By Autar Nehru
If the real education comes through hands on learning, role play, peer learning and fun, then the students of Billabong High International School (BHIS), Noida were bang on the right mix during the three days of schools annual Science Exhibition and Club Culmination from February 8-10. The whole school from corridors to classrooms presented a lively buzz and layers of excitement as each club did its best to showcase its chosen activity to the fullest.
From kindergarten to senior grades, all children looked busy and eager to talk about their stall, models, prototypes, games, poster presentations and hold the breath ‘panel discussions’. You would forget if we’re talking to school children when they would turn so convincing about insisting on engaging you in interactive games, knowing how much carbon you’re using by calculating your energy, food and other habits. And, when it comes to gaming and if it is you who developed one, then literally the world changes with the bunch of these very passionate coders explaining you by almost cajoling you to play this game much like a poet in good olden days wanting to read his creation to you.
‘Nurturing Future Citizens By Enhancing Sustainable Development’, the theme of the three-day event was an was an exciting explorative adventure full of surprises and a window to a viable future activities and thought process presented with experiments like Kaleidoscope of artistry, Knowledge engineering, Green Footprints, the Cosmos, flavours of infinity and more.
Then, life skills and fun games counters titillated you beyond expectations. Managing e-waste by turning this waste into decorative items was revealing as was a jugaad eco-friendly fridge without electricity. The everyday science from know your fruits and vegetables to bio-filters, creating beautiful paintings and decorative pottery appeared mesmerizing and so easy. According to school authorities and coordinators of participating clubs, who had put a fortnight of preparation into the event, the exhibition aimed to inspire students to think, connect and learn using knowledge, tools, technology & curricula of literacy to develop higher order thinking skills.
The juniors, dressed as various animals, slipped into role plays of endangered species and in rhymes expressed the anguish of the survival by these animals so well that you had no option but to believe them. Another bunch of well prepared small kids effortlessly presented such an engaging street play (Nukkad Natak) on Swacch Bharat Abhiyan that you would recommend it to be watched by whole of India.
The imperfections were so innocent that you would join their smile and understand that despite their best effort, you can’t expect an industry or professional perfection, but the way they carried the discussion and activities did leave you fulfilled with a memorable experience not seen in vast majority of schools in India.
