AVEC - July Sessions

3^rd July, 10^th July and 17^th July

Every Wednesday in July saw the AVEC visit St. Sebastian Goan High School, Grant Road to cater to the students of Std X. Fr. Leon Rodrigues sdb helped the students realise their potentialities. They were called to focus their attention on looking at reality from a different angle. Once you change your perspective – your problems do not remain problems – solutions automatically come to the fore. One can look at the      X Std board exams as a problem or it could be an opportunity to become something better and could lead to an improvement in one’s career prospective. This was the main aim of the session.

5^th July-30^th August

Today the AVEC started a series of sessions, on every Friday, for the students of St. Antonio High School, Dadar. Fr. Leon conducted sessions over a period of a month on accepting ‘oneself and one’s talents’. The Xth Std were prepared to face their anxieties over appearing for their first board exams while the rest of the school were helped to discovering their talents.

We also started every-Friday-sessions at Sacred Heart High School, Worli. Every Friday Fr. Leon would go to the school to conduct a half hour session for the students of the school on self-discipline and          nurturing one’s talents. The students were helped to understand that no matter the problem there is always a solution to life.

6^th July

Today we had two parents sessions – one in Holy Cross Thane and another in Carmel Convent High School, Kalamboli. Fr. Mylin very willingly accepted to go to Holy Cross while Fr. Leon went to Carmel Convent. Both spoke on the topic ‘Positive Parenting’ which asked the parents to be “assertive Parents” who nurture their children through positive corrections and who use love languages to help better their children.

8^th July -12^th December

Today the AVEC started a series of 16 sessions for the Secondary Section of St. Joseph’s High School, Vile Parle. This year the topic for these sessions would be ‘Lessons learnt from the Bamboo Tree’. These sessions helped the children understand that their schooling system was helping them nurture and develop into adults who would be able to take care of themselves. It helped them to take a look at their ‘roots’ which have helped them become better and smarter. It also helped them realise that obstacles are part of life and yet when we learn to navigate these obstacles life becomes better.

9^th July

The AVEC had the privilege of conducting sessions for the 65 teachers of the prestigious St. Joseph’s Girls Convent High School, Khadki, Pune. It was an interesting session in which the teachers through fun and games understood the nuances of high living. Basing themselves on the ‘7 Habits of Highly effective     people’ Fr. Leon helped the teachers get back to the basics of life. From time to time a fine tuning of life is always necessary and this is what was offered to the teachers.

13^th July

The AVEC went to Holy Cross High School, Juhu for a 2 hour parents session in Hindi. Fr. Leon helped the parents realise the gift that they possess – a gift given by God to nurture the young and hence parenting is a great responsibility. We, as parents, are called to fulfil this God-given duty.

16^th July

The AVEC started a series of 5 sessions for Don Bosco High School, Borivli at the behest of their          principal, Rev. Fr. Flovi D’Souza. Involving also the Asst. Director of TEJ Prasarini, Fr. Mylin Noronha; Fr. Leon conducted sessions to help the students realise their inner potentialities. The students through the   sessions were helped to focus on all that is good in themselves. They were made to realise that obstacles are part of life but the way we perceive these troubles, problems helps us get through them with ease and finesse.

20^th July

The AVEC went to Canossa High School, Dhule to conduct a seminar for the 110 teachers of the school. The teachers were helped to understand the difference between education and curriculum and helped to realise that basically to educate the other one has to first take care of themselves. Thus the teachers were asked to look at their lifestyles, their personalities and the environment in which they place themselves so that they can be better educators.

24^th July

WE, at the AVEC, conducted a 2-hour session for the leaders of St. Stanislaus High School, Bandra. We helped the leaders realise that they are the ‘now’ of the school and that they are called to lead the students and the school to greatness. We focused our attention on problem solving and we realised with them that once we change our perspectives, problems do no remain problems!

29^th July

We, the AVEC, were invited once again to visit St. Joseph’s Girls Convent, Khadki, Pune to conduct sessions for Std IX students. Firstly, through meditation we asked them to calm down and focus their attention on all the graces that God had bestowed on them. We made them realise that they are filled with talents and we need nurture these talents. Later through fun, games and interaction we asked the students to focus their attention on developing themselves.

AVEC - June Sessions

The academic year began with a bang as AVEC conducted its first sessions for the teachers of St. Louis, Dahisar, St. Joseph’s Vikrohli, St. Paul’s Dadar, St. Sebastian’s Goan High School, Grant Road and St. Anthony’s High School, Malvani. The 350 teachers that participated at the varied schools were helped to understand that developing one’s personality is important as they are called to nurture young lives as teachers. The AVEC conducted sessions based on the book ‘The 7 habits of Highly Effective People’ by Stephen Covey.

13^th June 2019

We, the AVEC were invited to conduct a session for the teachers at Auxilium Convent, Lonavla. We spoke on the Topic – ‘The Bamboo Principle: the Roots Beneath Results’ by Ken Lodi. We helped the teachers realise their inner potentialities. It was an interesting session wherein the teachers played games and interacted with one another while delving deep into their lives.

15^th June 2019

We, the AVEC visited Loretto Convent, Chembur wherein we conducted a session for 35 teachers of the School. If the tree will not be watered and taken care of, how will it give fruits? Keeping this in mind we had a very interactive session and using the book ‘The 7 habits of Highly Effective People’ by Stephen Covey to help the teachers look at themselves better. The teachers were helped to equip themselves with methods to deal with students so that they can in turn help them develop values and virtues.

17^th June 2019

The AVEC visited Carmel Convent, Kalamboli from 10.30 am onwards to orient the teachers on healthy teaching habits while focusing their attention to taking care of themselves. The teachers worked on themselves and found out that it is important to take care of ones needs and well-being in order to assist young minds and give them a direction. There were 65 teachers in total that attended the seminar.

19^th and 20^th June 2019

The AVEC visited the Convent of Jesus and Mary, Kharghar wherein Fr. Leon Rodrigues conducted sessions for the 9^th and 10^th Std students. These were two days filled with games and interactive sessions. The #avecsessions helped the students to make #life choices. The STD X students were helped to understand that they have to take #responsibility for their lives while the STD IX students were oriented towards #hardwork.

21^st June 2019

On International Yoga Day we had the privilege of being invited by Sr. Sanjeevani to Our Lady of Nazareth High School, Byander. We conducted a 3 hour workshop for 350 students of Std X and helped them prepare for their upcoming annual Std X board exams. We spoke to them about the responsibility of preparing themselves for their boards and that this event could be looked at as an opportunity or a curse. The choice was theirs! We spoke to the girls about the importance of the opportunity at hand! Mr. Joshua D’Souza, a prominent engineering student from St. Francis D’Assissi College and a youth of the DBYM was helping out in the AVEC sessions.

22^nd June 2019

The AVEC was invited to St. Paul’s boys High School, Dadar to conduct a parents session for the varied groups of parents. Fr. Leon, the director after having helped the parents calm down through a meditation, enlightened the august crowd to understand ‘POSITIVE PARENTING’ through which the guardians could responsibly bring up their wards through positive motivation and encouragement. The workshop was    conducted for the entire day.

24^th – 26^th June and 1st – 4th July

The AVEC conducted sessions for the 720 VII and VIII students of Fr. Agnel’s Multipurpose High School, Vashi on the topic ‘What are values?’. The Students were made to understand the importance of one’s body and that God has blessed each one of us uniquely with gifts – that we need to take care of ourselves and not be ‘body-shamed’ by comparing ourselves to others. Each one of us is blessed with a unique set of talents which we need to nurture and develop.

27^th June

This day saw the AVEC venture into St. Jerome High School, Kashmira where it had a session with the IX and X std students of the school. The Xth Std students were helped to gear themselves for the upcoming board exams. They were helped to prepare strategies in time-management and also taught stress coping techniques.

The IX std students were helped to examine themselves better. They were led into a workshop on ‘self-acceptance and talent finding’.

28^th June

The leaders of St. Anthony’s High School Malvani were led into a workshop and helped to understand the meaning of leading from the front. Through games and activities, the school leaders were helped to focus their attention on improving their inner capacities – ‘only when we nurture our own being can we lead from the front’ was the catch mantra of the session.

29th June

The AVEC was invited to Carmel Convent, Kalamboli to conduct a parents session for the varied groups of parents. Right through the day, every hour, Fr. Leon Rodrigues sdb met every parent from the school to help them understand their role in the development of the child. It is not only the responsibility of the school to educate the child, the parents too have a big responsibility in furthering the future of the children. Hence they need to treat the child with love languages, spend quality time with their wards and positively correct their children.

Don Bosco International School

Don Bosco International School

session for students.

Fr. Leon conducted a half day session for the students of Don Bosco International School, Matunga.
The session began with leading the students into prayer and meditation to create a peaceful ambience.

After leading the students into prayer and meditation Fr. Leon helped the students put into perspective their lives. The session was organized and carried out keeping the youthfulness of the students in mind. Rather than having a monotonous, "keep listening" pattern, more games, activities giving out important life lessons where incorporated throughout the session.

The topics taken up in the session where few important life lessons, that would not just help them as youngsters but also as responsible adults. Important qualities like leadership skills, communication, hard work and self love were presented to them. The atmosphere was more of a bubbly and cheerful surrounding rather than, 'bored kids listening to a bored speaker.'

The response received by the young participants was overwhelming. The students also exchanged their views on the relevant topics.It was a great sight to see young minds wanting to learn more, to grow more and to do something for themselves and for the society. Thus, indicating that with these young and aspiring youngsters are future would may not be dull after all.

The students not only enjoyed themselves to the fullest but also took back home some valuable lessons that would definitely come handy throughout their lives.

The session was concluded with a short summary of the entire session followed by a vote of thanks by the principal. Thus, another day of learning through enjoyment came to an end.

St. Agnes High School

St. Agnes High School, Byculla, Mumbai

Session for Students

Today, the 23rd of August 2018, Fr. Leon Rodrigues, sdb the Director of the AVEC and Mr. Rochwyn Fernandes conducted a students session in Byculla.

The session began with a meditation on being AWARE of oneself. The students were helped through activities to understand the meaning of time and management. Through group activities the students were helped to understand the meaning of planning and strategy in this their most important year STD X. They were made aware that through planning and strategy one can easily do well in their board exams.

St. Thomas Academy, Goregaon

St. Thomas academy

Session for Teachers

Fr. Leon Rodrigues sdb, the director of AVEC, conducted a session for the teachers of  St. Thomas academy. 

When we work we need to do so in unison, understanding the ideals of the organisation where we toil; we need to respect it's culture and ethos. This session was about 'building a sense of belonging' among the teachers that work in the esteemed institute at St. Thomas Academy, Goregaon.

As the session began, Mr. Rochwyn Fernandes, firstly briefed the teachers on the purpose of the animation program and then invited the teachers to relax through an awareness-breathing exercise. Later Fr.Leon facilitated the teachers through an interactive session wherein through games and modules the teachers understood the importance of team work and group building. The teachers attended the session with a lot of seriousness and participated very attentively all through.

The session ended with a vote of thanks.

St. Mary's High School(S.S.C), Mazgaon

St. Mary's High School(S.S.C), Mazgaon

Session for Leaders

The Avec team organized a session for the Leaders of St. Mary's High School(S.S.C), Mazgaon.

The theme for the session was Leadership towards a better future.

Over the length of two powerful sessions Fr. Leon Rodrigues sdb and his team engaged the leaders of St. Mary's Mazgaon into helping them understand the nuances of leadership.

On the first day (28th Feb 2018) the session was on discovering oneself. A good leader is one who knows himself - his good and his not so good qualities. The students through games and modules were into understanding themselves better.

The second day (15th March 2018) saw the facilitator, Rev. Fr. Leon, speak about Steven Covey's 7 habits for highly effective people. He helped the students understand that leaders use these 7 principles in their daily dealings and that these principles are a pathway to success.

The two days of learning ended with a short vote of thanks.

St. Charles High School, Vakola

St. Charles High School, Vakola

Session for students

Fr. Leon Rodrigues, the director of the AVEC, conducted a two day value orientation session for the students of Std VIII of St. Charles High School, Vakola. The theme for the session was Love and Relationships

The session began with a short prayer service followed by a short meditation. Later Fr. Leon spoke on what it means to be in a relationship. He started his session by highlighting to the students that one needs to focus more on one's heart rather than one's body in order to be truly successful in life. He helped the students understand their true worth by stressing the importance of talents and the proper utilization of these God given gifts. Then he delved into the topic of Love and relationships. There were various activities also organized for the students in between the sessions. The students enjoyed the session thoroughly. Ms. Pearl D'Souza also one of the spoke persons for the sessions. 

The session ended with a short vote of thanks.