Newsletter | September 2020

Inside this issue

S E P T E M B E R

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2 AFS School Member Highlights School of the Month- Shris English medium School, Anand. See how they focus on crea ng an environment to nurture and develop the children into life-long learners and mould them into caring and compassionate members of the society.

3-5 School Ac vity – AFS India MasterChef – Exchanging Cultures and Cuisines. More than 1000 students were part of this mega event. Also, read about Virtual Class exchange with our AFS Brazil partner – an educa ve learning experience for the students and educators.

6 Hos ng Stories Sec on highlights the Host Family and Counselor Orienta ons – Thank you dear trainers and volunteers for conduc ng the sessions for our Host families. Looking forward to our host students 6-7 In the Joy of Volunteering, explore Cultural Grip Over Virtual Trip between AFS India and AFS Malaysia. Experience Fog Pain ng And Mandala Art Fun Ac vi es by Nashik Chapter Volunteers and read how AFSer, Raminder Kaur Mac, Dean -- Interna onal Affairs, Choithram School, Indore has been conferred with CBSE Teacher Award for the year 2019 - 2020. She says, "AFS has indeed played a pivotal role in shaping my career path and enhancing my learning curve."

Shristi English Medium School, Anand Address: Twinkling Stars Kindergarten & Shris English Medium School, Survey No. 510/4, Lambhvel Road, Anand Phone No. 91-9510 212 744 E-mail: shris 2004@gmail.com Website: www.shris .edu.in Shris English Medium School, situated in Anand, Gujarat is an Educa onal Hub that works with a vision to create an environment to nurture and develop our children into life-long learners and mould them into caring and compassionate members of the society. The School strives to integrate Experien al Learning in the classroom learning.

In early childhood, children learn to regulate their emo ons and social rela onships and integrate their emo ons and behaviour. At Primary Level, the teachers plan out ac vi es that are structured as well as unstructured and a blend of both develops various skills such as crea vity, decision making, social skills and many more. Play-Way method is an important tool for elementary age children to engage them in academic and non-academic ac vi es.

As the children progress towards the Middle Level, we find that culturally relevant and meaningful experiences add to their skill development. It is well understood that during middle and higher level educa on, the youth s ll have high sensi vity to peer influence that may allow a healthy development with the support from school and home. Hence, intercultural educa on is encouraged that helps in professional and personal growth of students and educators.

Hos ng of students from abroad through AFS has had an immense impact on the learning of students and teachers alike. Intercultural competence helps students to become more empathe c and flexible.

Empathy helps us understand others and view the world from their Page 02 | September 2020 | Newsle er | AFS India

perspec ve, as well as to be sensi ve to their needs. This par cular skill is very much essen al to today's situa on where Corona has spread globally.

It is observed that Out-Of-School learning programs during adolescence increases the level of cri cal understanding, develops confidence, adds to crea vity of their mind and inculcates the quality of leadership – a significant quality indices. Students may not immediately recognize and realize that these Out-Of-School programs are important for their growth, but gradually they discover their strengths during the course of their par cipa on which prompt them to develop new interests, which in later life help them in their professional growth.

Educa on gives us the chance to understand that we are all ed together as ci zens of the global community and that our challenges are inter-connected. Flexibility focuses on knowing how to behave in the changing environments, dealing with a wide range of social situa ons and being able to adapt using appropriate behavior. The School encourages and prompts their students to par cipate in global programs as and when they are announced by AFS India and other organiza ons. Parents are counselled in this regard. Such programs are given due significance as 'Intercultural learning' establishes a more crea ve and healthy environment, where students and educators learn to accept and respect differences.

Hos ng of students from abroad helps the teachers to get prepared and face challenges to provide them a 'home away from home'. This enables them to develop their own global competencies by first understanding their culture and considering themselves as a product of that culture. The en re school community is enriched when diverse cultures interact and learn from one another.

of chopping and preparing for the dish, and of course, the final presenta on, which is judged on pla ng & innova on. In the end, we had a Winner and a Runner-up for each day for the Finale Round.

We express hear elt gra tude for the support extended by the schools, the parents, judges and our friends from Paraguay to make this program a success.

Schools AFS India MasterChef Exchanging Cultures & Cuisines The power of food is beyond its physical purpose; not only it can sa sfy hunger, but also it can unite people for special occasions, such as fes vals, holidays and events. AFS India Masterchef was designed to promote intercultural learning through cuisines. Through this ini a ve, we brought the world li le closer by teaming up with AFS Paraguay; AFS volunteers from Paraguay were invited to share the local recipes through Zoom during the two-day finale of AFS India MasterChef.

During this lockdown, the children are spending me at home helping the family in the kitchen, they developed interest and passion for cooking. We provided an avenue to these young chefs to showcase their culinary skills.

We received an immense response from 1000+ students in the first Elimina on Round. The students shared the recipe and the pictures of the dish cooked. An 11-Member Review Commi ee was formed to review these applica ons from 36 schools in India. A er a rigorous screening, 6 top finalists were selected for the finale round of live cooking through Zoom The Finale Round that took place on 10th & 11th September 2020, was a concoc on of compe ve spirit and desire to learn more about the influence of mixed cultures - similari es and differences in flavours and dishes highlight the importance of intercultural influences across India & con nents. The invited judges gave points on all aspects of cooking: keeping your cooking sta on neat, the art

I have to tell you that for me it was a real honour and a great pleasure to be able to become a part of this beau ful project of AFS INDIA MASTERCHEF 2020. It's a great way to reinforce the friendship between our countries. I felt very comfortable and welcome in your wonderful group and I hope this encounter becomes the beginning of many others in the future.

- Juan Antonio Ramón Ozuna Díaz, AFS Volunteer, Paraguay The 'MasterChef Compe on' organized by AFS India, saw ac ve par cipa on by the students of our school. It was wonderful to see the finalists in the finale round presen ng their dishes. Such ac vi es promote a cosmopolitan culture and a healthy environment with peace, harmony and tolerance for the society. It further commands respect for different cultures and communi es. The food from different parts of the world connect people irrespec ve of all boundaries and borders. AFS India deserves accolades for their commendable efforts to conduct such ac vi es.

- Nidhi Dewan, Educator, The Mann School, Delhi Thanks to the AFS India Team for hos ng the MasterChef compe on and we are glad that our student was part of the final round. It was a wonderful experience and a special thank you for all the help and support.

- Torali Baruah, Educator, Assam Valley School, Tezpur These children have amazing culinary skills and must con nue working on them to prepare such deligh ul dishes. Thank you AFS India.

- Mr Arpit Panjwani, Director, Maa Anandmayee Memorial School, Dehradun (Judge of Finale Round)

PRESENTERS OF THE FINAL ROUND & RESULTS

WINNER

RUNNER-UP 1

RUNNER-UP 2

From Paraguay

B. Vardhan

Ri ka Sahu

Anant Laad

Juan Antonio Ramón Ozuna Díaz

Class 7 | The Hyderabad Public School, Ramanthpur

Grade 10 | Springfield World School, Vidisha

Grade 9 | Elpro Interna onal School

Paraguayan Dish: Sopa Paraguaya

South Indian Chaat: A Complete Mid-Day Meal

Indian Chaat: Ragda Chat

Indian Sweet Dish: Rasmalai

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WINNER From Paraguay

Adriana Cassanello Jure (Mery) Paraguayan Dish: Mbeju

RUNNER-UP 1

RUNNER-UP 2

Geet Manocha

Himanshi Malik

Kushagra Jain

Grade 7 | Pathway World School, Gurgaon

Grade 9 | The Assam Valley School, Tezpur

Grade 8 | Delhi Public School, Indore

North Indian Dish: Chiken Tikka

North-Eastern India Dish: Chambai

Dish: Swiss Checker’s Cake

ROUND 1 JUDGES Elimina on Round JUDGES

Jalpa Shah Anand Chapter

Pallavi Dave Anand Chapter

Deepika Narasimha Bangalore Chapter

Kashmira Kole Bangalore Chapter

Gul Mehra Delhi Chapter

Manvi Gupta Delhi Chapter

Sweta Sadhu Gandhinagar Chapter

Vaishali Joshi Indore Chapter

Mrunali Desai Mumbai Chapter

Sangita Kangune Nashik Chapter

Kavita Shah Rajkot Chapter

ROUND 2 JUDGES Final Round

Arpit Panjwani Director: Maa Anandmayee Memorial School, Dehradun Page 04 | September 2020 | Newsle er | AFS India

Mausumi Mahanta Principal: Maria’s Public School, Guwaha

in Brazil, along with a very fun and interac ve Quiz session.

A er the presenta ons, we had an interac ve ques on-answer session, where both students and teachers asked ques ons to each other about a wide range of topics such as culture, educa on, personal interests and so on. This session provided the students with an opportunity to know about a different na on, their personal likes and dislikes along with their people in great detail, leading to a very warm and healthy bond which was formed with the Brazilians during the course of the en re session. The exchange program has given the students informa on and lots of beau ful memories.

- Ms. Samiksha Periwal (Student Par cipant)

Virtual Class Exchange - Brazil Amidst these uncertain mes of turmoil across the world, students and teachers are at the fore of astruggle to deal with the pandemic while handling their academic responsibili es as well. Everyone is yearning for a return to the mes when we interacted in classrooms, discussing, and deba ng on varioustopics. At such a point, our school Lakshmipat Singhania Academy had given us an opportunity toindulge in an exci ng, enriching and unique experience of having a virtual student exchange program with Brazil. The exchange was held on 27th August 2020 between Flores da Cunha, Brazil and Lakshmipat Singhania Academy, Kolkata, India. Everyone had worked hard to present a wonderful presenta on on India with a live cooking session, tradi onal art presenta on by our teacher in charge and a tradi onal Indian Dance performance by one of the students’. All the par cipants involved put up a great show for the Brazilians on the day of the event with a lot of zeal and enthusiasm. During the virtual exchange, the other side had prepared videos which gave us an insight on the kind of learning and educa on pa ern followed

The mee ng of two schools on two con nents set very far away from each other yet facing the same type of situa ons was very significant. The warmth of the Brazilian volunteers and teachers came through despite the airwaves. It was also an amazing experience to see how the students of Brazil school through very simple ways introduced their school, their town and their country. It is worth emula ng. The students of Lakshmipat Singhania Academy, Kolkata were not lagging either. They through their presenta on tried to give the Brazilian students a comprehensive picture of India's art, culture, dance, cuisine et al.

Hopefully, this was just a beginning and we have reciprocal visits once the mes and climes are be er.

- Kanak Shankar Mukherjee (Kolkata Chapter Volunteer)

Educa ng Ac ve Global Ci zens To Make A Real Difference Page 05 | September 2020 | Newsle er | AFS India

Host Family and Counselor Orienta on

Hosting Stories

We are very happy to share with you that we have successfully completed our Host family and Counselor Orienta on with our respec ve 13 Hos ng Chapter, we would like to Warmly thank to all our wonderful hos ng coordinators and Trainers who helped us to organize the orienta on.

The trainers showed the presenta on and shared their experience with the Host family and counselors and cleared their doubts, also explained in detail about Covid19 specific FAQs for Host family.

Cultural Grip Over Virtual Trip | A Pathway Towards Building a Global World

To make this program a unique one all segments were kept as engaging as possible with the view of involving our friends from Malaysia. (As that is what Mumbai is all about - it doesn't feel you le out). The videos specially curated and games specifically ideated & designed to suit every palate.

(AFS India Mumbai Chapter & AFS Malaysia 5th September 2020 & 12th September 2020)

Day 1: 5th September 2020

By Anjum Panna, Volunteer, Mumbai Chapter “When you belong to a place, you are not just a resident who avails the benefits of what the place has to offer, but you grow with the place un l it starts residing within you. Then, with wherever you go, the number of people you meet, you always carry the pride of being a na ve of that place.

Under normal circumstances just a few of us would have got a chance to take our city to theirs and bring a li le bit of theirs back home. But due to this pandemic, we could connect in large numbers with a beau ful country known for its beaches, rainforests & beau fully blended cultures - Malaysia.

We Mumbaikars jump at any opportunity we get to talk about our city. Not just because we take pride in being Mumbaikars but the variety this city offers, makes ourselves marvel at the existence of this place.

This programme was spearheaded by The Mumbai Chapter President – Ms. Sabita Kotenkar & involved volunteers from two schools of Mumbai Pragnya Bodhini High School & S M She y School.

The first mee ng amongst the Mumbai chapter volunteers had ideas pouring in from everyone. Food, travel, music, fes vals, leisure, entertainment, people, employment... and the list was exhaus ve. However, when we gave a thought about the objec ve of this exchange program, it boiled down to one word - Experience.

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Beginning with a glimpse of India & Maharashtra we delved into the sounds of the City. For any place you visit, it's the aroma and cacophony of the place that welcomes you.

Further making them feel the thrill of Mumbai locals by engaging them in answering ques ons to an audio story, the next segment which was about sha ering some myths people have about our City actually paved way for our friends from Malaysia too to clear out the myths that people have about them. Later, a er listening to what people from other parts of India think about Mumbai - we concluded day 1 with One common factor we share - SRK. Day 1 ended on a high note, and we had made a promise that we will discover many more things that bind us together in the coming session.

Day 2: 12th September 2020 The second day opened with a melodious song of the city and seamlessly swerved into knowing about Bollywood, the fes vals the food with a live demonstra on of Pani puri , the language slang, special messages from some famous Rjs and We hope we lived up to our promise when we spoke about the how this pandemic made us face the similar challenges and has got us closer as a human race.

The last segment which was an amalgama on of all the beau ful features/characteris cs we share as na ons in a song - le us all in smiles - the best was when we all sang the 'similarity song' together.

So during these three hours spread over two days, we surely exchanged informa on but we also listened, ques oned, evaluated, communicated, collaborated, analysed. and empathised thus accomplishing the objec ve of any exchange programme - of helping us evolve as a global ci zen and hone the skills we need as ci zen of the 21st century.

response, is - how the city made them feel. And that is exactly we were looking to offer. We wanted our fellow partners from Malaysia to go back with an experience through this virtual exchange – and from the enthusias c par cipa on in large numbers on both days we are affirma ve, we could deliver it!”

Culture is the window reflec ng the history, culture and spiritual world of a na on. Cultural exchange is a bridge to enhance the mutual understanding and friendship between the people of different cultures and na ons.

- HU Jintao Culture is the thing that we can exchange among ourselves as human beings to knock aside our differences and build upon our similari es.

Mumbai as a city has a rich history, when people visit here, they collect informa on, click pictures, go back with a bunch of pamphlets. However a few years later when asked about their visit to the city, all they gather in those few seconds of processing their

Fog Pain ng And Mandala Art Fun Ac vi es

By Manisha Bhole, Vice President, Nashik Chapter “Being a volunteer of AFS India, every ac vity has made me express and to be a be er human being. Nashik Chapter has arranged some ac vi es in August for involvement of volunteers. When I saw pre planning of the Pain ng Session, I thought about students at my school. My school is in a rural area and we do not have a special drawing teacher in school, s ll every year students take the exam.

Shivaji Shinde, the president of Nashik Chapter, Neha Pa l and Master Rajat Adhav also gave On 30th August Neha Pa l and Master Rajat Adhav took a very beau ful session of ‘Fog pain ng’ and ‘Mandala Art’ for almost 2 hours. 20 students had a ended and enjoyed the session with other volunteers. All students were very happy to learn new things and on a similar day, some of them had sent me their work of Mandala Art. I was extremely happy that Neha and Rajat also enjoyed with students and were ready for doing more sessions for students.

Students told their parents about this and our school commi ee decided to give prizes for all students who a ended the session.

School has given an apprecia on le er for the wonderful work.

They are not much aware of digital learning because they are from tribal areas. This session gave them the confidence and much more.

My Special Thanks To Neha Pa l, Rajat Adhav and AFS India.”

Cultural exchange is the ul mate exchange - Chuck D

CBSE Teacher Award 2019-20 Raminder Kaur Mac, Dean -- Interna onal Affairs, Choithram School, Indore has been conferred with CBSE Teacher Award for the year 2019 2020. With the recogni on, she has men oned htat AFS has played a pivotal role in shaping her career and equipping her with intercultural competence. She further adds, “Volunteering with AFS from the year 2013 has equipped me with requisite skills to develop intercultural competence as I learnt to adapt, accept and respect people of different cultures. The intercultural competence acquired in the process has helped me to reach out to the students of my school and help them celebrate cultural differences by accep ng people of different cultures in the school as well as when they go on exchange programmes. Arranging various programmes for exchange students to experience the Indian culture has benefited me in reaching out to the community and coming closer to my culture. I have developed a wider perspec ve towards life and honed my organiza on and management skills. Counselling exchange students has enabled me to reach out to students belonging to a different culture, staying away from their families for a year and ac ng as a bridge between the host families and them.

Ac ng as their confidant and advocate, I have assured them of the best experience possible by tailoring schedules to fit their needs.

Working with the wonderful AFS volunteers of the city and the country has assisted me to interact with like-minded educators who are working on a common goal of empowering the young minds with 21st century skills. I shall always remain indebted to the organiza on for providing me with an enrapturing opportunity to visit Germany for the Volunteer Development Programme adding new dimension to my global competence learning. AFS has indeed played a pivotal role in shaping my career path and enhancing my learning curve.”

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Suresh Ketawath from Hyderabad