Array of activities

Encouragement is the key word here and using it in every aspect of student’s progress St. Joseph High School situated at Ghorpuri is one of its kinds hosting various activities for its students. The school that recently celebrated its 50 th year of establishment was first started by the Fatima Sisters and then it was taken over by Bishop Andrew D’souza,currently run by Poona Diocesan Education Society.

Father Godvyn Saldanha the principal of school says,“Love for students is the greatest motivation followed by commitment. The students are simple as they come from lower middle class. By and large students are very down to earth and because of their background,they are grateful and know the importance and gravity of being in school and taking studies seriously.”

They recently hosted a half-day gathering where games and fun events were lined up for parents,teachers and students. The school has a computer club,where students from 5th-10th are given computer coaching after school hours. The coaching is given by the professionals from St. Joseph Institute of Information Technology (SJIIT).

Students learn not only basic concepts of computer but also learn different softwares. Also,a quiz competition is held which emphasizes on computer knowledge. Father Saldanha says,“We had arranged a field trip for students from 8th-10th last year at Hinjewadi IT Park aiming for exposure of the corporate world and we are planning one this year also. They are given projects which are displayed at the end of the academic year in the school.”

The school has a special focus on students preparing for board exam. “We arrange two to three lectures by resource people either from a NGO or a professional from corporate world who guide the students for their future studies after their board exam”,says Father Saldhana.

The students are now gearing up for Texas and Gilby Quiz competition,which takes place every year in the month of December. To make the students aware of the current affairs,every week the school prepares a questionnaire of 40 questions and at the end of the month an exam is scheduled. The school vigorously participates in sports like football,hockey and volleyball. Father says,“This year we participated in the Sub Juniors Nehru Cup of hockey for the first time,while we reached till quarter finals of the Subroto Cup in August.”

As eighty percent of students in school come from lower middle class,the school makes an appeal for the remaining students to provide basic necessities like soaps,towels,napkins during occasions like Christmas to their fellow classmates. And the students also willingly help the cause. Teachers associated with the school have to put extra efforts on the students considering the background of the students. There are teachers associated with the school for many years. One such teacher,Theresa Vaz,a Science,Math and English teacher who has been working in this school for the past 25 years says,“I started teaching in this school from 1983 when it was run by the Fatima sisters. I have seen the school evolve during years in terms of infrastructure as now we have a fully equipped laboratory and a library with fair amount of books. We make optimum use of the limited resources we have. I love the school as it caters to children from lower middle class and love the students as they are eager to learn.”

Divya Chettiar class 8 student stood fifth in the ideal play Abacus India recently. “I started training from last year and I am currently preparing for the national level exam.I also participate in other activities,visit institutes to learn and practice a lot in the school ,” she adds.

The most important quality students possess is the desire to learn. The school is government aided up to class seven. In addition to the grant,there are number of scholarships for different subjects from class eight to ten. “Students are now teaching their parents to read and write and the parents who couldn’t even sign the report cards,are able to sign now and do not use thumb impressions,” adds Vaz.