Saturday, February 13, 2010

Social Studies and Literature Day - 13th February (Contd.)

Dear Students, Parents, Teachers and Volunteers:

We had great day yesterday celebrating the learning experiences of our Social Studies and Literature Students. Congratulations to all the students and to the teachers who have spent lot of energy and showed their passion to learning and teaching - in producing a memorable show.

I also have another happy news to report on Haiti Earthquake Fund.  We have collected $440 at the event and one of the parents have pledged $100. With that we have met our goal. SILC will be donating $540 collected from SILC students and parents PLUS another $500 matching grant  - a total of $1040.  I am very pleased with the way our SILC has chipped in to contribute to a good cause. If you are still planning to contribute, you can still do that -   write a check to UNICEF and hand it over to me or Mangala next Saturday. We plan to send all the checks to UNICEF next Saturday Feb 20th

I just want to provide a quick recap of the day to all of you. I also have posted some pictures from the event for your viewing pleasure. 



(a) Sonja : Social Studies 1 (Children)

Sonja's students made a poster outlining India's culture and events; They have talked through their poster.

(b) Krishnan: Social Studies 1 

Each of Krishnan's students made a poster showcasing India's classical dances,  national animal, classical music, national symbols. As you can see from the pictures posted, lot of effort has gone into making these posters.

(c)  Shally Gupta: Social Studies 2
Shally's students performed or talked about India's famous persons - Indira Gandhi, Manmohan Singh, Mahatma Gandhi, Subhas Chandra Bose, etc.  What a best way to learn about India's history and current events?

(d) Keshav and Maulika: Social Studies 3
Icing on the cake goes to keshav and Maulika's students.  They have made a video of themselves acting out different historical characters - bringing out different contrasting perspectives of the events. The students not only have learnt a lot, but they sure had so much fun in learning.  Kudos to Keshav and Maulika for their creativity in imparting social studies education. You can also find the video on youtube, or on silcsocialstudies3.blogspot.com




(e)  Sarah, Sujata and Divya: Literature
 Finally, literature students performed several skits from Akbar and Birbal stories.  They also have made a beautiful poster as a background for performing the skits. I couldn't resist listing one of the shortest skits they performed

Akbar: Do you want 100 easy questions? or 1 tough question?
Birbal: 1 tough question
Akbar: Chicken or Egg? which came first?
Birbal:  Chicken
Akbar: How did you figure it out?
Birbal:  No second question please.



All the performances turned out very well and is a reflection of the dedication teachers and students have put together.  Booking the Auditorium for this event also proved to be right decision. For next year, we will do better in coordinating the audio and visual systems.

After the performances, we have continued our celebrations in enjoying the food.  Managla arranged for the snacks - and I heard from so many parents that - the samosas are very yummy and tasty and that their kids have taken many seconds several times (does that count as thirds? and fourths? :).  We also celebrated the birthdays of all SILCers by cutting huge cakes.  Raghu made some soothing tea. All in all, it is a festivity after proud performances of the students.

If any of you want to add anything to this note, please drop me a note or leave a comment at this blog.

Yours sincerely
Siva Jasthi, Principal




Sonja: Social Studies 1




Krishnan: Social Studies 1



Krishnan: Social Studies 1



Krishnan: Social Studies 1



Krishnan: Social Studies 1



Krishnan: Social Studies 1



Krishnan: Social Studies 1



Krishnan: Social Studies 1




Shally: Social Studies 2



Keshav and Maulika: Social Studies 3






Sujata, Sarah, Diyva: Literature Class



Sujata, Sarah, Diyva: Literature Class: Background for the skits




All that we need is a reason to celebrate: Tea




All that we need is a reason to celebrate: Birthday cake




All that we need is a reason to celebrate: Enjoying the food




Kids hanging out after a great performance on stage




Haiti Earthquake Fundraising Jar: $540 + $500

Friday, February 12, 2010

Social Studies and Literature Day - 13th February

Dear Parents, Children and Teachers

Some reminders and logistics about tomorrow.

[1] Tomorrow is Social Studies and Literature Day - where students will be presenting what they are learning through presentations.


[2] There are no language classes or elective classes tomorrow; However, all the students registered only for languges and elective classes are welcome to come; We are all expecting you to be there.

[3]   We used to hold the social studies presentations in the cafetaria in earlier years. However, due to the size of SILC this year and so as to give emphasis to social studies and literature classes, we will be holding this event in the Auditorium tomorrow.

We will meet at 10 AM as usual; And after "vande maataram', we will all go to the Auditorium for our presentations to start.

[4] The presentations will be held in the following order.


[a] Sonja : SOcial Studies 1 (Children)
(b) Krishnan: Social Studies 1
(c)  Shally Gupta: Social Studies 2
(d) Keshav: Social Studies 3
(e)  Sarah and Sujata: Literature


[5] One of the parents asked me whether it is possible to show power point presentations; Yes. We are planning to provide a laptop computer and a projector for the students presentations;You can bring your presentations on USB drive.

[6] Also note that we will be collecting the donations for Haiti earthquake victims tomorrow  per the information provided to you earlier.

As a non-profit organization run by volunteers, SILC lives by the above saying. SILC wants to help Haiti earthquake victims, in the capacity and means it can. Any contribution – be it a $1, or $2 or $5 – given by its students and parents will be matched by SILC to a maximum limit of $500. I am hoping that we can collectively donate over $1000 towards helping Haiti. Please hand over your donation to your teacher or Principal on February 13th (social studies day). Our plan is to donate this amount through UNICEF. For further details on UNICEF channel, please see http://www.unicefusa.org/news/releases/unicef-urgently-appeals-for.html

See you all tomorrow

Yours sincerely
Siva Jasthi, Principal

Saturday, February 6, 2010

SILC Times - Second issue is out today

Dear SILCers:

Today's issue of  SILC Times can be accessed here.  Please get in touch with Erin, Assistant Principal if you need printed copy of this issue.

A big thanks to the contributors for their inputs to the new letter and to the editorial board for bringing out another excellent issue.

Also note that earlier issues of SILC times are archived here.

Your Sincerely
Siva Jasthi, Principal

Helping hands are holier than praying lips

Dear SILCers:

As a non-profit organization run by volunteers, SILC lives by the above saying. SILC wants to help Haiti earthquake victims, in the capacity and means it can. Any contribution – be it a $1, or $2 or $5 – given by its students and parents will be matched by SILC to a maximum limit of $500. I am hoping that we can collectively donate over $1000 towards helping Haiti. Please hand over your donation to your teacher or Principal on February 13th (social studies day). Our plan is to donate this amount through UNICEF. For further details on UNICEF channel, please see http://www.unicefusa.org/news/releases/unicef-urgently-appeals-for.html

Yours sincerely
Siva Jasthi, Principal

Vibha Kalakaar 2010: Unleash your Creativity. And HELP a Child in NEED.

Dear SILCers:

Another exciting event is Vibha Kalakaar 2010. SILC participated in this event last year and we would like to continue this tradition.

SILC students can participate and enter in different categories - Painting, Short Story writing, Essay writing, Photo Contest and Essay Writing. SILC will be paying the registration fee for all SILC students who submit an entry. And students can participate in more than one category as well.

Please visit http://wiki.vibha.org/Minnesota:Kalakaar-10 for further details. The deadline to submit the entries to Vibha is March 6th. Please handover your submissions to Principal or your teacher on March 6th. And wear your thinking caps now and start working on your Vibha submissions.

Yours Sincerely
Siva Jasthi, Principal



Vibha KALAKAAR 2010

A platform to appreciate the ARTIST in You