ST. MARY'S CONVENT SECONDARY SCHOOL - DEWAS
October 3, 2013
The students of St. Mary's Convent Secondary School - Dewas, M.P, grabbed an opportunity that came their way. Over 360 students of standards nine and ten, and eleven took part in a Value Education Orientation Program, that was conducted by Fr. Glenford Lowe and Mr. Rochwyn Fernandes. A few of the std twelve commerce section were also present. Sr. Lalita, principal of the school, welcomed the guest speakers to the school. and introduced the speakers to the students. This ws surely the first of its kind for many of them.
The two sessions, consisting of two and a half hours each, were spent well. The theme for the day's Value orientation was ' Living your Life by a Value Compass'. Right from the word go, the students were fully active and attentive to every moment of the program. A prayer song, 'Sarweshaam, Swastir Bhavatu' brought a spiritual tone to the program. The students were then invited by Mr. Rochwyn Fernandes to participate in a 'fantasy meditation' and to relax and slow down with the help of some rhythmic breathing. He introduced Fr. Glenford Lowe and made a reference to his noble gesture of 'donating his kidney' to a fellow salesian priest.
Fr. Glenn then took over... the session was very down-to-earth and full of daily life experiences in a students' life. Focusing on the need to reset one's Value compass and to take charge of one's direction in life, the entire session was a call to return back to celebrate life abundantly. The call was to get M.A.D... make a difference. Citing popular examples like Ms. Kia Scherr, Ryan Hjerlac and Malala Yousafzai, he challenged the students to make a worthy contribution to humanity. "At the end of your life, what is it that you would like to be remembered for?" , he asked.
The young minds were invited to start asking more 'meaning questions' rather than just living a life of survival. Basing the talk on Twelve Diamond values that are important to reset one's personal value compass, the students took the opportunity to reevaluate their personal life so far. Important values based on one's 'attitude', team work, communication, confidence, creativity, criticism, were also discussed about. Other points for consideration were on 'Multi tasking and time management', accountability and living a balanced life and also a life of abundance.
With the help of a PowerPoint presentation and use of powerful media clips and everyday life situations, the students fully participated in all the activities and were able to challenge themselves to start making a Difference in their own lives. At the end of the session, a number of students came forward to write their comments in the AVEC appreciation log book.
“It was a very nice experience listening to
Fr. Glenn. It really made a change in me. I will really make a change too.
Thanks for your precious time with us” - Amiket
B, Jaya P, Nihal S, AditiShukla
“It was a motivational an inspiring
workshop which made a way for our life and opened our eyes too” – RoshiniRajani
“The values given by Fr. Glenn will surely
be remembered and I will make a difference in all my life and above will think
differently too” – TasnimBohra
“I will surely Make A Difference” - NishaChoudhary
“Fr. Glenn helped us to make our lives
meaningful by telling us the important things in life” – A. Thakur
“A worthwhile moment of my life” – Yash Sharma
“The workshop was arranged properly and
everything explained very clearly. It inspired us a lot and gave us a new
direction in life. We thank Mr. Rochwyn Fernandes and fr. Glenn for their
valuable time and we promise to make a difference” – Amkit Y, Amal K, Shrish D, Yog
“Father Glenn thank for such an
inspirational workshop and thank you for giving us such valuable messages. We
promise to make a ‘Qualitative’ change too and thanks for coming to our school”
- KamakshiTrivedi
“Thank you Fr. Glenn, for coming to our
school for this inspirational workshop. We will try to follow your given path.
Today with this presentation, we have a ‘valuable compass’ to guide us in the
future and we will surely make a Difference in the world, and you could use us
as your examples too” – Mansi Gupta
