21st October, 2016
Podar World School hosted the Inter- School SciPoTech consecutively for the second year too creating almost a ripple in the otherwise calm and serene ambience of the school and its rustic premises. The CRDC (Curriculum Research and Development Centre) had meticulously prepared and send modules for Classes VI to IX to assist the learners of Podar World School to prepare projects on Science, Technology, Robotics, Doodling and Web Designing. The learners of the Podar schools showed keen interest in discussing their ideas and seeking guidance from their science teachers during breaks also for their display in the areas prescribed and they participated quite enthusiastically in the event. The preparation for the fest started since a month and shortly after the invitation cards were dispatched, registrations started pouring in ensuring the participation of some very reputed schools of Vadodara like Navrachna International, Navarachna School, Sama; Nalanda Internationl school; Navrachna Vidayani Vidyalaya; Basilios School; Sabari Vidyalaya; Bright Day school, Harni; and Delhi Public School, Harni etc. Three schools outside Vadodara also participated. They were Vibrant International Academy, Changa; Swami Vivekananad Academy, Ankleshwar and Vision International School of Excellence, Ankleshwar. In all 16 schools (235 students and 20 teachers) participated. These schools were free to display their models (working and non-working) in any pertaining para fields of Science and Technology.
In order to avoid any sort of hiccups or confusion every care was taken right from making of banners, pla-cards to sending of ‘Thank you letters’ and ‘Thank you cards’ to the participating schools. The credit for such a watertight arrangement goes to the enterprising Principal Ms. Preeta Pillai and her dedicated and committed team of teachers. The participants from different schools along with their teachers started arriving around 7.30 am and soon after the registration formality arranged at the entrance, they moved to their respective rooms, having collected the food coupons and guided by a road map put on a soft board at the reception. The student volunteers (from Classes 8 to 10) clad in regular school uniform and with their I – card were on their toes along with the school teachers who were on duty in each of floors guiding and attending to the needs of the participants. In an hour’s time the whole school was bustling like a market place with the participants discussing and arranging their models, seeking help of the host school teachers or volunteers for extension wires, plugs, water, scissors, thermocol etc. The Chief Guest who were also the Judges for the event were four eminent personalities. They were Dr. Suresh Purohit, ( Founder of PharmaCupboard.com who is also one of the elite Quiz Masters of Gujarat. He is presently associated with Vadodara Innovation Council and Vadodara Management Council), Dr. Valli Pillai (Senior Lecturer at Navrachna University), Dr. Darshee Baxi (Lecturer at Navrachna University) and Ms. V.J. Jayalaxmi (Teaching Assistant and Research Scholar in Organic Chemistry from M.S. University of Vadodara).
Around 9.30 am the Judges arrived and they were soon escorted by the Principal, Coordinators and Senior teachers to each category of the exhibits for judging the projects and models. While judging the displays one could see among the budding scientists young Faraday, Newton and Edison presenting their innovative ideas as exhibits. All the exhibits were creative and attractive while some were marvelous. The Judges interacted with the participants, posed questions on the principle applied and even gave their judgements in the form of markings in the judgement sheet after inspecting each display on their own merit. There were quite amazing displays in doodling and online web designing. Participants from different schools had made their own website for personal Dengue diagnosis, for fetching industrial paints and other industrial products, to know more about the mystery of Black Hole (Tanushree Mishra and Yash Parikh from Podar World School, Sherkhi) etc. For relieving one from drug abuse, smoking habits etc. a website was created by the children besides online for grocery shopping, accessing benefits of bio technology, digital technology etc. In the Physics lab, there were many innovative gizmos prepared by the participating students such as solar powered mill, solar vacuum cleaner (Mimansha and Khushi of Podar World School, Sherkhi) etc. There were portable solar water heater, vacuum cleaner for cleaning city, models of Eco-friendly city and Smart city etc. In the general Science category there were models on ‘functioning of heart’, on how solar panels installed for domestic purpose can be cost effective, project for creating energy powered mills, fire alarm etc. Around 12:30 pm the judging process came to an end and they all assembled in the Atelier around 1:30 pm for the Prize distribution.
The Judges were accompanied by the Principal. The anchor for the day Ms. Arpita Samant of Class 10 extended a very warm welcome to all the Judges, participants and the teachers. She then announced the prayer song and then the speech sharing a student’s experience of participating in such Science Fest was shared by Ms. Aparna Binu a student of Class 11. Then the Principal of Podar World School, Sherkhi was invited to welcome the Judges and share their credentials with the assembled. She welcomed the Judges with flowers prepared by students of Sherkhi during their Art and Craft period. The Principal Ms. Preeta Pillai in her opening speech wished the children for having a constructive time at their displays and mentioned that the Judges had a tough time judging as each of the display was better than the other. She then apprised the gathered audience about the Judges, their station and accomplishment in their field of operation. This was followed by a dance performance by the students. The Judges were invited one after the other to share their views. All the Judges emphasized in their brief talk to the learners on being original in their displays, getting in depth understanding of the concepts, learning to use their scientific knowledge for spreading peace and to be persistent in asking questions to one self about ‘Why’ and ‘How’ about concepts learned till they get the answer. The Guests were then felicitated with a memento, the school’s pride the ‘Podar Times’ magazine and a ‘Thank You’ card prepared by the children.
Then most awaited moment of Prize distribution was announced. In the category of technology, the 4th prize was won by Navrachna School, Sama, Podar World School, Sherkhi stood on 3rd position as per the tabulation table but did not claim the prize being the host school, so the next best school Navrachana School, Sama got the prize. The second prize went to Navrachna Vidyani Vidhyalaya and the 1st prize was secured by Anand Vidhya Vihar. In Science, 3rd prize was secured by GPS Vadodara (Podar World School, Sherkhi too stood 2nd as per tabulation sheet). 2nd prize went to Vision International School of Excellence, Ankleshwar and the 1st prize was secured by BAPS Swami Narayan Vidya Mandir. In the Robotics, Navrachna Vidyani Vidhyalaya secured the 2nd and 3rd position and the 1st position was won by BAPS Swami Narayan Vidya Mandir. Finally the majestic championship trophy SciPoTech CHAMPION 2016 was lifted by Navrachna Vidyani Vidyalaya (As per tabulation sheet Podar World School, Sherkhi had secured maximum marks and was eligible for ‘ScipoTech Champion’ rolling trophy). On the whole it was a fruitful and a memorable event.
