Jamshedpur, April 28: In this fast developing world of challenges, if teachers are to help students to cope up, they must be equally competent themselves and have to become the facilitators of change.
In order to stimulate the minds of the educators of nearly 15 schools of Jamshedpur, and to see how they perceived the changing times, the theme for each competition was The Wings of Change.
Nearly 200 teachers took part in various events on Saturday at Tarapore School in Agrico, which showcased their talents in singing, dancing, debate, photography, poetry writing, art and yes, even a historical ramp walk.
The Chief Guests for the day were B.D. Bodhanwala, Managing Trustee and Ms. Rubina Bodhanwala, Trustee, Narbod Educational Foundation.
Several events were held during the day including -Let the Good Times Roll, in which the participants had to sing along to a kitchen orchestra, depicting the change in music with the times. The winners of this event were the host school, Tarapore School.
The next event was Dancing Divas in which the teachers had to depict the story of ‘The Woman’. The variety of depictions made it very difficult for judges to choose. Again, Tarapore School bagged the first prize.
Both these events were judged by Ms. Behroze Gazder and Ms Rituparna Roy.
Simultaneously, some teachers took part in Colouring Our Future, wherein they had to paint a pot to make it look attractive and then sell it to the judges in a convincing manner. The winners of this event were from D.B.M.S. Kadma School.
There was even a cartoon making contest entitled Creative Crafting through which the teachers had to depict the change in teenagers from ‘students’ to ‘studs’. Here Tarapore School walked off with the first prize.
Drama Diaries was another on-stage event which had participants enacting a nukkad natak with the theme of the change of seasons, an event which was won by J H Tarapore School. The judges for this event were Ms. Shonali Goswami and Ms. Mitali Chopra.
This was followed by a lively debate on the topic ‘Stress Levels are Rising with the Times’. Some spoke for the motion and some against. The debate was conducted by Nakul Sood and was won by the D.B.M.S. English School team. The best speaker was, however, from Tarapore School.
Some other off-stage events included- Back in a Flash, photography cum presentation making event, which was won by J.H.Tarapore School, and Playing our Strengths, a tug-of-war competition won by J.H.Tarapore School.
The Hindi poetry writing was much appreciated by the judges, Ms. Behroze Gazder and Ms Seema Sinha, and was won by Gulmohar School.
Finally there was a Walk of Fame, a ramp walk depicting any famous character from history, which was won by the J.H.Tarapore School.
However, the most enjoyable event was the one for senior leaders. About 10 Principals, Vice-Principals, Directors from the various schools were asked to participate in this non-competitive event in which they had to complete four tasks.
The first one was to communicate by signals to one teacher from their school, the name of a movie. Next, to find the pages of a chapter, put it in order and file it.
The third task was to treadle a garland of flowers while chanting a tongue-twister and finally to burst two or three balloons before returning to their chairs.
This event was thoroughly enjoyed by the teachers who saw their leaders struggle to complete the event, bringing out the multi-tasking nature of the job of a leader.
After the tally of scores of first, second and third places, the winners for the event were J.H.Tarapore School, having the highest score, followed by a tie between Tarapore School and D.B.M.S. English School.
The event was largely successful due to the bonding and comraderie that was evident throughout the morning, between school teachers.
Everyone present there, felt the happy buzz of engagement and healthy competition. Tarapore School thought of this initiative in order to stimulate the minds of the teachers and also to bring the teachers of Jamshedpur together in a unique, first of a kind event, and both objectives were ably met through Gurukool 2015.