From the Director's Desk

This issue is devoted to celebration - of our community at Pathways of the talent of our students and our staff, of the myriad opportunities which help us to strengthen the learning opportunities which enable our students to grow

Kashmir Donation

It was overwhelming to see the generosity of the response of so many families to the tragic flood in the Kashmir valley.

Help poured in every day in the form of blankets, medicine, buckets, kitchenware, clothes, shoes… As the mountain of materials grew it was a visible example of how our community connects and a visible learning for children. 

Celebrating writers

Congratulations to Vanshika Goel of Grade 7. Her poem in response to Dylan Thomas’s The Hunchback in the Park  was shortlisted for publication in an anthology to be released by the Seventh Quarry, the magazine that initiated this competition to celebrate Dylan Thomas’ centenary.

Congratulations to Vasundhara Goyal  of Form 11 for her short story  A Highway Called Life  published in a collection of short stories called Café Latte by Amit Shankar. 

Congratulations to Dr Ravender Kaul our Head of the Social Sciences department for the fact that his book Migration and Society was prescribed in the MPhil programme of Mumbai University and Shivaji University Kolhapur.

Beyond School Walls

We were delighted to welcome the celebrated children’s writer Anushka Ravishankar who read to Form 4 & 5 from her classic children’s book Moin and the Monster

Two of our teachers attended the Global Citizenship conference in Bangkok and have returned with multiple ideas of creating links with schools around the world.

Grade 5 students had a lively skype conversation with similar students in Australia where they discussed their experiences of how technology assists learning.  They were delighted to see that in many ways they were doing more than  the Australian students.

Grade 6 students had an engaging session last Saturday with children from Salaam Baalak foundation where they worked together to make items for sale.

Grade 12 students went into the slum which is across our school boundary wall. They performed an enchanting Nukkad Natak street play on the importance of cleanliness. In collaboration with the Eye-hospital in Noida they also arranged an eye camp for the inhabitants of the colony. 

Leading Up to Founders

At this time of year nothing is more celebratory of talent than Founders day. Our actors, singers and dancers are practicing with discipline and enthusiasm. But those who are working on backstage

help, technology, sets, costumes and publicity have also made a gigantic contribution to what promises to be a great show.  At many levels children have been relating to the story – via character study, drawing parallels with Hamlet etc.  And some watched and interviewed our mask makers from Ujjain who have been creating masks for the show. 

Do remember that evening school is from Monday 27th  to Thursday 30th , leading to the show on 31st and 1st November. Monday 3rd is a holiday.

Finally, all good wishes to you and your loved ones for a very happy Diwali. I hope that your year ahead is filled with light, togetherness and success.

Dr. Shalini Advani

School Director

From the Primary School Principal, Mrs. Usha Lamba

I wonder who is empowering or getting empowered as we look at the progress made by all involved in the Founders Day Musical, “The Lion King”.

We knew that it is a mammoth task to get a musical together and also the diverse resources we would need but it’s all happened, most of all our students have grown during this journey at school.  As we go through the last lap of rehearsals, I am amazed at the personal growth I see in each child. Whether it is the Kindergarten and Form 1 scene, where the

students are taking instructions or working on stage and collectively involved in getting the scene right. This morning I watched Ms. Aneesha giving a command to 132 children together on stage and all of them visibly listening to the command. When she asked all the giraffes to raise their hands, they were happily doing it and others were waiting quietly for their turn. Students are taking on responsibility for themselves and also for those who are forgetting their roles; we can see other children giving them quiet cues.

One of the challenges all schools face is maintaining the balance where academics takes a lower focus but this year as I walk through classes, I see the students engaged in the inquiry and academic work more as they seem to know how to pack their day with many things that are vibrating in their life currently.

Form 5 has well linked their inquiry on technology with their involvement with the musicals. Form 4 have been intensely involved with Media and inquired on the role of media on the popularity of Lion King World over. Form 3 chose to enquire on “expressions through Art and closely engaged with the professional mask makers from Ujjain who have been working on animal masks within the school campus. Form 2 enquired on organizations and is currently reflecting on good organizational skills to put together a big musical in school. Form 1 and KG have read and reread the musical story of the lion King and are thrilled to watch it come alive during rehearsal time. Nursery and Pre-nursery are engaging with the form of the Lion king and have been gleefully painting him and Nala too.

It is certainly very satisfying to see the students engage so well with different areas of the Lion King and to watch them speak their lines. Dear parents do keep your 31st free to come in and enjoy the musical at Pathways. For us the journey has been very fulfilling and I am very sure that you will enjoy the final production.

Mrs. Usha Lamba

Primary School Principal

Connecting with Australian Students on Skype by Ms. Vandana Parashar Form Tutor Gr 5

Form 5 students recently had an exciting time reaching out across the globe to students in Australia via Skype.

It was all a part of exploring  the Central Idea- “Technology is the modern language of human expression”. Students were inquiring into different forms of technology which help in communication and had conducted a survey in school about how technology is used in classrooms. We decided to go a step further and connect with a school overseas to find out how technology is used in their classrooms. It was a great learning ground for all the students as they got a chance to share their views on the use of various tools and apps- for education.

It was even more exciting for us to see how advanced our technology use is, in some areas – allowing students to teach their counterparts.  The students of Morris Friends’ Primary Years School at North Hobart were ecstatic to see how we used document camera for construction of angles. They showed a lot of enthusiasm at the idea of making ‘pen-pals’ and exchanging emails t

o share some new ideas such as running a book club. Since they had explored an app called ‘green screen’, our students also got excited to explore it in their next ICT class. Some of our students also explained how they used Prezi for their presentations this time and offered help to the kids in Australia, in case they wish to collaborate with them, online, via Prezi. We also shared the way we have begun ‘flipping our classrooms’ where the main teaching happens online and students follow up with the task in school.  It was exciting to know that in their school, students in Form 5 get to carry a laptop to school. This information brought a sudden wave of anticipation in all our students!

We all had a great time connecting with people in the other continent, who were 5 hrs ahead of our time. From weather to technology to reading, we chatted on a number of topics in about 30 minutes and realized that Technology has actually shrunk the world!

Eye camp & Cleanliness Drive on 10th OCT ’2014 by Khanak Mehta Gr 12 A

On the 10th of October’2014, an Eye-camp and Cleanliness drive was organized by the Interact Club of Pathways School, Noida, at the basti (village) adjoining our school.

A lot of hard work went into this event, where a group of students of form 12 prepared and rehearsed a nukkad naatak (street play) on cleanliness. The play was scripted by Abid Abbas, a student of form 12.

The event began with the students going around the basti and prompting the villagers to come

out and watch the nukkad naatak. An eye camp was also organized in the village in association with I-care Hospital, Noida. All the community members could get their eye checkup done for free and specs and cataract surgeries were sponsored from the Interact funds. Our school support staff was also invited to

participate in the eye camp and were relieved from their regular school chores for a stipulated time. We received an overwhelming registration of 106 patients during the 2 hours of camp, of which 25 patients have been issued specs for free and 6 patients have been identified for cataract surgeries.

Our students also set up a counter, where they provided free snacks and drinks to the community members. They interacted with the students of the local school, and the villagers, and educated them about proper garbage disposal. After conducting the nukkad naatak, the participants went around the whole basti, and put dustbins at each corner for the use of the villagers.

The event was a huge success, and it was extremely heartwarming to see the student body come together as one with the villagers on this front. 

Relief materials dispatched to Kashmir – An Interact club initiative by Shreya Gupta, Grade 12

We have all been avidly watching the news and reading the newspapers about the floods that have struck Kashmir. Nature's fury has led to a great loss of lives of loved ones, homes, livelihoods and so much more.

The locals have been suffering from starvation and a dire need for potable water, food, medication, warm clothes and woolens etc has arisen. At such an occasion, it doesn’t matter whether the people hurt are Hindus or Muslims, Indians or Pakistanis, rich or poor. All that matters is that our fellow humans need our help and we at Pathways believe that it is our responsibility to rise to such occasions and work together to help those in need.

The Pathways School Interact Club organized a collection drive for Kashmir to help the victims in Kashmir.

We received a truly overwhelming response from both the Primary and Secondary school students and parents and large cartons of warm clothes, blankets, medicines, sanitary and hygiene products were collected. The collected items have been dispatched to Kashmir in collaboration with the “Help foundation”.

It was heartwarming to see how the Pathways community contributed to the cause wholeheartedly. I would like to sincerely thank all the parents, teachers and students for all their contributions. 

Trip to Kumaon from 27th Sept. to 3rd Oct was a memorable and a learning experience! - By Aryaman Dewan Form 9

The trip to Kumaon from 27th Sept. to 3rd Oct was a memorable and a learning experience.

It taught me that in our lives we do not remember days but remember moments and in this trip I gathered a lot of these moments which will stay with me through out my life and which I hope will help me grow as a human being.

I thank my school and my parents to give me an opportunity to go for such a wonderful trip. Kumaon as a place is beautiful and the early morning view was just breathtaking.

Let me share some of the most wonderful moments of the trip with you.

We were in for a small surprise the first day we reached the camp as there were no proper toilet seats. To manage and to find a way of using the toilet was an experience I will never forget.

The first of trekking was also a challenge for me because of some medical problems but Mr. Satish of MindVisa, boosted my confidence and gave me the courage to overcome my problem and on the last day I was able to complete my trek in spite of my health issues. It also taught me that with the right encouragement and determination you can overcome any difficulty.

Seeing the butterfly collection and holding the snake for the first time in my hand were wonderful experiences also.

Working in the orchard and in the farm made me realize that there is more to life than laptops and video games. It brought me close to nature and now I have told my mom of handing over the responsibility of the garden to me.

Last but not the least I made a lot of new friends from other schools.

The games we played helped in breaking the ice between us and we ended up making friends from other schools especially Auroville school from down south.I learnt about their culture and also learnt some Tamil words.

I hope we remain in touch with each other and develop a friendship which lasts us a life time.

In short "I loved the trip".

Out trip to the Google Head Quarters organized by the camp k12 on 10th October 2014

It was a very interesting and nice journey to go to google headquarters. We were told about how we would have to start young in order to create the next "google". We also learnt many things about google, how it works and how awesome their infrastructure, rules, and independence is - there are no formals to wear and it provides facilities which even many high rated hotels don't have -     From meditation centers, sleeping bunkers to gym and table tennis table.

-              Utkarsh Gupta Form 9

This trip to the Google headquarters made me realize the importance of creativity and the need of thinking out of the box and being innovative. We went for a tour around the office and saw the different rooms like the gym, spa and the fitness room that were a part of the office. The experience was really different and I enjoyed it thoroughly. This gave us an idea about how this huge giant Google came into being and the numerous minds that work behind the scenes.

-          Mehak Diwan Form 9

It was remarkable and pleasant trip to go to Google Headquarters. We were told about how they want us to create the next “Google” and we will have to start young because all the successful developers started at a very young age. I learnt about many things in Google: there way of working, their amazing office which was uniquely built with bunker beds and saunas and their culture.

-              Aryaman Dewan Form 9

When I looked at the Google Headquarters outside, I thought that it was just another typical, boring office with people wearing formal dresses, but when I was inside, I thought of only one thing, “Is this an office or a mini amusement park?!” There were so much of cool stuff to look at, learn and even play, as there were games like air hockey and table tennis. I wish this trip never ended but sadly it had to end. But who knows, maybe there might be another field trip coming soon!

-              By Deeksha Rajesh – Form 8

 Visiting the Google headquarters was an amazing experience for me as it opened my mind and made me realize that thinking out of the box and being innovative is very important. The tour around the office was also good and the building was very colorful and creative. This was a very good experience and I would like to visit there again.

-          Rhea Agarwal- Form 9

Sports Update from Pathways School Noida

    Inter School Swimming Competition held at Pathways World School Aravali

The following students participated in Inter School Swimming Competition held at Pathways World School Aravali on 29^th & 30^th September, 2014. Pathways School Noida Swimming Team won 4 Silver and 3 bronze medal in the competition.

Sr	Name	Form		Performance	Position
1	Ansh Anand	5		25 Mts Butterfly	2nd
2	Shubhankar Nehra	3		25 Mts Free Style	3rd
				25 Mts Breast Stroke	2nd
3	Vanshika Goel			25 Mts Back Stroke	2nd
		7		4x25 Mts Free Style Relay	3rd
				4x25 Mts Medlay Relay	2nd
4	Harshita Gupta	6		4x25 Mts Free Style Relay	3rd
				4x25 Mts Medlay Relay	2nd
5	Arti Khurana	6		4x25 Mts Free Style Relay	3rd
				4x25 Mts Medlay Relay	2nd
6	Navya Gupta	5		4x25 Mts Medlay Relay	2nd
7	Snigdha Khurana	7		4x25 Mts Free Style Relay	3rd

  DP Boys Inter  IB School Sports Competition held at GD Goenka World School, Sohna Road, Gurgaon 

24 of our students participated in the GD GOENKA INTER IB SCHOOLS SPORTS COMPETITION from 24^th-26^th September, 2014, in Soccer, Basketball and Swimming. Our Soccer Team reached the semifinals and our Swimming Team consisting of Ayush Dev, Nirvaan Krishnan, Ishaan Khandelwal and Nikhil Dutta won 3 Gold Medals, 1 Silver & 1 Bronze Medal. Ayush Dev was also adjudged the Best Swimmer (Boys). The schools participated in the competition were Ullens School, Nepal, Cathedra John School, Lonavala, GD Goenka World School and Pathways World School, Aravali.

Sr.no	Name of Students	Form		Events	Position
1	Ayush Dev	12		100Mts Freestyle	1st Position
				25Mts Breast Stroke	1st Position
				4x25Mts Freestyle relay	2nd Position
2	Nirvaan Krishnan	12		50Mts Freestyle	1st Position
				4x25Mts Freestyle relay	2nd Position
3	Ishaan Khandelwal	12		50Mts Freestyle	3rd Position
				4x25Mts Freestyle relay	2nd Position
4	Nikhil Datta	11		4x25Mts Freestyle relay	2nd Position