ST. MARY'S HIGHER SECONDARY SCHOOL - MHOW
September 30 - October 1, 2013
Five Hundred and Forty One students (Std IX - XII) of St. Mary's Higher Secondary School - MHOW, participated in a the 'Living By a Value Compass' that was organized by AVEC. The students were divided into two batches that covered two full days. Sr. Elsa Gonsalves, Principal of the School, welcomed the guest speakers and invited the students to make the best use of the opportunity that came their way. The students took part in the entire program with a lot of enthusiasm and cooperated fully in the entire session.
The Value Orientation program focused on the the need to 'Live by A Value Compass'. The session began with an invitation to draw strength from the Almighty through a prayer song ' Sarveshaam, Swastir Bhavatu'. A fantasy meditation, animated by Mr. Rochwyn Fernandes followed. This was an opportunity to calm down and focus on all the positive energy that is present in one's life and to exhale all that is negative and toxic. He then, introduced Fr. Glenn to the students. He made a special mention about his noble act in donating his kidney to a fellow Salesian priest over two years ago.
Fr. Glenn began his session with a call to make a 'Qualitative' difference through the M.A.D philosophy - Make A Difference. Presenting the lives of role models like Mrs. Kia Scherr, Ryan Hreljac and Ms. Malala Yousafzai - people who chose to make a difference - the students looked at themselves too as agents of change. He focused on 12 Diamond Values that need to be inculcated so that start getting on to the right track. "In life, it is not how fast you run that matters, but rather, whether you are on the right track," he said.
At the end of the sessions, students Geeti Ramchandani Iram Khan and Namira Sheikh proposed the Vote of thanks on behalf of their respective classes.
A number of students came forward to write their comments in the AVEC appreciation log book:
“A big thank you foe being in our school
and giving us such valuable teachings. Your skill for life will definitely help
us to make a qualitative change and become M.A.D. Its not that I will make big
changes, but I’m sure that at least there will be little changes that will
motivate us and change the world. Thank you once again from the whole STD XII
class” - GeetiRamchandani (Head Girl) XII
“It is a privilege to have Fr. Glenford
Lowe here to tell us about how to ‘Make A Difference’ in our life and develop
Value Skills for life” – Sakshi Gupta XII
“I would thank Fr. Glenn for being amidst
us. It is a great pleasure to have him here. He has changed our outlook towards
life and I hope this will lead us to the right track” - ChamhalShaeima XII
“I would like to express my gratitude for
teaching us the way our life should be lived and not to loose track of it. It
will definitely change our life and make a change for the better. Thank you for
sharing your valuable time with us” – Ayushi
XII
“It is an honour to have you Fr. Glenn in
our school. The best thing I liked is your attitude to life. The principles you
had taught us will surely help us to make a difference in our lives. Thank you
for being so humble and frank and helping us to analyze our lives. Your
teachings will remain in our minds and will definitely be converted into
practical application. Thank you father” - Alankruti
XII
“It was a privilege to have you with us.
Your words were inspiring and they instilled in us new hopes. I hope that we
will practice all the values that you taught us. Thank you very much” - Aditi XII
“It was a life time opportunity to spend
time with you. It was a great experience. Your words have its own meaning, your
message and values have reached every heart here. Thank you Father” – E PANDEY XII
“I have gone through many seminars but it
was you who told me to ask meaningful questions. Thanks for making me change” –
KratiTiwari XI –A
“This was one of my best experiences of mu
student life. Having attended many seminars, I can definitely say this one was
the best of all!!! Getting to know so many things about myself and others was
very interesting. Thanks a lot” – SanjivaniMandloi
XI-A
“It was a very beautiful seminar put with a
lot of effort to help us go forward into the future with confidence, to lead
ourselves and not to fall along the way. You challenged us to also share our
problems and make a difference. I will not forget your words and will surely
lead a happy life” – AlnooraAsif XI – A
“Realized my responsibilities towards my
life and also that of others.A meaningful and beautiful seminar. Now I will be
striving to ‘Make A Difference’ - Nikita
Gupta XI –A
“It had a good experience to know about
life and moral values we need to follow all our life” – Diksha N XI-
“It was a great and wonderful experience to
be here with such great people. The values which you instilled in us were very
valuable. Thank you for such valuable guidance” – Ojaswi Dixit XI
“This was rally an awesome time spent here.
I am very thankful for giving us such values and we hope that we are able to
fulfill whatever we promised and said.” – Iram
Khan X B
“It was very inspirational and we are ready
to get M.A.D” - Pranchi X – A
“Great to attend. We were really frank to
you to share our thoughts. I hope soon the M.A.D phenomenon will come in our
minds. Thank you for encouraging us” – NehaManral
X – C
“We had great fun to attend this valuable
seminar and for this good experience to help hold me high in my future life” – Namira Sheikh IX
“We had great fun. We thank you for
inspiring us. We were really frank to share our thoughts with you. Thanks for
all the encouragement. Now I can get M.A.D too” - SonamSwamy IX
“I got many things about life and how to be
a person with good values. I will always remember this for every day of my
life” – Diksha T IX
“I don’t know what others felt about this
session, but I really liked it. The videos were amazing, touching and they have
helped me to cope with any situation” – YashashviVerma
IX – C
“We are very happy to have you in our
midst. We would like to join you in the future when we grow up. We learnt so
many things and we saw reality of life before us. Thank you” - Hamlet Daniel IX-A
“I am very happy because today I saw the
reality of life. I appreciate you very much and thank you for spending your
precious time with us to guide us for our future” - Shimona Marshall IX-A
“At first, I expected this seminar to be
boring…. But then the inspiration you gave us in three hours was really worth
it” – Abigail Brown IX
