed. The last major project, Aerial view of Vidya Vanam from
Our Support Staff 6
the assembly hall, was inaugurated cell tower hill
in October just before Deepavali.
Fund Raising 6
The morning assembly, lunch and
many of the children’s group
activities are now held in the bright,
airy and spacious new assembly hall.
Upcoming Highlights of First Term
Events
 The school has grown and now has 136 children. Eighty five
percent are from tribal villages around Annaikatti
 Art Expo and
Field Trip  Independence day was celebrated with flag hoisting, March
past and sports day. All the children got new gym shoes with
help from a special donor
 Building of new  The first art exhibition was open to the parents and others
class rooms for from the community. The children also made calendars as a
kindergarteners’ New Years gift for donors and friends of the school.
 The Assembly Hall was completed and inaugurated in
 Building of a October.
new computer  A vegetable garden was started and now meets the needs of
learning facility the school exclusively.
 Two new cows were added and all the cows are now housed in
 Expansion of the school compound. The children now get milk or yogurt
Library three times a day.
 The AV room with a DVD player and projector is now fully
 Providing more operational.
time with AV  New books and magazines for children and staff have been
with focus on added to our Barnes Family Library
self learning  A new van has been leased to enable pick up and drop off for
children not within walking distance of the school.
 Page 2 of 5
School Newsletter
School Newsletter Page 2

Following the lives of Our

Children – Prema Rangachary PR. “What do you do after
that?”
talks to Durga Devi

Durga Devi was one of the first

to join our school in 2007. She
is now in the Banyan group and
is a sprightly eight year old girl
who comes from the village of
Vadakallur, about 3Km from
Vidaya Vanam. She is active in
the class room and in sports and
stands her ground with the rough
and boisterous boys, a fact that
makes her proud. She has two
siblings. Her younger sister is Durga Devi with her siblings
also a student at Vidya Vanam. and mother outside their
Her parents are laborers in the
brick kilns and live in a one room
tiled house. Here is an excerpt of
DD. “I wash up and then help
Prema Rangachary’s (PR)
my brother and sister with
conversation with Durga Devi
their morning meal. I help cut
(DD).
vegetables and if needed go
PR. “How is your usual day in to the store to get some
your village?” vegetables.”

DD. “Oh, I get up first, before PR. “Do you know how to
the sun rises and my first cook?”
duty is to fill the drum
DD. “Oh yes! I can cook Dhal
outside the house with water.
and rice and even make some
I take pots to the common tap
coffee.”
that the village uses and
bring the water to fill the PR. “What do you do after
drum, so that we may have that?”
water the whole day.”
School Newsletter
DD. “I then put my school
stuff in my bag and get ready
to come to school”
PR. “Do you have time to play
and have fun after school?”
DD. “After school I used to go
to the forest to get firewood
but I do not do that anymore.
I stay and take care of my
sister and my brother. My
mother goes and gets the
firewood. I also read the
books from library”
PR. “Why did you stop going
to get firewood from the
forest?”
Parent Teacher Conferences
We at Vidya Vanam have
insisted on the participation
of parents in their children’s
education. Although most
parents are not able to read
or write, they value learning.
The meetings are held twice
during the term. We have
succeeded in getting the
participation at least 75% of
the parents. In many
instances both parents come
to meet the teachers.
Page 3
DD. “I am afraid now”.
PR. “What happened?”
DD. “Some time ago I
wandered away from my
mother while collecting wood
and I heard a growl. I saw
what looked like a big cat,
maybe a tiger or a panther
catch a baby goat. I crouched
behind a bush and through
the thicket I saw the goat
being chased and finally the
big cat killed it. I was
terrified and ran home as fast
as I could. After that I
decided that I would not go
into the forest to get
firewood”.
Meetings are held on a
Monday afternoon when most
parents have their weekly
holiday. The parents are
addressed in a group starting
at about 2 pm. The meeting is
directed by two teachers in
rotation so that every teacher
has a chance to interact with
the parents.
The teachers encourage the
parents to ask questions and
to take ownership of their
School Newsletter
child’s education and
progress.
Page 2
The teacher takes this
opportunity to tell the
parents how they could help
their children and encourage
them in their learning.
Issues such as maintaining
their books and notebooks
that are sent home and
returning them in good
condition are emphasized to
the parents.
Our New Teachers
Mr. Asim Naiti, is our new art
teacher from Vishva Bharathi
University, Shanthi Niketan, a
center founded by Nobel
laureate Rabindranath
Tagore. He has four years of
teaching experience and is
training the other teachers to
use art to enhance learning.
Ms. K. Jayaram joined Vidya
Vanam after completing her
M.Phil (English) and teaching
two years in Coimbatore. She
is the class teacher for the
Banyan Group.
Page
Page 4 4
Page 3
The meeting usually ends
with tea and biscuits for the
parents.
After the meeting the parents
talk individually to the
teacher about the progress of
their child and they head
back to their villages before
dark.
Mr. Sriraman is our part time
music teacher and comes to
Vidya Vanam once a week. He
teaches folk songs and
classical music of India.
Ms. S. Sangeetha is the dance
teacher, trained in the
Kalakshetra style and comes
once a week and she teaches
the Neem and Banyan group
classical and folk dance.
Dr. Arun Kumar provides Yoga
teaching to our teachers who
then instruct the older
children of Kadamba, Neem,
Peepal and Banyan.
School Newsletter
Volunteer Staff
The School has two new
volunteers.
Ms. Arali from Srilanka is
enriching our English
teaching, working with both
the students and the teachers
and in expanding the library.
Mr. Wibren from Holland
augments the class room
support and has started a
more formal sports program
for the children.
Profile of Support Staff
The heart of the school is in
the kitchen. Mr.
Krishnamurthy and his
assistants Ms. Sathy and Ms.
Nandini manage to turn out
tasty sumptuous meal every
day.
Krishnamoorthy, Nandini, Prema
Rangachary and Sathy
Page 5
Even as the children enter
the school compound the
smell of cooking draws them
to the kitchen and they find
out from Krishnamoorthy the
menu for lunch!
The morning porridge for the
children is standard, but the
lunch menu varies from day
to day. Pongal or Puliodarai
or Sambar and rice or
vegetable fried rice, what
will it be?
Mr. Krishnamoorthy makes his
menu new and exciting to all.
Everyone in the school,
students, staff, teachers and
guests all eat at the school.
All the vegetables are from
our own garden. They are
fresh and he makes them just
Ms Prema with children at lunch
break
School Newsletter
right for the menu of the day.
The evening snack is usually a
variety of beans made into a
savory healthy snack.
Sometimes they have sweet
laddu or potato balls which
are served with a glass of
milk.
Thatha is our resident
groundskeeper and gardener.
He has overseen the growing
of fresh beans, okra and
gourd and all the herbs such
as cilantro, mint and green
chilli peppers, everything is
fresh for our lunches. He also
harvests the coconuts from
the dozens of coconut trees
so we have coconut water
and coconut snacks.
Thatha watering the plants
Page 6
Fund Raising by the
Bhuvana Foundation in
USA
Three information and fund
raising dinners were held in
Chicago, Minneapolis and
Boston. Our hosts were Mridu
Sekhar, Vidya Subramani and
Geeth Aiyer. They held
dinners to introduce more
families to Vidya Vanam and
to get them involved in the
exciting development of our
vision for the school and in
raising funds to enable us to
meet the operating expenses
of the school for the year
2010. Dr. Sriram and Ms.
Katherine Barnes made
presentations. They were
able to share the success to
date and the need to provide
these children an opportunity
to complete their secondary
education with vocational
training.
Our thanks to their efforts
and to all who have
supported our efforts in
providing an enriching
environment to these tribal
children.