ExpressionsDate : February -April 2018

News Letter

DEHRADUNKNOWLEDGE STRENGTH COMPASSION

In This Issue

Kasiga Felicitated

Kasigas Shooting Star

Kāsiga At The Literary Fest

Graduation Day

World Scholars’ Cup

Orientation Programme

SessionWith Parents

Session With New Students

Career Counselling

Outing To Binog Tibba

Inter House Cricket And

Soccer Matches

Wasatch Exchange

Programme

PSHE– Training

Book Fair

Inter House Mathematics

Competition

Spicmacay

Book Cover Design

Competition

3rd All India P.C. Batta

Memorial Cricket

Tournament

Inter State Geeta Paath

Pratiyogita

Win for Kasigas Orchestra

Music of the Spheres

2nd Bullseye Open

Shooting Championship

The Mid-Term Treks

Swimming Gala

Dear Parent,

Greetings from Kāsiga!

We are back with yet another issue ofour school newsletter.

Each issue is a milestone that marks ourgrowth, unfolds our imagination andexpresses our thoughts and aspirations.

It is a blend of academics and co-curricular activities that unleashes awide spectrum of creative skills rangingfrom writing to editing and evendesigning the newsletter.

Teamwork is the hallmark of Kāsiga. Acommitted and supportive management,dedicated teachers, caring and co-operative parents unify harmoniouslyto create a child-centric school.

I congratulate the entire editorial teamfor their hard work and dedication thatwent into compiling this issue of thenewsletter.

Warm Regards,

Sonali SinhaHead of School

Kasigan ranks 4th in Uttarakhand! Congratulations to Shreyansh Agarwal of Grade X for being placed at the 4th position at the National Talent Search Examination 2018.

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KASIGA FELICITATED

Kāsiga School was felicitated by the digital LEARNING magazine for ranking among the Top Schoolsof India - Ranking Survey 2017. The Deputy Head of School, Mr. Chandra Shekhar Yadav received theaward for the School at a function in New Delhi.

KASIGA’S SHOOTING STARYash Agarwal represented Uttarakhand Youth Shooting Team in the 10 mts Air Pistol Competition at WATTAYOU COW, KERALA from 11th December - 2nd January 2018.Yash qualified for the International Shooting Competition in the 10 mts Air Pistol category and has been selected to represent INDIA at GERMANY and the CZECH REPUBLIC from 1st MAY to 17th MAY

2018. It is a great achievement for Yash, as well as for the institution.

KĀSIGA AT THE LITERARY FESTIVAL

Literature involves reading, discussing, thinking and writing and also encourages students to thinkcritically and write creatively. Kāsiga School’s young readers, accompanied by Ms Ranjana and MsJenny, got the opportunity to visit the Literary Festival organised by the World Integrity Centre,where they participated in the Story Writing and Poem Writing Competitions. The event wasenriching and exposed the young children to the beauty of English literature.

The Deputy Head of School receiving the felicitation for Kasiga ranking among the top schools in India.

Yash Agarwal - selected to represent India at Germany and Czech Republic

Shreyansh ranks 4th in Uttarakhand - NTSE 2018

Kasiga's young readers at the Literary Festival, WIC, Dehradun.

GRADUATION DAY

The staff and students of Kasiga School bid adieu to the outgoing batch of grade 12 CBSE and Alevel Cambridge students. The solemn ceremony was graced by the presence of the Chairman,Mr. Ramesh Batta along with Mr. Siddharth Batta, Director Finance and Mrs. Chandni Batta,Director Welfare, the Head of School, Mrs. Sonali Sinha and the Deputy Head of School, Mr.Chandra Shekhar Yadav.

The Head Boy, Hamza Shahzeb, and the Head Girl, Sadhika R. Thapa in their speechesreminisced the fond memories of their early days in Kasiga and expressed their gratitudetowards their teachers who have shaped them as capable individuals.

The symbolic and poignant ‘Passing of the Light- Lamp of Knowledge’ ceremony was observedwith heart-felt sincerity to the soulful rendition of ‘This Little Guiding Light of Mine’ by theschool choir.

In her speech, the Head of School, Ms Sonali Sinha pointed out that this was just the beginningof a long and challenging journey for the graduating students. She urged them to hold theirheads high in the face of any obstacles and be compassionate in their demeanour towards all.

The Chief Guest for the occasion, Mr. Jagmohan Bhanvar, founder of the organization – ‘PeopleFirst’ in India and the Middle East, stressed the importance of “having a purpose, dreaming big,saying no to negative people, building an attitude and staying grounded.”

The Chairman, Mr. Ramesh Batta, conveyed to the outgoing batch that they would remain inhis heart forever. He also emphasized that one must always lead a truthful and righteous life.

The programme culminated with the vote of thanks proposed by the Deputy Head of School,Mr. Chandra Shekhar Yadav. He reminded the students that – “Once a Kasigan - Always aKasigan”

KĀSIGA WOWS AT THE WORLD SCHOLARS’ CUP36 students of Kāsiga participated in the World Scholars’ Cup on the 7th and 8th of April, 2018. The

World Scholars’ Cup is a highly prestigious global platform to encourage students from all over the

world to engage in dialogue, discussion and debating. This year, the regional round witnessed

enthusiastic participation by more than 500 students from various prestigious schools in India.

All our students won Gold and Silver medals in various categories, namely debating, team quiz,

individual quiz and creative writing. Some names that deserve special mention are: Nikhil and Taha

for winning the first place in creative writing. Prisha Meswani for being among the 8 best debaters.

Our team comprising of Shivam Thakur, Dev Todaria and Kartike Makhija ranked among the top 15

debating teams. Ayush Malhotra and Swarit Singh won 7 gold medals each in the subject quiz. It was

an interesting and engaging competition. All students qualified for the global round to be held at

three locations - Kuala Lumpur, Barcelona and Melbourne. Well done Kāsigans!

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Graduation Day being celebrated at Kasiga

Graduating students receiving mementoes

Passing of the Light and Cake Cutting Ceremony

SESSION WITH NEW STUDENTS

The new students spent valuable time with the Head of School on the 13th of April, 2018.

They introduced themselves and had a good time playing musical chairs.

ORIENTATION PROGRAMME

Kāsiga School organized the Orientation Programme for new students and parents on Tuesday, the 3rd

of April, 2018.

The programme began with the lighting of the ceremonial lamp by the Head of School, Mrs. Sonali

Sinha, the Deputy Head of School, Mr. Chandra Shekhar Yadav and the Bursar, Mr. Pallav Ghosal.

The Head of School in her speech, elucidated the disciplinary policies of the institution and

delineated the principles and values that the school abides by. She urged the parents of the newly

admitted students to join hands with Kāsiga to enrich the learning experience of their wards. She

opined that holistic and enduring education is only possible if the parents are in a healthy partnership

with the school.

The Deputy Head of School spoke about the co-curricular programmes, sports, clubs and other

activities that the students can indulge in, at

Kāsiga. He assured the parents of the homely care that Kasiga provides by explaining the pastoral

structure. He also apprised the parents that safety and security of the students is the top priority for

the institution.

The staff members then introduced themselves to the audience, followed by an interactive session.

The members of the Senior Management team fielded questions from the parents and clarified the

queries that they had.

The parents were then taken for a tour of the school followed by a delectable lunch. In the evening,

an ice-breaking session was arranged wherein the new students participated in a plethora of fun-

filled activities. This session saw the students losing their inhibitions and bashfulness and that

ensured their seamless blending into the Kāsiga family.

SESSION WITH PARENTSThe Counselling Department conducted a short presentation for parents during the PTM on April 13,

2018 on the topic ‘Long Distance Parenting: Some Essentials for Parents of Boarding School Students’.

The areas covered during the presentation included home-sickness, separation anxiety and parent-

school partnership. The presentation was followed by a Q & A session. The interaction during the Q &

A session was fruitful, followed by one-on-one meetings of the counsellors with the parents.

The Senior Management Team fielding questions.

New students enjoying the evening at the HOS residence.

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Introduction of Staff

Kāsiga believes that students need to know

about various choices available across the world

to take informed decisions about future

prospects. With this view of creating awareness,

the School organized two important career

counselling sessions for senior classes.

The first session was organized in association

with IDP Education India Pvt. Ltd., which has

been working closely with a number of Indian

institutions to assist and advise their students on

overseas educational opportunities. The

organization conducts career fairs, seminars,

faculty lectures and provides one to one

counselling opportunities.

The career counselling session focused on the

students seeking overseas education

opportunities in recognized institutions in

Australia, USA, Canada, UK & New

Zealand, and providing complete services

including, detailed course and institution

counselling, application submission, scholarship

guidance, offer acceptance, visa assistance,

tuition fee payment, pre-departure orientation

and on-shore support.

The other session was Chalo America Career Fair,a unique educational road-show, which focusedon accredited U.S. universities to selected Indiancolleges and universities. It offered students anopportunity to interact with the accredited U.S.universities and with the Consular Officers at theU.S. Embassy New Delhi for credible informationon student visas.

It also provided a platform to interact withEducation USA advisors from USIEF and enquireabout their concerns regarding admissions.Students also had a chance to attend paneldiscussions on specialized areas – applicationreview, financial aid, choosing a good-fitinstitution and submitting a stellar application toa number of universities which includedUniversity of Cincinnati, Arizona State University,Miami University, Oxford, University of SouthFlorida, Full Sail University Florida, Wayne StateUniversity Detroit, Foothill and De-Anza CollegesCalifornia, Colorado State University Colorado,Tiffin University Ohio & University of Kentucky.

CAREER COUNSELLING

OUTING TO BINOG TIBBA

At Kāsiga , we strongly believe in holistic development and learning. Since a lot of life skills are

learned outdoors- in the lap of nature; an outing was organized for the new students to enjoy nature

and build camaraderie. At the campsite, a number of fun as well as challenging activities were

arranged for the group to build confidence and hone different sets of skills. A host of rope activities

like Rope Ladder and Burma Bridge, kept the students happily engaged. The children learned

different kinds of tent pitching in the scenic surroundings. The trip offered a wonderful opportunity

to the students to bond with their new friends and teacher escorts, Dr. Jyoti Srivastava, Ms. Minakshi

Prasad, Ms. Aastha Pathak and Mr. S. Payaal. The outing was thoroughly enjoyed by all.

Students attending the Career Counselling sessions.

New students all set for their special outing. Students enjoying the outing at Binog Tibba.

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INTER HOUSE CRICKET AND SOCCER MATCHES

To bring out the best in each player and to bring the best players out, Inter-House Cricket Matcheswere organized by the Sports Department. It was a well contested event, which was thoroughlyenjoyed by all. The House to claim the first place was Pacific, the second position was taken byEverest House while Nile House won the third place.The all time favourite sport of young people across the world is soccer, and Kāsigans are no different.Kāsigans displayed their skills and love for the game zealously, as the soccer fever gripped the School.The winning team in the Senior Category was of Nile House, followed by Amazon in the second placeand Everest House in the third place. In the Sub-Junior category, the first place was taken by AmazonHouse, second by Everest House while Pacific House won the third place. The juniors too playedenthusiastically and showcased their skills. In the Junior Category, the first position was bagged byAmazon House, the second by Pacific House and the third by Nile House.

WASATCH EXCHANGE PROGRAMME

In its continued endeavour to encourage international mindedness, Kāsiga hosted a group of sevenstudents, comprising two girls and five boys, along with two faculty members from WasatchAcademy, Utah, US , for a period of ten days , as part of an Exchange Programme.The Student Exchange Programme was aimed at collaborative learning and sharing views on waterand waste management. It also focused on touching upon the different facets of Indian culture atDehradun. The stay was punctuated with a plethora of activities, in which students from both theschools shared the culture, education and life situations through different activities and discussions.

PERSONAL, SOCIAL & HEALTH EDUCATION - WORKSHOP

Kasiga believes in nurturing students to become responsible and aware citizens, for which a team ofexperts from Enfold, Bangalore, was invited to conduct an extensive training on Personal Safety forgrades III to V and Personal Safety and Sexuality for grades VI to XII from the 16th to 19th April,2018. It was an enriching experience for the students. All benefitted greatly from the workshop andone can say that post workshop, the students are more aware and prepared to face and tackle reallife situations beyond the confines of the school.

Kasiga welcomes students from Wasatch Academy. The Exchange Programme - An intermingling of ideas and cultures.

Students participating enthusiastically in the PSHE workshop.

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Players in action.

BOOK FAIR – APRIL 2018

Books are a mirror of one’s soul which enrich the mind and soothe the heart. Kāsiga School believesin providing its students with holistic and informative literature to enrich their vocabulary andexpression.

To promote the habit of reading in children, Kāsiga School hosted the Rainbow Book Fair. It wasinaugurated by the Head of Activities, Ms Manjusha. The book fair registered an overwhelmingresponse from the entire school. The two day long book fair saw the students having a good time,browsing through a wide range of books.

The fair brought along a wide treasure trove of age-appropriate books that empowered the childrenof all ages to select the books that they would like to read, igniting a passion for reading in them.Innumerable books on various topics and genres stood proudly on the shelves and the eager studentswere more than happy to relish the boundless ocean of knowledge.

The students’ excitement and enthusiasm for the book fair was evident on their faces. The event wascoordinated by the School Librarian, Ms Chingakham L Devi.

To develop basic arithmetic skills and promoteappreciation for the subject through fun andgames, an Inter-House MathematicsCompetition was organised . The competitionwas conducted in three categories: JuniorSchool, Middle School and Senior School.

In the Junior School category ( Grade 3 to 5),students across all four houses participatedin activities based on Tan Gram and Ludo.

The game of Ludo tested four arithmeticoperations (addition, subtraction, division andmultiplication). In this category, Everest Housestood first with 18 points, Nile House securedthe second place with 17 points while AmazonHouse bagged the third place with 12 points.

In the Middle School category (Grade 6 to 8),problems based on Sudoku were given tostudents across all four houses. AmazonHouse stood first with 51 points, Nile Housecame second with 41 points and PacificHouse secured the third position with 37points.

In the Senior School category (Grade 9 to 11),a Mathematics quiz was organised, in whichEverest House stood first with 70 points,Amazon House bagged the second place with60 points and the third position was taken byNile House with 50 points.

On the basis of the scores earned by thehouses, Amazon House was declared theoverall winner of ‘INTER-HOUSE MATHEMATICSCOMPETITION’.

INTER-HOUSE MATHEMATICS COMPETITION APRIL 2018

Students engrossed in the Math Inter-House activity. Students all ears during the Inter-House Math Quiz.

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Students at the Book Fair

Kāsiga School, in association with SPICMACAY, organized a theatre workshop for Middle School

students. It was conducted by Shri Ramchandra Singh, an eminent artist adept in various traditional

and folk theatre forms of Bihar like, Natua Naach, Bidapat, Jharki Nritya and Kirtaniya.

He has worked with eminent theatre directors including, Shri Raj Bisaria, Shri Badal Sarkar and Shri

Habib Tanvir. He was accompanied by Shri Dhannu Lal Baghel.

About forty students attended the session, which featured voice modulation exercises, lessons on

optimum utilization of the stage and effective use of body language. It was indeed an enriching

experience for the students.

SPICMACAY

BOOK COVER DESIGN COMPETITION – APRIL 2018

The ‘Book Cover Design Competition’ was organised with the aim to discover new artists and fostertheir talents, as well as to provide a platform to encourage healthy competition in the school.

The competition was conducted in three categories- Junior, Middle and Senior, on the followingthemes: ‘Story book cover design with Title’ OR ‘School magazine cover design’

Different mediums of art were used by the participants to create innovatively, as they were quiteexcited at the thought of their designs being the cover pages. The students used oil pastels, acrylics,water colours, markers, along with pencil and ink.

The students, especially those who enjoy reading, crafted some interesting, creative and thoughtprovoking designs. The displays were judged by three teachers.

The First position was bagged by Nile House, Pacific House secured the second place and EverestHouse stood third.

In the Junior School Category, the First Position was won by Harishwar, the Second Position wasbagged by Preeya Patel and the Third Position was secured by Ayushman Soni. A new category ofprize winners called, ‘Active Participants’, was created to encourage, as well as to channelize theideas and creativity of students.

The prize winners of this category were – Samarth, Kuwardeep, Tanmay and Nakul. The competitionwas conducted under the supervision of Chingakham L Devi, the school librarian.

Congratulations to the winners!

Students enjoying an interactive theatre session by Spicmacay.

Proud winners of the Book Cover Design Competition.

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Not every sport can match up to the frenzy

surrounding cricket. Not every cricket

tournament can get the adrenaline pumping as a

twenty-twenty tournament. Realising the pulse

of the nation and the paramount importance of

promoting cricket among the student fraternity

of the country, the All India P.C Batta Memorial

Cricket Tournament had been initiated by Kāsiga

School, two years ago.

It proved to be a huge success with enthusiastic

participation from many reputed schools across

the country. It was time to renew that fervour in

the 3rd All India P.C Batta Memorial Tournament.

This prestigious tournament is a manifestation of

the long cherished dream of the Kāsiga School

Chairman, Mr. Ramesh Batta, who has dedicated

the tournament to his late father Shri Prakash

Chand Batta.

In her welcome address, the Head of School,

Mrs. Sonali Sinha spoke about the tournament

being one of its kind in the national circuit. She

reiterated the fact that this novel initiative was

exclusively the brainchild of Mr. Ramesh Batta.

The Chief Guest for the occasion was Mr.

Matthew Jonathan Raggett, the current Head

Master of The Doon School.

The other dignitaries who were present were,

the Deputy Head of School,

Mr. Chandra Shekhar Yadav, Director Finance,

Mr. Siddharth Batta and Director Welfare, Mrs.

Chandni Batta along with Mr. Ankur Sharma,

President, Uttarakhand Youth Twenty-Twenty

Cricket Association and Mr. Javed Butt, General

Secretary, Uttarakhand Twenty-Twenty Cricket

Association.

In the inauguration ceremony, Mr. Batta spoke of

his undying love for the game and how he

managed to turn a rocky, undulated surface into

one of the most sought after cricket grounds of

the country. Mr.Batta emphasized that it was

not “winning or losing, but the spirit with which

the game is played” that matters more than

anything else. In his address, the Chief Guest,

Mr. Raggett spoke of being thrilled to be a part

of this novel initiative and congratulated Mr.

Batta and the Kāsiga Management for their

immense contribution in promoting cricket at

the grass root level.

This grand competition featured 17 teams from

the states of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh,

Maharashtra, Punjab and Haryana, who

competed for the coveted title of ‘champions’ of

this prestigious tournament.

After the opening ceremony it was time for the

action to get underway. The first match of the

tournament was a face-off between Welham

Boys’ School and Woodstock School. Woodstock

could only manage to post 103 at the end of

18.4 overs. Welham Boys’ batted with the same

confidence that they showed in their bowling in

the first innings. They achieved the target with 6

overs to spare. Sheikh Fayaz was adjudged the

Man of the Match for his heroics with the bat.

The tournament culminated with Kasiga School,

Dehradun and CMS, Lucknow being declared

joint winners. MDK, Haryana won the semi final

by defeating The Doon School. Piyush Behl was

declared the ‘Man of the Series’ while Manav

Bhatia was declared the ‘Best Bowler’ of the

series.

THE 3rd ALL INDIA P.C. BATTA MEMORIAL CRICKET TOURNAMENT

The 3rd P. C. Batta Cricket Tournament declared open. Players in action.

Kasiga declared joint winners of the tournament.

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KĀSIGA BAGS SECOND PLACE IN

ORCHESTRA

Kāsiga won the second place in orchestra at theInter School Cultural Fest, Izhari-e-Hunar atHopetown Girls’ School, Dehradun. Manyreputed schools had participated in the event,comprising of a number of competitionsincluding, dance forms, earth art, movie making,to name a few. In the category of orchestra,wherein twelve schools had participated, Kāsigabagged the second place.

KĀSIGA SHINES AT THE INTER STATE GEETA PAATH PRATIYOGITA

The students of Kāsiga School participated in the senior and junior categories of the Inter State

Geeta Paath Pratiyogita, held on 30th April, 2018 at The Indian Public School, Dehradun. Among all

the 30 schools that had participated in the competition, Kāsiga bagged the third place in the

senior, as well as the junior category. The first position was a near miss, by a margin of just 1 mark

that proved the effort and dedication that had gone in preparation for the event by the staff and

students. The competition was based on recitation of an entire chapter comprising ten shlokas.

MUSIC OF THE SPHERESKāsiga School Choir participated in the Choir

Festival, ‘Music of the Spheres’ at the Doon

Girls School, Dehradun. Our choir presented,

`The World of Music’ which was well

appreciated by all.

The winners of the Geeta Paath Pratiyogita. Reciting the shlokas.

2nd BULLSEYE OPEN SHOOTING

CHAMPIONSHIP- 2018The 2nd Bullseye Shooting Championship 2018

was held at Bullseye Shooting Academy,

Dehradun, on 28th April. It was a well attended

and well-competed event, in which several

schools of the region participated and

displayed their skills in group, as well as

individual categories. Moosa Azhari, Pranav

Gulgutia and Ritunjai Agarwal won Bronze

Medals, while Sahitya Gupta, Aiman Singh and

Agamjot Singh bagged Silver Medals. Yash

Aggarwal secured 2 Gold Medals and 2 Silver

Medals. In the Individual Category, Yash

Aggarwal and Moosa Azhari secured 1 Bronze

Medal each, while Moosa Azahari bagged 1

silver Medal as well.

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THE MID-TERM TREKKING

EXPEDITIONS

TREK TO TONS - The students of grades 9

and 10 (CBSE & CIE) had a wonderful,

exciting and fun filled time on their camp

and trek to Tons.

The entire programme was planned with

activities aimed primarily to instill a sense

of oneness, camaraderie and team spirit.

Besides participating in a number of

activities like- rappelling, mountain

climbing, pitching tents, the students also

cooked food all by themselves, under the

guidance of the instructors. Overall, it was

a great experience.

The orchestra tuning up before the performance

Students enjoying the treks

TREK TO SPILLSWAY

A group of 26 students of Grades 4, 5 and 6 went on a trek to Spillsway, Maldevta from March 26th to

30th, 2018. The group was led by Mr. Vijay Sobhani, the Head of Junior School along with Mr. Tushar

Sharma, Mrs. Archana Sharma and Mr. Souvik Roy Choudhary.

The students participated in activities such as Tent Pitching, Belay Climbing and Kayaking which were

thoroughly enjoyed by all. Besides doing the Rope Course that included rope activities such as Net

Climbing and walking on the Burma Bridge, the students went for hiking and a visit to Dripstone Cave,

where they were amazed to see the stalagmites and stalactites.

They also went to the Kalinga Dam. On the last day of the trek, they visited a nearby village, where they

interacted with the village folk. On their return to the camp they were awarded certificates by the camp

instructors, who shared their observations as well.

Kāsiga School organised the Swimming Gala 2018.

The much awaited Swimming Gala was an occasion for everyone to rejoice and plunge into untainted

joy. The competition had a number of categories in which students of all grades participated

enthusiastically and revelled in the fascinating swimming pool of Kāsiga School.

The participants fought shoulder to shoulder and their spirited performances invoked loud cheering

and hearty applause from the audience.

Arsh Yadav, Harshit Dalal and Shreesh Bakshi were adjudged the Best Swimmers in Sub-junior, Junior

and Senior categories. Ishana Kapoor bagged the trophy for the Best Swimmer among girls.

Pacific House won the overall championship with 64 points to their credit.

A rejuvenating respite from academic pressure was provided by the swimming gala and it proved to be

a highly enjoyable event.

THE SWIMMING GALA

The swimming Champs!!! Swimmers in action.

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Students enjoying the trekking activities at spillsway