By Ayesha Hassanwalia | Project Coordinator
Nishu Anand from P.N Anglo High School, Patna. A family tree project stood out from the pile of hundreds of skills projects. We looked at the beautiful shades of orange, yellow and brown make the most unusual but beautiful tree impression on a large piece of cheap white paper. As we started monitoring the first activity skills projects handed in by the children, we saw a parchment similarly made just as beautiful. We realized it was the same boy whose unique sense of design and skill stood out in all his work and was easily identifiable. In fact we realized that he possibly used the same three colours because he didn’t possess any others. The confident, powerful strokes with the great combinations and aesthetic use of the colours surprised us, as his skill and ability paralleled professional designer work we had seen before. We wondered if he himself knew how talented he was... we visited his school to give him an award and are talking to the local newspaper to print photos of him and his artwork.
Md Shahid Raza, Miller High School, Patna
As we sat monitoring the fourth activity for Jaane Kyun?, we realized that this activity was particularly multilayered, having many different elements to evaluate as it’s a group activity. The more activities we saw, small parts were sometimes being left out or some concepts seemed unclear, even though the effort and attempt was apparent. We finally came across one activity which was complete in every way and beautiful and creative as well. Each aspect of it was included the way it was supposed to be. Concepts were surprisingly clear and very well presented, and each step of the activity, including little pointers and notes given in the instructions had been clearly and creatively presented. As we looked for the names of the group of students who had made this project, we saw only one name and realized that it was only one child that had done the entire project: Md Shahid Raza. We were very surprised he had completed the project by himself, it could not have been an easy task. It would take an exceptional child, to be able to do this. We sent him a personal postcard and went to visit his school to congratulate him and his teacher.
One afternoon, our Master Trainer Sarwat received a phone call and had an extended, hearty and enthusiastic conversation with the school teacher, Mrs. Sangeeta Sinha, P.N Anglo High School, Patna. She had apparently just called to tell Sarwat that she, while going though the Teacher Manual to prepare for the second activity Entrepreneurs are Everywhere, realized that this activity was very different from what her students were used to, so she had come up with her own solution. She took two days before that Saturday to do the whole activity at home, so by Saturday she had a sample project ready. After the story was read in all the classes, everyone was explained what to do next for their activity and she walked around to all the sections showing them the sample project she had made so that they were clear about what to do. It would have been one of their first group activities, in which they had to go out into their neighbourhoods and interview a local entrepreneur and then write a newspaper article about him/her. She happily told Sarwat that the students had already submitted their newspapers and had made them beautifully as well as correctly, and she was ready to submit them to us. She had called Sarwat to reassure her that the students were able to do even the second activity and there was nothing to worry about. And inspired teacher can make a huge difference.
Pooja Kumari from Gandhi Arya Kanya Uchha Vidyalaya, Mansoor Ganj, Patna.
As our team sat in our office buried under projects, charts and papers, Abha passed me a small and flimsy booklet to evaluate. Still trying to find a universal way to evaluate the ‘presentations’ of these projects as it was still the first activity, The Little Box of Big Skills, I picked up the booklet and began reading the neatly written paragraph stories and realized exactly how subjective this process can be. As I flipped the pages I realized that the paper had uneven edges, and the project was actually pieces of scrap paper torn neatly and stapled together. I read through the stories and they were beautiful and original, explaining the skills in very unique but accurate ways. At the back of each story were drawings in pencil also representing what happens in the stories. It was a complete and creative skills project which when we began to evaluate and give marks, we gave Pooja 11/12, one of the highest marks we had ever given. Pooja is brilliant.
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