Makes a Difference Through Community Service
The students of Anand Niketan Satellite campus proved that school life is not merely about projects, classes and examinations, sometimes it is also about helping others. The students of 8th grade were assigned a novel project, by their teacher Ms. Pratima Sharma, to partake in a community service of their choice during the summer vacations.
The students chose a variety of activities including visiting the destitute and the homeless at a construction site and spending time with them, donating things that they had collected and making them feel wanted and cared for.
Another group collected old newspapers and sold them to purchase slippers which were then distributed to the maids in the school. Some of them went to the Prakash Foundation for the mentally retarded and not only made donations that they had collected but also contributed their time by sitting and playing with them and talking to them for long periods of time.
When they saw that their work was making a difference in their otherwise morose lives, they arranged for a musical program in which the inmates participated with unbelievable gusto and enthusiasm. One of the class groups managed to collect twenty thousand rupees which was used to buy rations, school books and stationery for the disadvantaged children of the Visamo Kids Foundation.
A visit to Bhagvat VidyaPeeth proved to be a tear jerking eye opener for the kids who met children who had either lost their parents or were victims of human trafficking.One of the students said that although he had taken it up as a school project he would henceforth make it a regular habit and also motivate and inspire his friends to join him. It is a truly commendable activity undertaken by the school.
Director of the Anand Niketan Group of schools Ms. Nashy Chauhan speaking to this reporter said that the Community Service initiative was a wonderful opportunity for the students to cultivate a sense of sympathy, concern and compassion for their less fortunate brethren and it gave them a chance to connect with them on a beneficial and meaningful level.
She further added that community service projects have been an important and integral part of Anand Niketan for many years now, ever since she introduced the value education program called 'ANTS Treasury Of Values' in the school.
She said that she had noticed a palpable difference in the students after the initiation of the program. She noticed that the students learned to respect others, became helpful and kind, developed leadership skills and became more tolerant with a better understanding of human values of sharing, caring and empathy.