Dream India Team Educational Tour
Venue: Birla
Planetarium
Date: 16-Mar-2014
Schools: Alapakkam
School & Adyar School
Dear
Friends,
Dream India team organized an educational trip
for the kids of Adyar & Alapakkam Schools on 16-Mar-2014. It was 7.30 AM we requested the students of
Alapakkam School to be present, however, I found only I being present at that
time. Kids were already in the School from 7.00 AM. Volunteer Arun took care of the students before
and after on boarding them on the bus from Alapakkam School. I received a call
from a parent inquiring the itinerary for the day and met a parent in person
who came to meet the volunteers Arun & Me at the school to know the
schedule. After briefing them the day’s plans, Arun took a mini attendance just
to verify our head counts matches with the list we possessed. After clicking
the pictures of the kids inside the bus, they hooted three cheers to Dream
India. I waved them with see-you-all-at-the-venue gesture and started my car
and drove to gobble up light Tiffin and headed straight to Vasantham School for
picking Nata. Everything was packed and was ready to be loaded such as Banana
Fruits, Mango Frooti, and Buns. These are for distributing to those didn’t have
break-fast and to others as well. Volunteer Arun directed the bus from
Alapakkam School to Adyar School for picking the students from there to Birla Planetarium, the venue we’ve
decided for the DI Outing, 2014.
I and Nata then started in our car from
Vasantham School. Nata started directing me the route to the venue after seeing
me driving exactly the opposite way. For instance, I kept asking should we be
taking a right-turn in the case where we are supposed to take a left and
vice-versa. This kept continued until I became familiar with the route. At
10.00 AM we all have gathered at the Birla Planetarium campus. We along with few
others volunteers Velu, Vinoth, Gokul,
Abinaya greeted each other and started to distribute the break-fast we
brought for the students. Arun & Nata went to check with entrance guards on
the entry and that time was used productively by Abinaya, who started teaching
the concepts of Science that adorned the compound walls leading to the entrance
gate. A model of giant Rocket, Dinosaur, etc., made all our mouth fell open
from the gate till we reached the Periyar
Science and Technology Centre as it is popularly known which encompasses a
Science Centre and a Planetarium. We kept moving among the galleries on themes such
as Science, Communication, Transportation and Energy across the floors. The galleries displayed exhibits of the
interactive variety, which means we can participate directly in the learning
process and satisfy our curiosity about scientific principles and developments
of Science and Technology. Every exhibit was designed to catch our attention, I
guess. We spotted a few utilities of solar energy, wind energy and bio-gas that
weren’t working at all. But, still we read the poster that accompanied it and
explained to students to whatever extent we understood.
There was a mirror room where we all had chances
to arrive face-to-face with ourselves against the magic mirrors. Many kids came
running towards me and pulled me into this room. Then we all paid a visit to a
3D-Show on the life of aquatic animals. We were given glasses along with the
instructions on how should it be used with care. Many animals came forward to
swallow our heads. Students continuously shouting with fear and joy at the same
time were evident that the DI trip was a HIT. Followed this was a small
gathering outside the Indoor - Universe or the sky theatre where Students were
asked to share how they felt thus far in the trip. The special effect
projectors inside the sky theatre re-created some of the most awe-inspiring
astronomical phenomena. It provided the features of a night sky.
Multi-dimensional activities and multimedia projection arrangements which have
been incorporated inside the sky theatre made the program further lively and excited.
We then let the students enjoy themselves to the core by taking them on to a
nearby park. However, due to empty stomach, they couldn’t scream their joy
fully. Meantime, Arun and Nata arrived with the Vegetable Biriyani & Curd
Rice coupled with pickles food packets packed very neatly. We all divided
ourselves in smaller circles and spooned the respective rice’s. Nata & Arun
served all and made us to finish the lunch first. After finishing the lunch I want to interact
& get introduced with the Adyar School Students, as I was new to them. I
want to engage the students because soon after having food they were in the
mood to run and jump. So, I decided to feed food to their brain now and started
with a vocabulary game Word Anthakshri.
What started at a very slow pace went on like a wildfire during the middle
& towards the end by catching the attention of everyone who stopped-by. They
brought a lot of new enthusiasm into this game and I along with others
thoroughly enjoyed the process of conducting it. Every kid made every volunteer
drop their jaw by their sensational verbal skills. Nata finally honored the
winner, runner and third placed student that they can pursue typing &
computers in their areas. This was also declared open to all the students as
well [esp. Typing].
Final gathering was made to exhibit their
cultural talents such as Dance. Nata and
Arun circulated the thirst quencher Kulfi
to all to beat the heat. Volunteer Abinaya was made to share her
experiences with all as she will be departing Dream India in sometime. The trip
ended with National Anthem at 4.30 PM and we all boarded the bus and started
dancing to the tunes of Hit numbers.
Photos taken during the trip are
aired in the following picasa weblink::
THANK YOU!!!
- அரவிந்தன்
