“Education must, be not only a transmission of culture but also a provider of alternative views of the world and a strengthener of the will to explore them”.– Jerome Bruner
SAI International organizes ‘Your Turn’ meet every week with its international partner School in Japan. Both SAI International School and SAI International Residential School participated in this week’s ‘Your Turn’ Meeting with Jr. & Sr. High School of Kogakuin University, Tokyo. The topic of discussion was on the hush topic of ‘legalized abortion and where each country stands’ on this issue.
Students brought about various crucial points of discussion such as; they presented data and statistics of legalized abortion in each country, laws and regulations in both countries, how culturally acceptable is this thought? And is it morally right or is it considered a taboo in each country? and finally, does it have an impact on the teenagers of each country?
It was a very pertinent and a thoughtful topic to be discussed and even turned intense when the students debated this moral issue. It was good to see that students from India as well as Japan spoke on women’s rights to child birth choice. This meeting got children closer to the culture and belief of Japan. They understood that both the countries have similar lines of thought on women and child care. The SAIoneers also discussed the issues of girl child in India. It was indeed a great learning experience for the students of both the countries as they found that many laws were similar in both India and Japan.
SAI International School, has once again bagged the Green School Award for the 10th consecutive year on January 24, 2021. The coveted award was presented from the Plant Lovers’ Association, Bhubaneswar. This year too, the School won the 1st Prize for School Garden (minimum 1000 square feet category) and the ‘Milan Memorial Running Trophy’ for the Best School Garden at the 33rd State level Annual Flower Show 2021. It was jointly organized by Regional Plant Resource Centre and Plant Lovers ‘Association, Bhubaneswar.
The Annual Competition organized by the Plant Lover’s association of the city saw schools, teaching and training institutions, residential buildings, corporate offices, government offices as well as public gardens and nurseries participate with great enthusiasm.
Principal Shri Prakash Sahoo received this honor on the behalf of the entire school. Extremely happy to be the recipients, the school reiterates its commitment for preserving the much needed green mantle of the planet and pledges to work continuously on winning the award year after year.
The lush green gardens, rows of blooming flowers, lines of trees and medicinal plants adorn around 30,000 sqft of the entire area. It is a real treat to see an array of seasonal flowers like Salvia, Cosmos, Petunia, Lilium etc, medicinal plants like Amla, Ashoka, Tulsi, Heena, Harida, Bahada etc or trees like Pistachio, Lagerstroemia, Bakul, various Palms, Goli Chandan etc in one campus, apart from a wide ranging variety of rose, chrysanthemum, jasmine, marigold etc and decorative plants.
With a huge area dedicated specially for gardening and planting new saplings on every auspicious occasion, the entire staff and students sincerely devote themselves to maintain the greenery and beauty of the institution. From conserving water to increasing recycling, paying attention to nutrition and fitness and integrating those lessons across the curriculum, SAI International School has made a considerable commitment to address the major environmental challenges in today’s world.
SAI is an ardent believer of ‘Clean City, Green City’ and tries to instill the love for nature among the students and staff by creating a perfect ambience since its inception. It encourages the students to plant saplings in the school and nurture them as well as go for various plantation drives in and around the city. For its painstaking effort to maintain greenery, the school has been highly appreciated and has won various awards for several years in a row.
“The best way to predict the future is to create it.” —Abraham Lincoln
SAI International School has successfully conducted a Virtual Career Fest with Class XII students for two hours on January 20, 2021 between 4pm to 6pm.
There were 8 distinguished participating universities from across India which interacted and engaged students with a wide variety of exciting career opportunities available for Class of 2021, educating them on the new age degree and undergraduate programmes and the admissions processes. The participating universities were Plaksha University, Shiv Nadar University, MIT University Shillong, Flame University, Bennett University, Ecole Intuit Lab Ahmedabad University and Mahindra University.
The session was very useful to the students, for getting to know about the different blend of courses, internships that is being offered along with placement opportunities by different universities. Students were glad that while being in middle of an unprecedented educational environment, SAI International School leaves no stones unturned to combat the hard times with still creating space for engaging students with relevant and up-to-date information. Representatives from the various Universities, briefed on the admissions process, multidisciplinary courses which are research-focused, and student-centric University offering a full range of academic programs at the undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral level.
They also showed a video on campus tour, going ahead to highlight on their students Bachelors program- Sustainable Design, Liberal Studies and Science and technology. Balanced curriculum with engineering and management courses. Shiv Nadar University – University representatives briefed on the admissions process, multidisciplinary courses which are research-focused, and student-centric University offering a full range of academic programs at the undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral level. Hence it gives interesting combinations and choices of courses for the path forward in future.
Benett University briefed on courses, scholarship, fee structure, placement opportunities and Curriculum design to adopt to Global Best Services.
Mahindra University gave a briefing on Btech engineerng courses they offer, admissions based on merit and the scores in the JEE (Main) or SAT score / ACT / SAT Subject Test scores. It also gives interdisciplinary academic excellence integrating the study of science and technology with humanities, ethics and philosophy, and design.
Ahmedabad University representatives spoke on a learning environment is based on cross-disciplinary linkages between the arts, sciences, and professional disciplines it offers, admission process, fee structure and placement opportunities.
Speaking on the event, Dr. Bijaya Kumar Sahoo, was elated to see the event was successful and SAIoneers had questions seeking answers , as even the post-pandemic, pre-vaccine stage students want their doubts cleared from Universities directly. Parents too are quite concerned on what to expect and how to identify the right career choice for their wards. Undeniably the events of the last year have jolted everyone in terms of individual expectations management to be better prepared.
“Dreams are core to all of us, importantly imagine what you want to be and then act on it at the earliest. You can surely do it, if you believe in them, your proactive choices made at the right juncture of our lives, makes all the difference” in Dr. Bijaya Kumar Sahoo, Founder SAI International Education Group.
A highly positive exchange of communication helped the students to get a fair idea of what to expect on the other side of the pandemic. The uncertainty would have to be put aside, and students are expected to gear up and approach with planning as this time will go down in the annals of history as an event that all of us faced and survived too!
“Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less,” – Marie Currie
The Going Global Club of SAI International School conducted the ‘Your Turn ‘Meeting with our partner Round Square School from Japan, Jr. & Sr. High School of Kogakuin University located in Tokyo after the Winter Holiday. A group of 10 students and teachers met for about one hour to wish each other Happy New Year and talk about their New Year’s Resolutions, following a very interactive and healthy discussion. Students from both countries agreed that they should continue working on the personal skills they had built during the Pandemic while adding new skills.
It was only fitting to see the students of both schools discussing on various dimensions of this unprecedented situation: how the corona virus outbreak is affecting their daily lives, how we can all help one another during the crisis and what thoughts and stories on the term “social distancing” conjures for them, ultimately they wish Corona could just disappear the way it had arrived.
The SAIONEERs discussed on several insights and learnings of the year gone by and how one should actual begin this year and how things will shape up in 2021? There was a discussion on the possibility of extinction of COVID 19 for erasing all past wrongs of the world and understanding each other’s countries and cultures better.
The Japanese school went on to share their New Year’s Resolutions which included expanding knowledge, learning a new hobby, making new friends from other countries and becoming more confident. Students from both countries agreed that they should continue working on the personal skills they had built during the Pandemic while adding new skills. This meeting was truly delightful and it was wonderful seeing our friends from Japan after so many days was extremely joyful.
Speaking on the event, Dr Bijaya Kumar Sahoo, Founder SAI International Education Group states “ We must build in resilience and capability in all our young learners to be able to face any future calamity for uninterrupted learning ”. He was very happy that students from both schools interacted and had a chance to address their concerns while being located across different countries and different time zones.
SAI International School resumed classes for students of Classes X and XII on Friday,January 8, 2021.After a gap of nine months as schools have reopened in the state, in compliance with State Government SOPs. The students were naturally brimming with excitement to be able to see their friends and teachers after a very long gap of many months. The vibrant energy and positivity was clearly visible on the faces of each and every student, teachers and staff .The long await was finally over, post-pandemic schools received back the actual treasures our school our SAIoneers.
The students were very impressed to be welcomed back to school with such neat absolute protocol adherence, in the post-pandemic situation. Students really appreciated the manner in which the arrangements had been done by the school keeping the safety and security concern in mind. To bring in sweetness in beginning back again, students were handed chocolates and under complete vigilance guided to their respective classrooms. The strict instruction of keeping distance from other students and admission of not more than 20 students in a classroom was ensured by school authorities.
Digital thermometer readings to measure the body temperature, for all students, teachers and staff, were taken at the entrance of the school, mandatory as per govt. guidelines. The re-opening was approached in a staggered manner, with multiple checkpoints to take precautionary measures, as required. Strict protocols were followed for students from wearing masks, washing hands at frequent intervals to mandatory social distancing, almost giving a formal colour to their first day in school, as we reopened today. The transport service too, resumed, buses began to ply students as per the government guidelines. At the time of boarding and exiting the buses, students were put through a rountine temperature check and hand sanitization. The students could resume classes in the school campus only after submitting the consent letters from the parents. The classrooms, corridors and toilets were sanitized every two hours and classes were conducted for limited hours as necessary, as per the Govt guidelines.
Shree Santosh Naik, Block Education Officer, was present at the time of re-opening of the school. He was very happy to note all government advised protocols had been followed strictly by the school authorities, with proper social distancing being maintained amongst students , wearing masks had been adhered to, sanitizer units had been set up to assist all. He was elated to see students joining back classes so enthusiastically while being welcomed back so warmly by their teachers and the whole atmosphere was very encouraging to one and all.
We look forward for conducting unhindered classes to continue in the best interest of our students, as going forward we hope education doesn’t take a hit, especially with the board exams round the corner, in a post-pandemic scenario. With the Vaccine coming in and all the positivity going around we wish the school opens up completely for all its Students and the school misses each of its SAIoneers around.
Dr.Bijaya Kumar Sahoo, Founder and Mentor of SAI International was elated to welcome the SAIoneers of classes X and XII. He said that, “The school is finally open and we are ready to overcome all hurdles and function the way we did pre-pandemic. We are hopeful that we will be able to enlighten each mind with the Power of Education”.
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