Outreach

While writing these articles I was forced to remember what made my school special. It took me back to my school days. I felt like I was back in my school as a student. I got an opportunities to revisit those old memories. While in the pool of plethora of memories I found something that made my school not just special but extraordinary.

My school would participate in a lot of outreach activities. Instead I must say that my school would initiate or lot of charitable activities for the benefit of society.

Every year before the beginning of the school year my school would arrange a camp for notebook distribution. In this camp the notebooks and other stationery would be donated to the under privilege children from different schools. It was a boost for the students whose parents did not have the financial capacity to carry on with the education.

Once this camp got over there would be another camp where the books and stationery would be sold to children at discounted rates. This camp would be open for all students irrespective of which school they belonged to. This was a relief for all the parents because at least some money could be saved that would otherwise be spent on notebooks and other stationery.

Our school board also have donation and collection programs for the victims affected due to natural calamities. These programs were transparent where we were required to submit the requested articles (eg, blankets, clothing, dry food) to our teachers. Our teachers would travel to the affected area to distribute these articles. So there was no question towards corruption or hoarding.

My school board often would have campaigns to clean up the neighbourhood where students and teachers would participate in the activities. On Sundays these campaigns would take place in various areas. Students were not forced to participate in the campaigns but it was completely voluntary. Yet most of the students would participate in such campaigns because these activities would better connect them to various communities.

Another activity that my school used to run was the scholarship program for the students. Several students in our school where under privileged. For such students the school had begun a scholarship program. A student who belonged to a poor family and had scored above 80% in the previous year used to get the scholarship from the school trustees funds. From this scholarship the entire fees of school would get covered and the student would get books, notebooks, and stationery free of cost. Every year this scholarship would be given to 10 students from each grade. This scholarship program proved to be highly motivational for the under privileged students. It helped them to complete their studies. A lot of my classmates also got benefited from this program. They are successful professionals today and every year they had made a pact to donate significant amount to the school so that these scholarships can continue.

Those were some of the most significant outreach programs. Yet there where many other charitable programs which either I was not aware of or were practiced on a small scale. Looking back I realise that I came from an educational institute which thought beyond the school and went ahead to help and support the society. This is one of the best characterostics of my school that makes it special.