INTERACT CLUB

PAWAR PUBLIC SCHOOL, BHANDUP

PPSB INTERACT TIMES Dear Readers,

A warm welcome to the Fourth Newsletter of the Interact Club of

Pawar Public School, Bhandup. The Club has given a plethora of

opportunities to its members through workshops, active sessions,

donation drives, field trips and celebrations so that they get moulded

into smart, sensitive and responsible citizens. Our Sponsor Club,

Rotary Club of Mumbai Salt City has been supporting us in all our

endeavours.

PRINCIPAL’S DESK……

In its fourth year , the Interact Club at Pawar

Public School, Bhandup has worked very hard to reach out to the disadvantaged sections of the

society The wide bandwidth of activities are sure to enrich their lives in a profound manner.

I hope and wish that the Club goes from strength to strength in the years to come.

Rotarian Balan Narayanan

Vaishnavi Borulkar, President of the Interact Club (2018-19)

It gives me immense joy and pride to have been the President of the Interact club for

the year 2019-20. I have been able to go beyond the boundaries of our school and

encounter the less fortunate. I’m indeed grateful for this noble opportunity.

Glimpse of the Activities.......

INSTALLATION CEREMONY

The installation ceremony of the interact club for the year 2018-19 was conducted on 10th August,2018.

The ceremony took place in our school auditorium and started at 8:30am in the presence of the President, Secretary and

other dignitaries of the Rotary Club of Mumbai salt city; our respected principal , Mrs. Suma Das, our head mistress

Mrs.Gargi Pal, our coordinators and the parents of the Interact club members.

The comparers for the day briefed the audience about the occasion and the ceremony was inaugurated by our Principal by

lighting the lamp. It was followed by a prayer song and a soulful, melodious welcome song presented by the choir group of

our school, highly appreciated by one and all present. This was followed by the main event of the day i.e., the badging

ceremony. The president, secretary assistant secretary, directors and members of the interact club, were conferred with

their respective badges by the president of the Rotary Club and our Principal amongst loud applause by the audience.

Next the newly elected president of our interact club Ms. Vaishnavi Borulkar, gave a speech thanking all on being elected

as the president and her appreciations. Following this the President of the Rotary Club of Mumbai Salt City, Mr. Balan

Narayanan gave a brief and informative speech about the activities and goals of the Rotary club and wished good luck to

the newly elected office bearers.

Following this, our Principal praised the past activities of the interact club and also emphasised on the positive impact of

the club on the personalities and minds of the member students. She congratulated the office bearers and wished them

success in their endeavours. The closing ceremony comprised of an electrifying dance performance by the students of

grade 8th and 9th grade. The ceremony ended with the vote of thanks and the meeting was adjourned by the newly elected

President of the interact club.

DRAWING COMPETITION

The first meeting of the interact club 2018-2019 was conducted on 13 th August,2018. The members of the Rotaract Club

presided over by President Akshaya Iyer, had joined us and conducted a drawing competition on account of Independence

Day.

Students were asked to assimilate the topics in a very creative manner in their drawings. The topics were the National

Flag, the National flower (Lotus) and the National animal (Tiger).

The students showcased their artistic qualities and took part in the competition enthusiastically. The results of the

competition were to be announced on 29th August, 2018.

GREENSOLES FOOTWEAR COLLECTION DRIVE.

The Interact Club in association with ‘Greensoles Organisation’ had organised a ‘used footwear collection drive’ for the

students of our school from 20th August,2018 to 31st August, 2018. Students and teachers were requested to donate their

used footwear that were in fairly good condition in the blue bins placed in the stilt area by the members of the NGO. The

soles of the footwear had to be in good condition so that it could then be recycled and processed into new ones and

distributed among the needy. The Club was successful in collecting around 50 pairs of shoes. It was a wonderful

opportunity to extend a helping hand to the needy and stand by the motto-‘Reduce, Reuse and Recycle’.

LEADERSHIP WORKSHOP.

A Leadership workshop was conducted by the members of the Rotaract Club on 29th August, 2018. The members

conducted various activities that helped to inculcate leadership skills in the club members. In one activity, students were

divided in groups of 5.

The leaders of the group were instructed tell their members to make creative and beautiful artifacts out of newspapers

given to them in 10 minutes. The leaders were also instructed to create obstacles in the goal achievement of their groups.

At the end of this activity, students realized the importance of choosing a good leader and how to overcome obstacles in

reaching your goal as some groups were able to make all the articles despite the various hindrances created by the leaders.

The second activity was to work in a team and decide a name for

our team, a motto of and a jingle. From this, we learnt the

importance of team work . It was a wonderful session and the students thoroughly enjoyed the insightful activities.

CLEANLINESS DRIVE

The morning was filled with excitement.

Although it was Gandhi Jayanti and a

public holiday, some students who were

really interested in doing something for

the nation; had come to school for the

Cleanliness Drive. We all thought that it

was going to be all about sweeping and

cleaning the roads. Actually it was a

completely different and unique experience! It gave us a feeling of happiness

and peace and a sense of pride as we were doing our part to serve our

country. First of all we all were divided into two groups- the Interact club

members and the rest of the students. In the beginning, some of us were given

masks and brooms, and some of us were given posters, banners, etc.

That day we had also learnt about teamwork and how to divide work among

people in a group when we have limited supplies. I was cleaning the roads outside my school as if I was cleaning my own

house. I felt that that day each one was cleaning the roads with a positive feeling and were engrossed in what they were

doing. And surprisingly we had cleaned the roads more than we had expected! Our friends were spreading useful

messages using posters and microphones. We also had the BMC cleaners to assist us in this cause. We appreciated them

for the work they do every day and they were really thankful for our gratitude towards them. It made us realise that

rather than criticizing the government, if each of us decide to make even ripples of difference, we would be able to create

oceans someday. Really it was a wonderful and a memorable experience. I believe that if each one of us would take an

initiative like this, then I am sure that one day India will be among the cleanest countries of the world.

VISIT TO VATSALYA ORPHANAGE

Interact Club had been to ‘Vatsalya Trust’ orphanage in Kanjurmarg on 2 nd October,2018. There were 16 members

altogether. We had to donate items like moong dal, rawa, washing powder, cardboard boxes and a few stationery items.

Everybody contributed tremendously towards donating things.

There were children ranging from the age of 1-14 years in the orphanage. There were also many new born babies. Some of

the children were unable to speak , some could not walk, some of them were mentally ill and some were differently abled.

We were given an opportunity to interact with the children and the children were curious as well as elated to see us. The

cleanliness and hygiene of the orphanage was maintained very well and the caretakers were also quite friendly and caring

towards the children. We departed to school with sweet memories of the orphanage.

STRESS MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP.

Dr Nishita Choudhari, a clinical psychologist, had visited our

school on 5th December, 2018, to brief our fellow interact club

members on the topic ‘how to deal with exam stress.’ She

showed us a PPT on the topic and talked about the basic study

techniques which we should implement while we are studying

for exams. She told us about the two types of interferences

that serve as a pathway for our distraction; pro-active and

retro-active interferences. She taught us about the basics of

‘goal setting’ and ‘time management’ strategies.

She stressed on important topics such as dividing loads of

work efficiently, skimming and taking power naps in between

studies to boost retrieval of data.

Last but not the least, she concluded by giving us some

effective study tips which would really benefit students like us

in last minute revision. It was an innovative session which

would surely help to overcome exam stress.

VISIT TO RATNA NIDHI CHARITABLE TRUST

Interact club had visited an NGO called ‘The Jaipur Foot Centre’ which is managed by the Ratna Nidhi Charitable Trust.

They specialize in manufacturing artificial and prosthetic limbs for people of all age groups.

They have provided the Jaipur foot, callipers and clutches to more than 200 people free of cost. The main motto of Ratna

Nidhi is to try and help people of the rural areas and slums. It

has also launched its food for education program wherein it

feeds almost 4500 children in schools on a daily basis.

Its sole purpose of launching this program was to improve

the nutrition, attendance, academic performance and weight

of the kids. The interact club members has assisted the NGO

in organising a collection drive in our school for this cause.

The members received an enthusiastic response with an

overall collection of Rs 52490/- which was then donated to

members of Ratna Nidhi.

CAREER GUIDANCE WORKSHOP ON ‘AVIATION’

We were really overwhelmed by the presence of Captain Avinash

Pinto, a commercial pilot by profession. He was invited to speak to

us about ‘Aviation’ as a career option. It was a lecture-cum a

friendly conversation. We got to learn a ton of thrilling and

interesting things from him.

Firstly Mr.Pinto talked about how he aspired to become a pilot when

he was just eight years old. Then he showed us a video about ‘the

life of a pilot’ or ‘why become a pilot?’. After that, he spoke about

the perks of being a pilot which includes interacting with different

people, travelling to new places, facing new challenges every day

and the lessons each day brings.

He also explained in detail about the different parts of the aircraft like the flaps, engines, rudder, wings, nose and tail,

fuselage, small wing, main plane, tail plane, fin and the wheel. He spoke about the International Civil Aviation (ICAO) which

controls Aviation globally and the Director General of Civil Aviation [DGCA] which controls Aviation in India.

A question was asked by a member of our club about turbulence. This question was answered very beautifully by Mr.Pinto.

He explained it in a geographical way and told us that a turbulence is formed because of instability caused due to clouds.

He then guided us about the process involved to be a

pilot which includes two parts-Theory and Practical. He

guided us about the various exams we need to give, the

age limit for the exams, the licenses involved, the

various rating we need to get and also about the

Aviation medical exam that must be done before giving

the exams.

He also shared that as we go higher and higher and

give our higher level exams in Aviation, the number of

minimum hours to pass the exam increases, he said

that he has flown about 5800 hours till now.

This interaction ended by a by a question posed by another student as to how does he feel being a passenger sometimes

rather than being a pilot? To this he smiled and stated smartly that it makes him scared and judgmental about the pilot in

charge because he loves to lead his crew sitting in the front.

This smart answer truly, made us smile. This meeting was ended by a thunderous applause and a vote of thanks to Mr.

Pinto, for guiding and encouraging us to fly and chase our dreams!

BUILDING BRIDGES

OFFICE BEARERS (2018-19)

President- Vaishnavi Borulkar

Secretary- Sharvari Kulkarni

Assistant Secretary- Rinkle Thacker

Directors

Grade9- Sakshi Upadhyay

Grade 8- Nia Jain

Grade 7- Navya Luhadia

Grade 6- Anish Jadhav