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SPECIAL PROJECTS

COME JOIN US…TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!!The aim of having a Special Projects Group in School is to inspire students to stand up and celebrate as a community through a series of philanthropic activities and donation drives. This Group engages the entire student community with the act of sharing that in turn becomes a satisfying and humbling experience for us all. It’s really inspiring to see our children experiencing ‘The joy of giving’ “Be the change you want to see in the world”….the words of Mahatma Gandhi are reflected in the activities of the Special Projects Group, at The Pinnacle School. I feel extremely grateful to our Principal who gave me the responsibility of heading this group. The last one year has been very fulfilling as we have been able to sensitize our students towards making a difference in the lives of the lesser privileged- the homeless, the aged, cancer stricken kids, the slum school

children and stray animals through activities that celebrate the power within each one of us to make a difference.As part of a community initiative, every year, The Pinnacle School students celebrate the Joy of Giving. This year too, our students scheduled a collection drive in school. All contributions and proceeds were donated to the NGO Goonj, the slum school Sshrishti, CanKids, old age homes and Friendicoes- an organization that cares for stray and homeless animals. The students generously donated various items, like toys, clothes, notebooks, food grains, blankets, rugs and other

possessions, during the collection drive.After visits to Sshrishti and CanKids, our students came back with much more- they realized the values of their homes and families and all that they take for granted in their lives. The visit enabled the students to emerge from their cocoon of familiar territories and their own needs to reach out to the needs of others. “The Special Task Force has provided us an opportunity to do it together, to encourage others to do so, and to celebrate the spirit of volunteerism, which is so deep-rooted in The Pinnacle community. Every year, the students of the Special Task take active part in all the various activities organized by the school. We have taught our students to make efforts to anchor and facilitate this noble cause of reaching out… touching their hearts… bringing a smile… and filling their lives with joy, for the city to which we belong and contribute to character building and nation-building .”

Priya Nanaiah

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SPECIAL PROJECTS REPORT

The Special Projects Team of The Pinnacle School is assigned with the duty to collect relief material from the school and give it to organizations which help the less privileged people. This year our team constituted of Pawandeep Singh, the leader of Special Projects Team, Manmeet Singh and Navmi Arora. The Special Projects Team of our School collected relief material for various initiatives like ‘Goonj’, ‘CanKids’, ‘Shrishti’, etc.It is true that our school students as well our School Staff have big hearts and it was truly evident in the collection of relief material for such initiatives. The relief material was generously and open heartedly donated by the school children. Moreover, teachers also donated. So a very large quantity of clothes, shoes, bags, etc. was collected by the Special Projects Team. Cash donations were also made. Now all the relief material was segregated and packed properly. It was time to carry it to the respective organization itself. Every time a different set of students accompanied the Team so that all the students could get a hands on experience This year was truly remarkable to see the glow on the faces of these peoples A message for Pinnacleites (both students and staff members): THANKS A LOT FOR ALL THE CONTRIBUTIONS! WITHOUT YOUR SUPPORT OUR EFFORTS WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN SUCCESSFUL!!

Pawandeep Singh XII Special Projects Team

TEAM LEADER REPORT

The Pinnacle School has assigned a group of children for the Special Projects Team. This team helps NGO’s, less privileged people, and stray animals, etc. for a better survival. Every year we do some-thing special to help them out. We ensure that every child from the school plays a crucial role in the projects undertaken by the school. Last year we reached out to the children in the slum school ‘Sshrishti’, the cancer stricken kids at CanKids, the senior citizens in the old age home at Badarpur or even helping stray animals. We were really touched to see the joy that we brought to so many lives just by our simple actions and deeds. Every visit gives us a deep sense of satisfaction and we want to reach out and help many more underprivileged people. The Animal Help Forum sensitized us to the needs of stray animals. The main aim was to help and provide for the injured stray animals. All our students contributed generously and every Friday, the collections were packed and given to the Animal Help Forum and Friendicoes, an organization that takes care of stray animals. Now, all the students are not only sensitive to the needs of under-privileged children andthe aged, but also towards stray, helpless animals. We all have now emerged stronger in character, with values that have made us unique and worthy citizens. Our school also went to “Goonj”. It is an NGO that mobilizes resources such as clothes and many basic amenities to the rural areas. Known for its need based and systematic relief work, it has been active in relief operations during all the major disasters. The children of our school generously do-nated articles ranging from old books, uniforms, shoes and school bags to toys and blankets. We got the opportunity to see all the processing units such as recycling of paper, cloth, etc. The workers of all these units were either widows or victims of domestic violence. Each one of them is given a sal-ary. The determination to succeed in this endeavour of The Special Projects Team and to continue making a difference is what will always keep us going....

Navmi Arora, IX -B Assistant Team Leader

Special Task Force

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CANKIDS

KIDS CAN..... CanKids Kids Can- an organization to help those who suffer from Cancer. The kids who come from villages and do not have money for their treatment are provided with financial aid, facilities, food, shelter and a hope to survive here. The students of the Special Projects Team-Navmi, Shivani, Shafaq, Aditi, Riya and Gursimran with their teachers visited the NGO on the 4th October, with toys and clothes that were donated by the students of The Pinnacle School for the children at Can Kids. The experience was overwhelming. We were given an insight into the work done by the organization for the children suffering from cancer. We even saw beautiful walls that were painted by the children. Kekadu- the symbol of cancer and victory over the disease was vibrantly coloured. The place is not only a home away from home for the cancer kids but also a place for hope and survival as it proudly says “for the kids who can, are the kids who will.” Navmi Arora ,IX- B

DOCUMENTARY ON ELEPHANTS

The documentary shown to us gave us an insight into the important role played by elephants in our ecosystem how we should spread the awareness of conserving them. I never knew so much about elephants in particular. Many people know that animals are a crucial part of our biodiversity but none talks or try to improve it. The ecological cycle can be very disturbed by the decreasing numbers of animals in our biodiversity. It is said that -”charity begins at home...”. So to spread this message all over the world we have to start doing something ourselves.

Our school has started a Special Task Force where students are selected to be a part of doing some really good work. They would create an awareness to help the animals and lesser privileged people. Many schools are already a part of this programme and I think they are doing a great job. They are doing their bit and we have to do ours. If there are no animals in the world, our lives will be destroyed. Our younger generation will not be able to see all those species which we are becoming extinct. We have to conserve them for our younger generation and for ourselves too. If there are no forests and no animals, there will be no life!! Elephants in particular have a greater place in our life than its size. They are of cultural importance; but they are hunted for their tusks which provide us with ivory from which we get luxurious showpieces, etc. At the end I would say that please save animals, trees, our biodiversity and our future. Navmi Arora,IX- B

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Special Projects

WORKSHOP ON ‘KIDS FOR TIGER’ The ‘Teachers’ Environmental Leadership Workshop’ was held on 31st August, by the joint efforts of KFT and Aircel at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library. The speaker was Prof. Dr. Parvish Pandya associated with the Mumbai University. Dr. Pandya told us about activities that could make environment studies and classification of organisms interesting and easy to understand. He also told us about how we can draw parallels between different situations and elicit concepts from the learners. He discussed many projects that are presently running all over the country. He talked about birds, algae, turtles, wildlife sanctuaries, etc. Many wildlife facts were eye-openers for us.

SPACE WEEK CELEBRATION IN OUR SCHOOL World Space Week was celebrated in our school in October. The topic taken for the World Space Week by UN was Space Settlement and Satellites. Space age means the advancement of space technology through generation. Space settlement means the colonization in space or human habitation outside the earth. This topic was taken to make people aware of the facilities we are getting with the help of space advancement. There

were many activities that took place during the week. It was inaugurated with a drawing competition on topics like lunar exploration, mars exploration and space settlement. The other activity held was a PPT. Presentation. The topics were space age, space settlements and satellites. Some students of Class VIII were asked to make a presentation to showcase it to the other students. An Inter House Quiz was also conducted. Each house had three representing members. The topic for the Quiz was space and water. There were three rounds: a rapid-fire, a picture puzzle and an oral questionnaire. Nehru House won the first position with eighteen points. All the activities were fun to take part in with the realization of the importance of space and its significance in our daily lives.

Divya Tom and Sanya Jain, VIII -B

Special Task Force

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Mask making

WORKSHOP ON CLAY MODELING AND MASK MAKING

On the 15th of July, some students of The Pinnacle School went to the National Museum of National History to take part in the workshop on clay modeling and mask making. It was a part of the activities held under Tigerthon. The children got the opportunity to see the magnificent museum which showcased different models of endangered animals around the world. We could feel their sorrow in their eyes; they seemed as if they wanted us to help them. As we reached our destination the students were told to choose between clay modeling and mask making. The students who chose mask making learnt how to make admirable tiger masks. All of them had made remarkable masks. Those who chose clay modeling were taught easy ways to make small and wondrous clay animals like elephant, birds, etc. we were taught how to distinguish between the paw marks of a tiger and a tigress. It was a workshop which helped me to enhance both our creativity and concentration. This workshop was really a prodigious workshop.

Divya Tom, VIII- B

TIGERTHON As we all know, the numbers of tigers are decreasing day by day. All thanks to us! ‘Tigerthon’ was a programme organized by the NDTV on the15th July. This event took place at the National Museum. There were three events organized by the NDTV__ Drawing Competition,on the topic’ Save Tigers Save Forests’, Clay Modeling and Mask Making. In Clay Modeling, we were shown how the footprints of a tiger are taken. We were taught how to make an elephant out ofclay. In Mask Making the children were taught how to make a mask of a tiger. These creative events were thoroughly enjoyed by all participants.

Shivani Virdi - IX B

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Senior School Articles

A VISIT TO THE MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY On 15th July, I went to a Museum of Natural History with my school, which was an amazing experience. It was organized by NDTV INDIA, the news channel. The event was the Annual Tigerton - a 12hr marathon fund raising event to save tigers and forests. I went with my friends and some other students. There were many natural things, like animals skin and eggs fossils of birds and animals. My friends and I were happy to be on the news channel. There were many other schools. First we saw a movie on wild animals, which was very good .After that we were divided into groups. The first group was taken for mask painting and second group went for clay modeling. My friends and I were in clay modeling. We all made elephants and birds with the help of clay. In mask painting they all painted the masks of tigers. It was an amazing experience.

Anvita Gulati, VIII- B

NDTV- TIGERTHONOur national animal, the tiger, needs to be protected and today’s generation needs to be made aware about the importance of saving this wonderful, majestic animal. People do not understand three simple words “SAVE OUR TIGERS”. We do not want our upcoming generation see the tigers only in pictures. In the future, India would be the only country which would not have any national animal. Even though the government is taking many steps for the conservation of the tiger, people take this matter for granted.On the 15th September, some students of our school were taken to attend a workshop on ‘SAVE OUR TIGERS’. This workshop was organized by NDTV. There were many other participating schools. There were three activities ‘drawing competition’ and ‘clay modeling along with mask making’. We participated in mask making. We were first taught to make the tiger masks. Then we were provided with some tiger face cut - outs and some crayons to express our own creativity and make a tiger mask. We were also shown a movie on tigers. It was a fun filled and learning experience.

Manvi Kukreja,VIII- B

THE SSHRISHTI EXPERIENCE...

The Special Task Force with the teachers went to the NGO Sshrishti on the13th December. This is an educational centre for the unprivileged section of our society. Our purpose was to share Christmas gifts and to bring a smile on their faces. Some children of our school also performed a classical dance for them from the epic Ramayana. This was new and interesting for those children. They enjoyed it to the core. Seeing them happy, each one of us felt satisfied that all our efforts in collecting and packing the gifts for them were fruitful. We had brought a big smile to each face. After the distribution of the gifts and a wonderful performance by the girls of Classes IV-VIII, we also interacted with the children of Sshrishti. We clicked some pictures so that those memories stay with us forever. After our interaction with them we realized that we should be content with what we have. Also those children were very attached to their teachers as well as their friends. It was an overwhelming experience for all of us to see the effort that the organization is putting to change the lives of the children and mould them to be good citizens of our country.

Special Task Force

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