Jan 8 Monday

First real work day after the new year.

1. Thankful to have a calm meeting with the customer this morning.
2. grateful for a fruitful meeting with my staff this morning
3. grateful that I was able to fix up an appointment for dental cleaning

grateful that Ranjani made dinner today

grateful to Master for everything.

Grateful that I recruiter called me today.

Nepal Earthquake Fundraiser- The Bake Sale

On 25th April 2015, Nepal and parts of India felt some very intense tremors reaching the magnitude of 6.9. This mishap left more than 7,000 people dead and many more severely injured in Nepal.
Pathways School Gurgaon Middle School listed down a few ideas in order to help the people in need. One of the actions we took was a bake sale that we held at the PYP Exhibition on the 2nd May 2015. Many Pathwayzians supported this cause and we were able to make a contribution of Rs. 16,030, which we will forward to the Nepal Embassy situated in the capital, to help the ones in need.
Along with the bake sale amount, we will also be sending the resources that our students have provided for immediate us-age.

It was a new experience holding the bake sale and we really hope that we are able to make a difference to the people of Nepal.

~Meghna Ratra , Vice-President Student Council MYP

Another Reflection on Bake Sale

On the 2^nd of May, the middle school student council organized a bake sale fundraiser to gather funds to help those in need who had suffered and are suffering from the catastrophe in Nepal the previous week. We got a tremendous response from the entire middle school and it was a real pleasure to see that everyone was so eager to participate towards the cause. There was lots of enthusiasm on display by the students and I do not think that without their help we could have put up such a good show.

On the day itself, I felt proud to be a member of the Pathways Community, for the simple reason that we got an outpouring amount of self-home baked goods from all the people who had promised to deliver. Other people also found a terrific way to contribute in making posters; spreading awareness and helping us setup and sell the food during the PYP Exhibition. The parents and students there were also very eager to buy the food and donate money for the cause. In the end after 2 good hours of solid work we managed to sell all the deliciously baked goods for a total sum of Rs.16, 030.

Personally, however, it was not the money that satisfied me the most, nor the delicious food, yet the smile on people’s faces that I saw as they knew that they were contributing. I enjoyed the enthusiasm of everyone and actually had a really good time! I thought that people love to help people out as I viewed the joyous response I got, but do not generally get the opportunity to and I would like to thank Pathways for giving us the opportunity to do so. This whole activity taught me a lot and gave me a tremendous feeling of self-satisfaction after the job was done.

By: Zorawar Singh Ghumman

       President Student Council MYP

Trip to River Yamuna on 21st January 2015

Trip to River Yamuna

On 21st of January, Grade 6 got an opportunity to visit different parts of the river Yamuna. A social worker from Sweccha Organization, Ms. Neha, ac-companied them throughout the trip and taught them about the river’s identity, course, origin and how it was treated by people. They also made some self-observations on the river source and its surroundings.

The students were taken to three different parts of the river- Palla Village Ghat, Najafgarh Drain and Qudsya Ghat and saw how polluted they were , also comparing the three parts from each other . It was an eye-opener for one and all. They saw how human was contributing to pollute the river and creating an ecological disaster. There after the students decided to do their bit by doing Shramdan.

After the tiring journey, the students of reflected upon reducing the waste they make by reducing, reusing and recycling. The trip culminated by prom-ising not to waste and pollute water sources. We hope that you also help in saving our Mother Earth.

Ileesha Singh

Grade 6Z

Collaborative Work towards raising funds- CAS Stall

Students worked together to create decorative candles for CAS stall during the school winter carnival on December 13, 2014. They started off by painting diyas, placed wicks and poured melted wax into it. The final product was packaged beautifully to raise funds for CAS.

Yamuna Shramdaan (Visit on Dec 14,2014)

Yamuna Shramdaan (Visit on Dec 14,2014)

The banks of river Yamuna are one of the most polluted in the world. There are many events going on in order to clean them. The most recent one was a Shramdaan, or gift of labour, where Pathways School Gurgaon partnered with Swetch (an NGO working towards environmental issues).

When we first reached the banks of the Yamuna, we were welcomed by stray dogs and cows. Later, we met the organizers who provided us tools and gloves and we set upon the task of doing our bit to clean up a small patch of the river.

We soon decided to choose a spot to clean although we felt extremely disappointed at the vast amount of litter strewn all over. It was not an easy task. What was more disappointing was that we found a lot of statues of gods and goddess. I was also taken by surprise when I found a 1 rupee coin!

There we not only cleaned but also had an opportunity to meet other NGOS such as Pravah. Apart from these NGOS there were many schools that had come to make a difference. What really impressed me was the volun-teers who were entirely self-motivated.

Over all it was a great experience. I had never been to such a part of India, neither had I ever done something like this. It was a memorable and meaningful experience and I will never forget it.

Ria Puri—Grade 6

Reflection on flood in Jammu & Kashmir through an assembly

In all natural disasters through time, man needs to attach meaning to tragedy, no matter how random and inexplicable the event is.-Nathaniel Philbrick

The situation in Jammu and Kashmir due to the devastating floods worsened as more areas became submerged in flood waters, leaving a trail of death and destruction.

The death toll in the floods, the worst to have hit the state in the last 60 years, reached 215, while over 82,000 people were being rescued. Thousands of families were stranded and awaited help in their homes across the valley. The districts in South Kashmir districts were the worst hit by the catastrophe, with many areas still cut off. Over 30% of the capital city, Srinagar was under flood waters.

On Thursday, 18th September, Middle School Student Council hosted an assembly to give a brief on this natural crisis and their point of view on it. This was accompanied by a heartbreaking video which included glimpses of what the floods had done to the people and their homes.

After that, there was a small instruct on how we could help by sending resources like medicines, packaged food, water purifying tablets, etc. and the little but meaningful difference we could make as citizens of India.

The assembly ended with a short quiz for the students on their under-standing and a summary of the situation.

We would encourage you all to contribute to NGOs to help the people of Jammu and Kashmir to the best of your efforts.

Mehak Malhotra

Grade 8x

Follow up reflection on the visit to Nirmal Chayya

The students of Grade 6 had lots to share and reflect on their visit to the old age home and its residents. They planned an assembly to share their experience with the middle school.

They started the assembly with a short, humorous, yet meaningful skit about bringing back an old, retired English teacher to school. This was the skit that they had performed in front of the senior citizens at the old age home.

Next, two students recited a wonderful poem on love and respect for the older generation.

This was followed by a beautiful, touching story told by two other sixth grade students, and I quote a part from it, ‘“I have always wanted freckles like yours- they are beautiful. Can you name anything more beautiful than freckles?” said the grandma. “Wrinkles,” replied the girl, smiling".

That wasn’t all. Two students also played a musical of ‘A 100 miles’, a song originally sung by Paul, Peter and Mary.

However, the best was yet to come, the form tutor of 6Y showed a movie with pictures of the students with their various interactions with the elderly people of the home and how happy and lively they seemed, delighted to have children to spend time with. It seemed to be a close knit group of people and the pictures in the movie brought everyone to tears.

This heart-warming assembly was concluded with a speech by Mrs. Sharma, Middle School Principal, where she spoke about her view on this.

Congratulations, Grade 6Y, for putting up such a delightful assembly on a kind of lifestyle that is often overlooked by us, but moves us when we actually experience it.

As we all know now, growing old definitely doesn’t mean losing the small pleasures of life.

Mehak Malhotra, 8Y