The Role of the School in Mental Fitness of Children is a mammoth one. The school can create wonders to enhance the mental well being of the students. An event to commemorate World Mental Health Day was observed in the Thaltej Auditorium today. It involved a conclave of discussions by Executive Director, Mr. Manan Choksi, eminent psychiatrist Dr. Darshan Shah, school psychologist Ms. Nivedita Chakraborti of Apple Global School, School Counsellor of Divine Child School, Ms. Nikisha Kapasi, Founder of Prayatna (Early Intervention Program), parent volunteer and Udgam School counsellors Ms. Vidhi Bose and Ms. Rashmi Lalwani. The session involved topics like amendment of school’s punishment policy to prevent humiliation of students, the different types of mental health issues that effect children, symptoms and the treatment, the school’s role in dealing with mental health of the children, specific case studies and successful intervention by school counsellors and other relevant issues.

The event was attended by school counsellors from several city schools, teachers, school representatives and parents in large numbers. 

Hindi Divas is celebrated on 14 September as on this day, the Constituent Assembly of India had adopted Hindi written in Devanagari script as the official language of the Republic of India.

Hindi is the soul of our Indian culture. With a motive to spread a message about the importance of our official language, students of Class IX & X from Udgam School for Children celebrated Hindi Divas with great enthusiasm. 

As a mark of reverence, the day started with a prayer, invoking our almighty. A student of Class X-F, delivered a speech on the significance of Hindi Divas.  Followed by it a student of Class XE spoke on the importance of Hindi language in the contemporary society of today. "Hindi is our mother tongue. It is a scientific language. In our thirst for traversing new horizons of knowledge and learning new languages, we should not forget our mother tongue," was the message conveyed.

A student of XE as in the role of a successful CEO, through her speech emotionally expressed gratitude towards her parents, trying to imbibe a realization in students’ heart about the pivotal role of parents in molding the individuality of their children, shaping the mettle and mind of the society in large.

 India has given us great and proficient Hindi poets who have always kept us close to our rich heritage, such is the profundity of our language. Everybody basked in the tunes and lyrics of Sri Ram Chandra Kripalu Bhajuman, a prayer written by the great poet Sri Goswami Tulsidas, sang by students of Class X.  A self-composed poetry as a tribute to Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, was recited by a student of IX F.

The last program to make the event more interesting and enriching, a video on the Life story of Munshi Premchand, created by one of the student of Class XE was shown, based on which a quiz was conducted.

It is rightly said, ‘Language is the Light of Mind’. Language is the power, life and instrument of any culture. It is a medium to share hopes and aspirations and grasp history and culture.

Teacher’s Day was celebrated in a very novel manner this time. Udgam School and Zebar School joined hands to make the day perfect for the ‘gurus’, the givers of knowledge. 
The day was the perfect blend of learning and fun. Teachers were welcomed to a learning session which had two parts. The stage was set with the Directors, Mr. Manan Choksi, Ms. Radhika Iyer and Ms. Pratima Patell occupying the dais. 
The first part was a presentation on ‘Comparison between a Good Teacher and an Ordinary Teacher’ made by the Vice Principals of respective sections of the schools, pre-primary, primary, middle and secondary. The session led to a good amount of soul searching and ‘eureka’ moments among the teachers. 
The next part was a topic that is often ignored, ‘Positive Discipline – an alternative to punishment’ presented by the Executive Director, Mr. Manan Choksi. He spoke at length about the need to rethink the past and present model and replace it with positive disciplining which focusses on self discipline rather than imposed. 
Next came the fun part which was a Djambey session in which all the teachers joined in with great enthusiasm, beating the drums to their heart’s content while following the lively rhythms. It was a great opportunity of bonding and living it up on a day made specially for them. 
No good occasion is complete without food. So if learning and fun come, can food be behind? A sumptuous spread was awaiting the happy and tired teachers who talked and laughed while enjoying the delicious food. 
The joint venture on the part of the school management and the HR team worked wonderfully to make the day a memorable one for the teachers.