1€¦ · 6 YAGNA January 2020 THE EDITOR Hello Readers, I extend my warm greeting to you all with...

1www.queenmira.com

2 YAGNA | January 2020

Editor In Chief S.HARITHA

Sub Editors KALPANA KARTHICK

AYSHA SIDDIKA FEROZE

Student Editors PRAJITH SELVARAJ SHERBOURN ISSAC.S

ANUSHA THENU SUBRAMANIAN

NOSTRADAMUS TIMES

JANUARY • Pongal Celebration • Marathon - Project ECO - Q • Sales Day

FEBRUARY• Health Camp • Grand Parents Day

MARCH • Aadukalam

AT 34, FINNISH MINISTER

SANNA MARIN BECOMES WORLD’S YOUNGEST PM

SAUDI RESTAURANTSNO LONGER NEED TO

SEGREGATE WOMEN AND MEN

FORMER US PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA SAYS

PARIS CLIMATE DEAL IS STILL THE WAY FORWARD

“

““

“““GLOBAL CONNECT

CONTENTS

MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR-ACADEMICS ..................................................... 8

Q’S OUTREACH PROGRAM ........................................................ 9

COUNSELLOR’S INSTINCT ................................................ 10

HARAPPAN SCRIPTS .................................................................... 11

CONOISSEUR’S EXHORTATION ...................................... 12

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED ................................................... 14

SIXTH SENSE ................................................................................. 16

CAREER CHOICES ...................................................................... 18

PATH THE NAVIGATOR ............................................................ 20

GAITIES & CELEBRITIES ............................................................ 22

AMAZING FACTS & FRESH THOUGHTS ........................ 25

QUASAR KIDS ...................................................................................... 26

TRAILBLAZER ....................................................................................... 27

TRAVELOGUE .................................................................................... 28

CONNEXIONS COLUMN ............................................................. 29

LEARNER’S COLUMN ..................................................................... 30

AGARAM ................................................................................................... 32

STAR OF THE YEAR .......................................................................... 34

JUNIOR JOURNALIST ....................................................................... 38

CHILD HEALTH AND SAFETY ................................................... 39

SPORTS ..................................................................................................... 40

Q’S ACHIEVEMENTS....................................................................... 42


THE EDITOR

Hello Readers,

I extend my warm greeting to you all with yet another exciting edition of Yagna.

As we march towards the closure of another year that was 2019. The theme for this edition is An Inconvenient Truth, PLASTIC apart from which we will recapture a few memorable events / updates from our campus.

An Inconvenient Truth is an Oscar-winning documentary about the environment featuring the unlikeliest of movie stars. Former presidential

candidate Al Gore holds this film together as, in front of an audience and with few aids beyond photo slides, he explains how humans have messed up the planet. Gore issues an urgent warning on what must be done, and done quickly, to save the earth. I urge all of you to watch this documentary.

Why has this turned into such an epic problem that has got all to the edge of their seats and worried?

Plastic is a word that originally meant “pliable and easily shaped.” It only recently became a name for a category of materials called polymers. The word polymer means “of many parts,” and polymers are made of long chains of molecules.

The first synthetic polymer was invented in 1869 by John Wesley Hyatt, who was inspired by a New York firm’s offer of $10,000 for anyone who could provide a substitute for ivory. The growing popularity of billiards had put a strain on the supply of natural ivory, obtained through the slaughter of wild elephants.

In about a 100+ years plastic has entered all arenas and is subconsciously omnipresent. What is the first sight that you come across as you enter any human habitation / city /town? Mounds and mounds of garbage and predominantly multi colored plastic. Plastic has a full life (as in the time it takes to degrade to the natural form) of approximately 50+ years. That means, by the time a plastic can erode, we would have a mass of the dimension of our planet itself. That is the size of the problem, which has got everyone worried and at the edge of their seats.

I am petrified when I remember the Chennai floods of 2015, in its aftermath wherever the deluge receded; it left a trail of Plastic on every tree, shrub, building and drain.

In this edition, we will have articles educating us on the Pros & Cons and other alternatives you could use to reduce this strain on our fragile environment and help improve sustainability.

At this juncture, we thank the people who were the back bone in bringing out this edition of yagna successfully. We thank our subeditors, student editors, column in charges and our external editor Dr.PV.Christi, Associate Professor in English, Research Center of English, Fatima College for extending her help in bringing successful yet another edition. We thank our Designing Partner - Odd Dimension Advertising and our Print Partner - Vinagaya Screens for their unstinting support.

Wish you all a Happy Newyear!

Haritha.S Editor in Chief

7www.queenmira.com

We the student editors through this editorial would like to share the various Pros and Cons of Plastic

Plastic in any form or quality is harmful to health, period. In a perfect world you would want to avoid exposure to all forms of plastic. Considering plastic lurks in every nook and corner of our lives, banishing it completely seems unrealistic and impractical.

We can start with awareness about the little ways by which we can reduce our exposure to plastic. This can go a long way in reducing toxicity, hormonal imbalance, cancer, infertility, PCOS, obesity, etc.

Some practical and handy solutions that can help us gradually do away with plastic from our lives are:

• Discard plastic bottles at home and switch to glass, clay, stainless steel or copper bottles. If you are travelling and have access to only bottled mineral water (which is plastic), carry your own non-plastic bottle with water.

• If you have plastic water filters, make a change and switch to clay pots. They are perfect for summer and naturally purify the water too.

• Traditional India ate out of stainless steel, copper, metal, banana leaf, clay, wooden plates and that’s how it should be. Change your tiffin boxes right now! For children, stainless steel is safer. At the same time, no matter how true the claim about lunch boxes being microwave safe is, it doesn’t mean it won’t leach chemicals. As we all know, microwaving itself is harmful.

• Minimize food takeaways and home delivery services because we have no control over the type of plastic they use. Most of the times, restaurants and cafes transfer the food straight from the pan

into a plastic container. The amount of toxins and chemicals that leach out from the plastic container into the food is unimaginable. If you have to order food from outside, ask the restaurant the grade of plastic being used. Grade one; four and five are safer than grade three and seven. Grade three and seven are the cheapest and most restaurants use them to save on cost.

• Most organic and farmers’ markets offer dry ration in paper, cartons or cloth bags. But if you are buying groceries from a local shop, transfer all that comes in plastic packets and bottles (e.g.: cooking oils, dals, spices, rice, flours) into glass, steel or clay jars as soon as it reaches your kitchen. If you purchase something bottled in glass, clean it and reuse it.

• Avoid drinking hot liquids in plastic cups. When hot liquid goes into them there are chemicals being leached into the drink. Instead, opt for glass cups, mason jars or bring your own cup.

• Believe it or not there is plastic in some of our clothes too. The so-called ‘wrinkle free’ fabrics are not safe and contain Teflon, which is a kind of plastic. Organic and natural fabrics like cotton, wool and linen may be the safest options when it comes to your health. This is also why Teflon-coated non-stick cookware should be banned in your kitchen.

Thus we conclude by telling that the use of plastics is dangerous for our health and not only harmful to mankind but also to the other organisms that live on earth.

So let’s say no to plastic and start following the ways which we used earlier that were much healthier for us as well as the rest of the life on earth.

STUDENT EDITORS

Prajith Selvaraj Sherbourn Issac.S Grade 11, QMIS

Anusha Thenu Subramanian Grade 11, QMIS


MESSAGE FROM DIRECTOR ACADEMICS

Dear Readers,

With the blessings of Almighty and the support of well wishers QMIS is successfully marching through its 10th year. With a sense of contentment, we retrospect the 10 years of journey. As committed to the society, we had never compromised in developing the leaders of tomorrow by providing a holistic education nurturing body, mind and soul.

QMIS is glad to shape the next generation in all dimensions besides making a paradigm shift in the pedagogy. Though a CBSE school, we have consciously integrated components for global mindedness by blending

UN sustainable development goals in the day to day lesson plan deliverance. Values are infused as a non negotiable component of every lesson. Collaboration and Critical thinking, the core skills of 21st century learners are also thoughtfully mapped into the daily lessons.

Philosophically QMIS believes in ensuring the well being of body, mind and soul and we strongly believe in the adage “a sound mind in a sound body”. Constant efforts are made to encourage the children to participate in sports and fitness activities. Opportunities are not restricted within the weekly 2 P.E and 1 yoga period. Through the regular after school programmes we try to reach our aim of fit individuals.

Unfortunately Sports is seen more as an area of success only when the child accomplishes and wins a medal. We parents fail to see it as a program to ensure physical fitness. Despite the child’s interest, it is been discouraged at home especially when the child is average or below average in his/ her academic performance. “Let him/ her not attend P.E period and provide extra classes” is the most common dialogue that lingers in the hall way during our PTCs. Similarly, the importance given for Sports activities diminishes after Grade 8. It is high time to alert and remind all of us the forgotten saying “all work and no play, makes Jack a dull boy”.

Unfortunately, it is only 5 to 10 percent of the students are involved in Sports and it is not just the national statistics but QMIS too. With this contribution, we cannot dream of making the country shine in the sports arena. School is making conscious efforts to make Sports as a way of life not just to keep them physically fit but to enrich their life with values. Sports not just enhances the physical well being but takes lessons like discipline, responsibility, self-confidence , accountability and team work. Sports impacts on education are also limitless. It helps in fighting stress, improve the cognitive and memory function of the brain.

With the infrastructure that caters to almost all the sports interests and a strong, passionate physical education team, we are bringing in a change in the structure of the school program and make fitness program more comprehensive and compulsory across all grades . Sports are not seen just as components to show case in the Aadukalam or to win trophies in various inter school, state and national events. The significance of the sports will be highlighted in every possible means. Fitness program is to be mandated right from Kindergarten to Grade 12 from AY 2020-2021.

With the confidence in our very supportive parent community, QMIS marches towards building fitter individuals. Let this New Year be the dawn of all success and fitness in our child’s stride.

With warm wishes

Sujatha Guptan

9www.queenmira.com

Q’S OUTREACH PROGRAM

Teacher Incharge: Ms.Anita Rajesh Student Incharge: Guhan Kaalai.C

“It is not enough to compassionate, you must act” - Dalai Lama

As an extension of our school’s initiatives towards global citizenship principle, Queen Mira is now planning to initiate an outreach program, considering the development of our school as well as the society that we live in. As a first phase planning towards the outreach program, the previous batch student council members along with their head boy, Calvin Bernard, and head girl, Anchana Guptan, and the current batch of school parliament members along with their Prime minister, Guhan Kaalai, and Deputy prime minister, Thirupathi, were assembled in the cyber studio where the session for the first phase planning happened. The session was p r e d o m i n a n t l y student driven. Our school’s Managing Director, Mr. Abinath Chandran, and Director Academics, Ms. Sujatha Guptan, headed the session in the presence of staff members from Global Citizenship Committee. In the beginning of the session the students were requested to come with ideas separately for internal and external Outreach Programs, more like a rapid brain storming session. For which students churned various exciting and innovative ideas for the betterment of the school and the society.

The most significant idea regarding the internal outreach program was installing a water & paper-recycling unit in the campus, as recycling water & papers would be an efficient way to create an eco friendly environment, it also cut down a considerable amount of money spent on papers for the functioning of school, which created a win-win situation. The

suggestions regarding external outreach program were aiding the nearby municipality school students with 21st century skills, i.e. critical thinking, public speaking, communication and creativity, by conducting seminars by staffs & students on regular basis, and conducting certain events like talent night & MUN for them, providing them with an opportunity to bring out their unique talents and debating skills. Apart from these there were also many generalized suggestions like cleaning the community, which was also taken into consideration. As the ideas were

once collected, the session further moved into discussing about the funds and various other practical difficulties in bringing these ideas regarding outreach programs into reality. Some of the ideas for the funds were utilizing the money collected from the sales day, then the funds that can be collected by providing our highly facilitated

school ground for external players with certain restrictions over their usage of ground. As the grand finale of the session, in its last minutes, an astounding idea of forming a NGO of alumni and management was elaborated by the students, which would solve various practical difficulties regarding manpower and funds, placing our ideas closer to reality. I conclude the article with the words of Helen Keller, “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much”


Teacher Incharge: Ms.ShajithaStudent Incharge: Naren Moorthy

COUNSELLOR’S INSTINCT

Resource Person: Ms Joshila - Psychologist

School-going children regularly face difficulties in adjusting to the changing environment at home and school. Developing friendship bonds, handling academic pressures, sibling relationships, under standing self and changing dynamics are the major concerns they face. In school settings, this translates into an ignorance of students’ needs till the time they convey the same through their words or actions. Quiet children ,who are not trouble makers, thus often go unnoticed in class. Let’s pause here and read the below conversation.

Ms Shajitha: What is the role of a class mentor in taking care of the children

Ms Joshila: A Mentor should develop a perspective of Parental view. Every teacher will have to take on the role of a counsellor for addressing the needs of the children on an everyday basis. When a child is not good inside the classroom, it is mentor’s responsibility to make the particular child normal by understanding the root cause of the behaviour rather simply asking questions. A Mentor should facilitate the students to take their own decisions and allow them to express their view. A Mentor should act as a demonstrator to all the students.

Naren: What can be done to improvise a child’s Socialising skills?

Ms Joshila: More time should be spent with peer groups. They need to share their ideas and opinions to each other. If students are reluctant in interacting and joining with the group members a Mentor and the Shadow friend must explain about the importance of such bonding. Before initiating any group activity, proper explanation should reach the students like acceptance and sharing of positive and negative opinions.

Ms Shajitha: Nowadays , children lack patience and tolerance . Why? How this can be rectified?

Ms Joshila: Growing children are left with little space to think, explore and develop as individuals. Pressure from various dimensions make them work monotonously rather than independently with likes and dislikes. So the children’s patience is contracted. By providing support and guidance to them , the school can provide a healthy space to grow , hone one’s talents and discover oneself.

Naren: Please do suggest some means to reduce the Students Reluctance?

Ms Joshila: Appreciation is needed when students attempt to move towards their target. They need little more push to be placed when they work. In the beginning supportive classes for the particular students may help them to overcome such attitudes. There should be no labelling of students.

Ms Shajitha: What kind of general concerns are faced by the students in the society?

Ms Joshila: Students are very sensitive to all the distractive resources. Gadget usage has tremendously increased among students as well as in the parents’ community. These days students’ thinking ability is decreasing since they are occupied with gadgets and misuse their sense organs and give more stress for their eyes.

Verbal abuse has increased among students through media. In recent days students tend to imitate another person which leads to lose their own individuality. These lapses can be reduced by developing a constant conversation with them. Students’ intention of sharing their regular routines with their parents for building a large gap between the parents and their children. Peer influences have both the merits and demerits. The mentor/school must work in tandem with the home / parents towards a healthy, loving, caring and supportive environment.

Ms. Joshila to Parents and Teachers : The most important aspect here is for parents and teachers to develop personal bonds with children so that they feel comfortable in approaching them to share and discuss important events and experiences in their lives , their fears , anxieties and emotional states. Space provided for more sharing will make them responsible citizens.

HARAPPAN SCRIPTS

Teacher Incharge: Ms.Manimegalai Student Incharge: Muhamed Aslam.S


IS PLASTIC HAZARDOUS OR USER FRIENDLY?

Across countries , one million plastic drinking bottles are purchased every minute, while up to 5 trillion single-use plastic bags are used worldwide every year. In total, half of all plastic produced is designed to be used only once - and then thrown away. Plastic waste is now so omnipresent in the natural environment that scientists have even suggested it could serve as a geological indicator of the Anthropocene era. So how did we get here?

To get to understand in depth ,

Yagna Column in charge crew met with an expert , Prof. Kottaisami who belong to the Department of Chemistry at Thiagarajar College of Engineering , Madurai. He shared his best practices and insight with the team about plastics and its usage. According to him , usually people exploit plastic to the maximum and say they are hazardous. During our usage , we say it’s useful then after a while we say its waste and hazardous. * High quality Plastics are imported from abroad and we use it as a raw material for making plastic items. *

Prof. Kottaisami revealed about appropriate usage of plastic from his experiences. We are not recycling and reusing them properly. Plastics without being recycled are used by poor people by scavenging. It is a bread winning material for them. In this world nothing is hazardous. Plastics are neither dangerous nor friendly . But it should be used properly. It is ever friendly when we recycled properly. Again, you can use them to convert into petroleum and many products as 4% crude oil can be derived or extracted from plastics. There are two types of engineering.

USES: Reverse engineering and Forward engineering. In forward

AVOID PLASTICS

CONNOISSEUR’S EXHORTATION

13www.queenmira.com

engineering 4% of crude oil is c onve r te d → / Mon om e re ( l i ke E t h y l e n e , p r o p o l y e n e and*Styrene)→ plastics.

Using Reverse engineering again from crude oil after distillation ofit we get petrol, diesel, LPG, wax and many materials. We can produce more bye products only if we use it properly.

Plastics contain carbon and hydrogen. Plastics” includes materials composed of various elements such as carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, chlorine, and sulfur. Typically, the plastic bottles used to hold potable water and other drinks are made from polyethylene terephthalate (PET), because the material is both strong and light. To understand the manufacturing process, it’s helpful to first examine the composition of PET and how this affects plastic bottles.

When does plastic turn hazardous?:

Just throwing plastics into water bodies like lakes, rivers and ponds changes the nature of water and affects the aquatic animals digestive system. Animals have the more aroma sense . As we throw plastic bags of hotel waste products it gets attracted and eats the same. Throwing plastic in the soil causes soil erosion .

How to dispose:

Prof. Kottaisami gave an awareness to student community on the following grounds :

They are to be taught life skills to lead a sustainable life by judicious usage of scarce resources . Education system should not allow the students to aim for high marks instead Schools should take enterprise to teach life skills for the students with application

Teacher Incharges: Ms.Archana Karthikeyan

Ms.Samira Student Incharge: Samira Afshan

orientated subjects. There should not be a single paper or chocolate cover seen on the road or outside public areas for which every child and citizen should take initiative to put it in the dustbin from their childhood. They always should have an empty bag in their purse or handbag to put waste materials.

If we put the waste in the dustbin, soil does not get affected which prevents earth from global warming. If we perform any activity against nature ,an adverse effect would be on the next generation. Allow others to live and grow for a sustainable life. Life style is changing now. Governments should take view very seriously upon the persons who cut trees and steal sand .

Dr. Sami’s Advice for our generation: His words and his activities.“Never disturb nature and our environment”.“If you point out others for blaming your three fingers points you first”. Like that we are only creating problems and blaming others. Every material in this world is made for some purpose. Everyone knows it can be recycled . Anyone who doesn’t know how to recycle and reuse plastic only say that it is hazardous. Plastic has its own values. We can make pavement blocks using plastics during travelling. Plastic coated iron rods can be used to avoid rusting of iron rods.

He has started a project of petrol plant. In his apartment he has started using the same . If we burn plastic in the presence of air it is dangerous. you can walk if the distance is ½ or 1 km instead of using bikes. If we walk it is good for our health and production of carbon dioxide is reduced in our body.

Rules to use plastics: Roads can

be made using recycle of plastics as we can coat the stones with plastic materials which reflects in tar.

Plastic containers are not a threat to plants until they are protected properly. It affects surface, If use in farms you can reuse it. If plastics are having a ultraviolet material it gets affected.

Is there any alternative to avoid plastics in our life.?

Answer: What is the alternative for life?

Due to burning of plastics many industries have loss in their business. commodity price is more because of plastics. Before in newspaper packing was there now its plastic paper package.

Plastic is a great invention. Proper segregation should be there. Proper usage of plastics leads to good life. We have seen a lot of positive action, but the truth is that we all need to do more . There are so many things that we can do – from asking the restaurants to stop using plastic straws , to bringing our own coffee mug to work , to pressurizing our local authorities to improve how they manage our city’s waste.


ADVENTURE CLUB“Travellers Are Dreamers Who Make Their Desires for Adventure a Reality”

“We at QMIS believe in ensuring the wellbeing of the body, mind and soul of the individual by instilling a steady growth mindset, who learn and unlearn to emerge as change makers.” With this philosophy in mind, Queen Mira International School organized a camping trip for graders 4 to 9 & 11.

On the eve of 2nd September, 2019, around 66 students from grades 4 to 11 accompanied by 8 staff members set off on an adventurous camping trip to COORG – a place famous for coffee and its highly cultured people. WE, the adventurous travellers sought the blessings of Almighty and the wishes of the management and energetically began our trip sharp at 04.00 pm as planned. Taking a break in between, we reached the destination - The Green Valley Resort, Coorg at 09.30 am the next morning (03/09/2019). The adventure began right from the moment we got down from the bus, because we were able to reach the camping site only through a jeep safari across the lush forest area. Crossing a stream on a jeep was an unforgettable experience. Finally, we reached the camping site and there we met the instructors of “YOUREKA”. The instructors introduced themselves and the activities for 4 days were planned.

The schedule is as follows

Day 1: After completing lunch the 4 groups went for a

Day out activity where they had tea together on top of a mountain followed with fun filled activities

Day 2: After breakfast, we moved to see a waterfall over there. At the end of each day the instructors had a session called self-reflection where students expressed their experiences of the day.

Day 3: On this rainy day, we the campers had an adventurous HIKING. The mountain that we had climbed was 2500ft above mean sea level. It was a very thrilling experience. And in the evening, they conducted YPL for the students. That evening talent night was hosted for the students at the resort, where an array of hidden talents was showcased for the audience.

Day 4: The final day of the camping expedition, we carried home memorable reminiscences and received certificates for our participation.

Camping at Coorg was one of the best fun filled learning sessions we had. We thank the management for organizing such wonderful trips for us.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

15www.queenmira.com

Teacher Incharge: Ms.Joy Sheeba & Ms.Archana Rajendran

Student Incharge: Fadilah Asima

POPCORN CLUB“We all must do theatre to find out who we are, and to discover who we could become” - Augusto Boal

SCIENCE CLUBAs a part of science club Grade 3 to 9 had their Next Education-science lab session from 3pm to 4pm.We have completed 2 activities for each grade from 3 to 9. Students learnt science concept through these fun activities. It was easy to understand the basic concept with Reflection sheet which has been provided in their observation book.The observation book with real life example made the session interactive. Students were very eager to go hands on. The lists of activities are given below.

Grade 31. Internal Organs 2. Family Tree

Grade 4 1. Model of Teeth 2. Digestive System

Grade 5 1. Skeleton 2. Power Car

Grade 6 1. Yarn Spindle 2. Nutrients and balanced diet

Grade 7 1. Stethoscope 2. Lung model

Grade 8 1. Pump 2. Pressure in liquids

Grade 9 1. Energy Meter 2. Separation methods.

On 5th December, 2019 popcorn club conducted an exclusive session to hone movie making skills. We had a guest speaker provoking the minds of young directors. The session was more about knowing the importance of films in order to bring out imagination into the screenplay. Mr.Nagendran, Professor working at The American College kindled the hearts of the students with his own experience in reaching the heights in movie making. Mr.KeerthiRaja shared priceless ideas on pre-production and post-prodution. He mainly concentrated on educating the children to come up with colourful and successful short films.


It is a rare occasion that we don’t encounter plastic in the current scenario. Over the years, we have become so used to the permeation of plastic in every walk of our life, so much so that it is now subconscious. We start our day with plastic in the form of tooth brushes, toothpaste tubes, soap boxes, containers in the kitchen, polyethene bags in our wardrobe room and so on and so forth, the list goes on.

When we listen to people saying – ‘No to plastic’ have you ever given a thought why should we say no? We all know it is too late to realize that plastic is hazardous, but, never too late to stand up against using it. Let us first understand different types of plastic and their nature of being hazardous to our human lives.

Plastics may be –

• Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) – Used in the form of packaged water bottles

• Biodegradable Plastics, polyethylene (PE) – Used as juice containers, grocery and shampoo containers.

• Polypropylene (PP) –Used as thermal vests, disposable diapers as linings

• Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) - Used in toys, medical tubing and construction-based tubes

• Polystyrene (PS) – Used in the form of food containers, egg containers, bike helmet.

• Polycarbonate (PC) – Used in baby bottles, dental sealants, ketchup containers

• Polyurethane (PU) – Used for carpentry underlay, automotive interiors and for other cushioning furniture.

Plastic is hazardous to human and the environment as well, it affects all species in this world who are dependent on the environment. Plastic becomes hazardous when the chemical ingredients are more than 50% of the plastic. World statistics evinces the following facts:

• Packaging sector is the dominant generator of plastic waste, responsible for almost half of the global total.

• Construction industry is the second largest for plastic production.

• Europe, North America, Australia, Japan are few countries which have effective waste management infrastructure

• South Asian countries account for 80-90 percent of plastic waste that is not managed scientifically

• Global trend projections indicate that by 2025, a high share of world’s ocean plastic pollution will have its main origin from Asian countries

Plastic Hazards:

Plastic is used only once however lasts forever as it is not biodegradable. Plastic is hazardous in many ways. Let us see one by one:

• Poses many health hazards due to the toxic nature and can be found in tissue blood and has been linked to occurrence of cancer, birth defects, impaired immunity and many other ailments

• Affects the ground water

• Attracts other pollutants and accumulates plastic debris.

• Our food chain is poisoned due to plastic

• Plastics costs more to abate

• Emits toxic gases Dioxins, Furans, Mercury and Polychlorinated Biphenyls into the atmosphere.

JOIN HANDS TO UNWRAP OUR PLASTIC WORLD!

SIXTH SENSE

17www.queenmira.com

• Burning plastics liberates hazardous halogens and becomes an air pollutant and impacts on climatic changes.

• When plastic becomes an air pollutant it affects human respiratory systems.

Solutions to Reduce Plastic use and consequently waste:

Every change starts from within, likewise each of us must start from our home, then institutions and then governments worldwide to bring about real change.

First, how do we go about ‘No plastic at home’? Let’s see a few common tips, to start with:

• Choose thermos instead of plastics for coffee or tea cups

• Use wooden tooth brushes

• Pick jute / cloth bags to replace plastic bags while shopping

• Avoid using synthetic material for clothing

• Educate other family members

Second, how to stop using plastics in society? Here we go with a few ideas:

• At a classroom or school level ‘Say no to Plastic team’ or start a No to Plastic Campaign at the Institution Level.

• Train students to Identify items which are less or more hazardous items as compared to Plastic.

• Organize projects on recycling plastic waste and popularize them

• Update yourself with PAN India’s Beat Plastic Pollution initiatives taken

• Spread the word about hazards of plastic

Third, Understanding the facts of Banning plastic at National / International levels:

• Analysing about the sources of waste generation (around 56 lakh tonnes of plastic waste) annually

• What is India’s contribution to plastic dumping into the Oceans - indicative trends point to almost 60%

• Benchmark this data with other countries

• Analyse why Plastic ban is ineffective in India compared to other higher-income based countries

Adopt successful measures from other countries do to eradicate the plastic waste in near future. Few instances to quote may be as follows:

• Like how France has passed a ‘Plastic Ban’ law for public

• Rwanda an African country has launched a radical policy banning plastic

• Sweden adopts more than “no plastic” to plastic recycling ideas country-wide;

• Ireland passed a plastic bag tax way back in 2002

• China instated a law in 2008 making it illegal to use plastic in stores and day to day life

• UN Environment’s New Plastics Economy Global Commitment

• Many European countries have introduced levy on plastic bags

Technology Driven Solution to Ban Plastic:

There is hardly an arena in which technology cannot enter into, so is it with the Plastic Ban as well.

• In India, Banyan Nation has pioneered in developing a technology that can convert the hazardous plastic into recycled plastics which is termed as better plastics.

• Perpetual has developed a cost-effective method that alters PET bottles into high quality sustainable bottles.

• Loop industries has developed high-quality plastic resin which uses catalyst that separates PET into individual monomers that results in virgin-quality PET plastics that are not hazardous.

To wrap it up, plastic has eased and travelled a long journey in the human life and into each of our lives. It is high time, and, if we do not take adequate steps to reduce the use of plastic we can face disaster by 2025. The quicker we wake up, the better we would see a ‘Plastic Free’ future.

‘Do not get carried away by plastic anymore’!

Teacher Incharge: Ms.Kundhavai Santharam Student Incharge: Rijutha.S


The most valued International Universities are in the U.S.The USA has a special appeal and has always been drawing talented students like a magnet. Studying abroad will allow for invaluable academic, professional and personal growth and open up an infinite number of career options after graduation.

Fifty percent of the World’s top 50 Universities are located in the U.S.due to small class sizes , highly accredited professors and advanced technology and research capabilities

Completing a degree from one of the World’s best higher – education systems will distinguish you from your peers with similar backgrounds and career experiences.

“Ivy League Colleges” institutions are considered the best colleges in U.S.

• Harvard University • Columbia University

• Princeton University • Cornell University • Yale University • University of Pennsylvania • Dartmouth College • Brown University

The term ‘IVY League “commonly refers to a group of the above 8 colleges and Universities renowned for providing excellent education and their significant history. They are highly selective, with acceptance rates often under 10% . They are also very expensive to attend with only tuition fees averaging $35,000 a year.

Courses which are most popular in U.S.A are Business, Economics, Engineering Psychology and Computer Science . Some students also aspire to pursue Medicine and Law programs in the U.S.

U.S Universities Selection Process:

Like student has a personality , a University also has a personality with theirs to see whether they can fit in or can bring new experiences on the campus. Universities consider the various factors . The highly selective Universities accepting fewer applicants would have students with higher academic and test scores and would give weightage to other unique aspects that students would have.

On the other hand , the less selective Universities would focus more on academics . So if the students

CAREER CHOICES

19www.queenmira.com

meet the academic requirements they are more likely to get an admission.

Culture shock in the USA

America has always welcomed a multicultural environment . Although you come across a bit of a cultural shock at the beginning, you will soon adapt to any American town or big city. The U.S. is a unique place but you will still find less neighbourhoods. This will help you feel closer to home. On the bright side, U.S. Universities support cultural diversity and in the aspect, organize various social and cultural activities.

Here we have here one of the scholarship providers for your information.

Study in the U.S.

USIEF’s EducationUSA Advising Services (EAS) provide accurate, comprehensive and current information to students who are interested in pursuing higher education and scholarships in the U.S. They do not endorse or rank any college or university but guide students in their pursuit of a U.S. degree. Specialized seminars and workshops on admission application procedures and strategies, education fairs and pre-departure orientation programs are held all the year round. USIEF advising centers are located at New Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Mumbai.

USIEF centers administer the following tests at their respective locations:

New Delhi: SAT I, SAT II, ACT, PSAT and AP ExamsMumbai: PSAT and AP Exams Kolkata: SAT I, SAT II. AP Exams and PSATChennai: SAT I, SAT II and PSATHyderabad: PSAT Test

Teacher Incharge: Ms.Kalpana Karthick Student Incharge: Jeevana Rose.M.J

Teacher Incharge: Ms.Ramalakshmi & Susikal.AStudent Incharge: Dharani

UNITED STATES-INDIA EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION

INTERNATIONAL DIMENSIONDEMOCRATIC POLICIESGCC committee planned an activity on the topic “Various Democratic policies across the world” for students was conducted to create awareness. Students were asked to prepare a research paper about democratic policies of USA, UK, China, Syria, Iran, Russia, and France. A session was conducted by Ms. Shanthakumari on Indian democratic policies for grade 9 students. Democratic policies are needed in order to save the country from chaos and anarchy. Each and every individual should be in the position to know and understand the policies that are implemented in favour of them. It is the responsibility of the individual to abide by the rules and regulations framed by the government.A debate was organised by Ms. Santhakumari for Grade 9 students on Democratic Policies in India, Nepal, Srilanka, Bhutan and Bangladesh.

ORGANIC HERBSISA activity on Organic herbs was contemplated to further knowledge acquisition regarding different herbs available and their uses to cure different ailments. Students of Grade 8 were made to undergo a scrap book activity to compile different types of herbs and submit it. As part of this activity, students made a PowerPoint presentation to explain the same to fellow students and inculcate the importance of medicinal benefits of herbs. Seminars delivered by students were informative and effective. An external resource, Mr. Shenbagaraj, Proprietor of Shen’s farm was also invited to elucidate the importance of organic farming and demonstrate the harmful effects of chemical pesticides to students. It was a power packed session, where he expressed his thoughts and passion about organic farming. He conducted the session as a group activity and finally culminated in a quiz, where students actively participated and demonstrated the knowledge gained about different herbs.


The Career Guidance Wing of QMIS had arranged for an exclusive THE PATH session on 19/10/2019 – Saturday by inviting Educational Consultant Mr. Nedunchezhian from Technocrat India College Finder (TICF). This exclusive session was systematized for the benefit of the Students and Parents of Grades 9 to 12. The Prime Minister of the school Parliament, Master Guhan Kaalai of Grade XI welcomed the gathering. The Lamp Lighting Ceremony was presided by our Charismatic Chairman Dr. C. Chandran and the Guest of the day Mr. Nedunchezhian. Followed by them were the members of the Senior Leadership Team of QMIS – Mr. Abinath Chandran – Managing Director, Ms. Sujatha Guptan – Director Academics & Ms. Josephine Anne Sheebha – Joint Director – Admin. In line to the SLT were Ms. Christinal Shanthi – Principal of Senior School & Ms. Ezhil Roja – The AVP of Senior School. Ms. Sujatha Guptan shared the Path Traversed by the 2018 –’19 passed out QMISians. Mr. Nedunchezhians session started with a brain storming to assess knowledge level of the audience and their expectations. After the break, he briefed the gathering with science stream courses that were available in the fields of research, science and agriculture and food technology. He clearly highlighted that ‘Institution’ plays a vital role even before selection of any course. Mr. Rajesh briefed the gathering on the commerce stream courses offered. Mr. Nedunchezhian kept the gathering informed with tips on how to prepare for board exams and for all entrance exams. He engaged the students with clear data of how

As in above mentioned thirukkural, The Career Guidance Wing of QMIS had arranged for an exclusive “THE PATH SESSION-2” on 23/11/2019 – Saturday by inviting leading Career Consultant and Analyst, Mr. Jayaprakash.A.Gandhi. This

students choose courses and get placed across the globe in various fields. He broadly explained about Medical and Engineering streams. Feedback session with the student council was a limelight because each presenter felt the absence of the parents. All is well that ends well. The day long career guidance programme wound with a Vote of Thanks proposed by the Deputy Prime Minister – Master Thirupathi of Grade XI. The children dispersed with a note of gratitude to the management.

cŸSt bjšyh« ca®îŸsš k‰wJjŸËD« jŸshik Ú®¤J - FwŸ 596

v©z§fŸ ca®thdjhf ïU¡f£L« mit

Ãiwntwhkš nghdhY« kd« nrh®tila TlhJ.

PATH - THE NAVIGATOR

21www.queenmira.com

Teacher Incharges: Ms.Parasakthi & Ms.Charanya Jeyakumar

Student Incharge: Mahaveera Vishal.S

exclusive session was organized for the benefit of the students and parents of Grades 9 to 12. The day began with Tamil ThaaiVaazhthu. Master Feroze Alam of Grade 10 welcomed the gathering.

Mr.Bharath, Manager – Admin delivered a motivational speech to the parents, students and teachers on how the parents and teachers should support hand in hand for the development of the students. Ms. Sujatha Guptan, Director – Academics, shared the importance of career guidance. She appreciated parent as well as the student community for a predominant increase in the participation rates. Mr.J.P Gandhi initiated the session with an array of brain storming questions not only to understand the preknowledge of the audience and about their expectations but also to captivate the attention of the listeners. The resource person reiterated to the crowd on being specific in the choice of subjects and studies that would cater the needs of the students. Mr. J.P Gandhi shared about the importance of Mathematics for a successful choice of career and he also said the students to give away the phobia towards the same. He was emphatic that students develop various skills and motivated them to appear and crash competitive exams successfully. He reminded the listeners to get updated about new educational policy. Mr. JP Gandhi kept the gathering informed with his tips on how to prepare for board exams and for all entrance exams. He shared the pattern of 2020 NEET exam to the students. He engaged the students with clear cut data of how students should be proactive in choosing courses and get placed across the globe in various fields. All is well that ends well. The career guidance programme got wrapped up with the Vote of Thanks proposed by Ms.Alvina Philomin of Grade 10. The children dispersed with a note of gratitude to the management.

Univariety Career session and CV building workshop“The Choices we make determine our future.”

A career guidance session was conducted on 14.10.19 and 15.10.19 by Mr. Rama Krishna Boddu, facilitator from Univariety. The resource person discussed about various upcoming career options in various fields like medicine, engineering and

humanities for students of grades 8 to 12. He also presented a detailed session on various academic and non-academic scholarships available in India as other countries like US, UK and Canada. He emphasized the students to check for scholarships, their dues dates to apply and to explore different links related to the scholarships. Students also gained knowledge on the step by step preparation of important documents that are needed for the process of application to study abroad like statement of purpose, essay writing on the given topic and he made them to understand the way how a statement of purpose has to be devised by interesting real life illustrations and case studies. Mr. Rama Krishna quoted examples for drafting an essay or a story and also made few students to present their own essay on a given topic in their own and unique way. The students interacted with the facilitator and got their queries clarified spontaneously. He was admired by two of our students in Grades 9 and 12 by the way they have chosen their career and focus towards a career of their choice with passion. Overall, the session was a revelation for students and a source of motivation to renew their passion towards chosen careers.

The resource person also gave a brief explanation to the parents of Graders 8 to 12 on the nuances of building a CV and the list of academic and non academic skills that are expected by the universities or colleges during the admission processes. Parents were highly satisfied with the content he presented and they clearly understood the importance of the parents’ guidance in their child’s career choice.


TEACHERS DAY

“It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge.”

QMIS celebrated Teachers’ day with great gusto and gaiety on 14th, September 2019. Students performed a cultural show to express their love, respect and recognition for the hard work put in by their teachers towards their development. Ms.Sujatha, Director Academics welcomed the gathering and spoke about how a teacher plays an important role in the life of a student to become successful in his/her career and to be a good human being in the society. Mr.Abinath, Managing Director spoke about passion, a teacher should hold towards their profession. “To the world you may be a teacher but to your students you are a star.” The students had organized a number of fun games for the teachers which were thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated. It was a joyous occasion for every teacher. The teachers then witnessed children’s talent being showcased with elegance. The main objective of the celebration was to express gratitude to the teachers and how much they are loved and respected for their service. The faculty members were overwhelmed by the efforts and love shown by the students. The overall event was organised by the Internal Affairs Minister Akash Nagu Subramanian of Grade 9 along with the School Parliament members and Grade 11 volunteers. Teachers were given a sapling as memento as a part of “Green Earth”.

“Teachers who love teaching teach the students to love learning.”

NAVRATHRI CELEBRATIONS

Navratri comes from the Sanskrit words Nava (meaning nine) and ratri (night). This nine night festival was observed at QMIS Premises in a grand manner as usual with prayer on all nine days to Goddess Durga to bestow upon our team in all her nine forms of blessings Fame, Name, Wealth, Prosperity, Happiness, Education, Health, Power And Commitment.

The festive season started commenced on 28th September and ended with Akshara Abhyasam on 9th October. The golu was set in a halcyon way with 7steps. The team had a separate demarcation for Kailash Mountain with the concept of “Thiruvilaiyadal”. Saibaba was given a special throne with sovereignty. We also had a meadow with “Krishna leelaigal & Karthigai Pengal. We also depicted the concept of endangered species and importance of farming.

We hosted our parents with entrancingly blessed invitations on 30th of September, 3rd and 4th of October. Children entertained our parents through with devotional songs, instrumental rhythms and dances to showcase various art forms in the arena.

All the nine days, our school was incensed and revebrated holy vibes. This holy vibration of our ambience ended up with Akshara Abhyasam on 9th October. Newly admitted children as well as our existing children had an opportunity for a dawn of new possibilities and beginning their education in an auspicious way. Navrathri came to an end with a fervent prayer that Goddess Durga exists eternally, always in our campus abiding in her own sweet nature, inhabiting the hearts and minds of her perfect devotees.

GAITIES & CELEBRITIES

23www.queenmira.com

CHILDREN’S DAY CELEBRATION

“The greatest gift you can give your children are the roots of responsibility and the wings of independence.”

Children’s Day - A day marking childhood focusses on children and their enjoyment. At QMIS, the Children’s Day was celebrated with the theme “Cherishing Childhood”. The PE Team with the support of Ms. Anita Rajesh & Ms. Shalini Pandian organized the event. The day began with distribution of handmade mementos gifted by the teachers. This was amply evident from the love and affection the teachers had towards their students. A week before the Children’s Day, an array of inter house competitions were organized. On Children’s day, the teachers entertained and brought out the spark on the faces of each student through their astounding performance. The students dispersed with pleasant and happy memories.

EINSTEIN+ FAIR

“Show Me I Will Remember, and Involve Me I Will Learn” - Benjamin Franklin

In futherance to the above mentioned quote, Einstein+ fair was organized at our campus for graders 3 till 8, on 8th of November, 2019. The foremost objective of organizing such a fair was to increase parents awareness of the enormous experiential learning and hands on experimentation happening during the

regular E+ sessions. The most awaited E+ fair unfurled its presence on 8th of November, 2019 in the August presence of Mr. Veluthambi, former HOD of the Biology department at Madurai Kamaraj University. There was a variety of exhibits under different domains which included Linguistics, Numeracy, Aptitude and Fine Motor Activities. There was a competition between the Linguistics Team with that of the Numeracy Team. The exhibits included thematic story narration, all about fruits & Nuts, Idioms & Phrases to add more to our creativity, Stories that caters SD Goals, Vocabulary fun, Pascal’s Triangle, Integers, Easy Mathematical tricks, Tower of Brahma, Napier Bones Multiplication Tricks, students’ art exhibits, Fashion Parade, etc. The limelight of the fair was the Parents versus Student Debate, which clearly showcased the analytical thinking & public speaking skills of the students. The presence of the parents on a weekday clearly showed us the positivity towards the school and their confidence in the implementation of the new initiative which the E+ Sessions. The management, teachers and students carried home the positive vibes completely attributable to the success of E+ Fair.

THE LITTLE EMPERORS – SEASON 5

“You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” – Christopher Robin.

To bring out the blossoming talents of the kindergartners, Queen Mira International School organized an exclusive “The Little Emperors – The Innovative Rulers”, an interschool event for budding toddlers from in and around Madurai district. The QMIS’ TLE Season 1 took its inception in the year 2015 with 54 schools. With the momentous support from the yester years’ contestants QMIS successfully hosted “The Little Emperors – Season 5” with the theme “Go Green”.


Teacher Incharges: Ms.Jennifer Ruth, Ms.Nandhini Student Incharge: Lisa Arul

On the dawn of November 16, 2019 QMIS was decked up in celebratory manner and the campus was lirented with the tiny tots in the guise of Green Warriors, Plant Protectors & Earth Rescuers – the theme based appellations given for Pre Kindergartners, KG 1 & KG 2 respectively.

Each and every one was looking forward with excitement and eagerness to celebrate the bliss of success and achievement. The valedictory ceremony kicked off in the presence of our honourable Chairman Dr. C. Chandran, Managing Director Mr. Abinath Chandran and the Director – Academics Ms. Sujatha Guptan. Every participant was appreciated and the winners were honored with medals, certificates and trophies for their zest. The overall first place was bagged by Velammal Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Thirupuvanam and was rewarded with a cash prize of Rs. 25,000, Velammal Matriculation school, Theni acquired the coveted second place with Rs.15,000 cash award, Velammal Bodhi Campus, Theni & AB IQRA International School shared the third position with Rs.10,000 cash prize and the fourth place was given to Aachi International School, Usilampatti. The magnanimous event came to an end with the heartfelt gratitude & appreciation extended by TLE Team for the success of The Little Emperors – Season 5. It was in no doubt that both the winners & the contestants dispersed with a sense of fulfillment and carried home cherishable memories.

DIWALI CELEBRATION

“Fortunate is the one who has learned to Admire. Good wishes for a joyous Diwali with plenty of peace and prosperity.”

The celebration of Diwali, the festival of lights, came alive at “Queen Mira International School” on 25.10.2019. The students wore colorful dresses and distributed sweets to their friends, teachers and support staff. The whole school was celebrating this festive occasion by distributing sweets and bursting crackers. In order to enlighten the knowledge about our culture, a PPT presentation on ‘Diwali’ was presented by our Tamil department. Instructions on safe and secured bursting of crackers were given by our P.E department to make our students to get educated about safe bursting of crackers. In order to strengthen the bond between the teachers and the students, a friendly throw ball match between the Grade 10 girls and the female faculty members and cricket match between the Grade 10 boys and the male faculty members were organized. The students and the teachers participated enthusiastically and it was undoubtedly an icebreaker for the students who played happily out of their mundane. This Diwali that was celebrated in our school, removed the disparities, and made the students to feel that they are united. The entire day was overwhelmed with happiness.

25www.queenmira.com

BIODEGRADABLE PLASTIC FROM LOBSTER SHELLSIn this time and age, plastic has become a menace that threatens the very existence of humans and all other life forms. To counter this and to find suitable alternatives, many have put their heads together and come up with many different and varied solutions. This article talks about one such attempt by the students of Royal College of Art and Imperial College. They have developed a method that turns lobster shells into biodegradable and recyclable plastic. This project is called “SHELLWORKS” and it transforms the hard outer shell of lobsters into a paper-like material. The material consists of a mixture of vinegar and chitin. This chitin is nothing but a fibrous substance that makes up the exoskeleton of the crustaceans. But the commercial version of chitin is so expensive and its extraction process was also very time consuming. Hence they invented five manufacturing machines called Shelly, Sheety, Vaccy, Dippy, and Drippy. Shelly is a small-scale extractor that draws out the chitin from the shells. Sheety transforms the Bio plastic solution into a flat sheet. Vaccy is steam heated vaccum former, which transforms the sheets into any required shape. Drippy is a heated dip moulder that forms 3D vessels like cups and containers.The material is so versatile that it can be turned into a material with different properties by changing the ratio of the base ingredients. Through this they can control the stiffness, flexibility, thickness and optical clarity of the material. This material is infinitely recyclable because even though it dries up, it could be changed back to its original bioplastic solution by using the Drippy hydro-recycler machine. The liquid form could be poured into the soil without any concern because it is a natural, non-polluting fertiliser.

Teacher Incharge: Ms. Uma Maheshwari Student Incharge: Sai Naga Abirami

Teacher Incharge: Ms. Lawanya Jeyakumar & Ms.Gomathi.U

Student Incharge: Sowmya

AMAZING FACTS

“To be Fantastic, Don’t litter with Plastic”

Plastic in any form or quality is harmful to health. Plastic lurks in every nook and corner of our lives, banishing it completely seems unrealistic and impractical. The increase in quantum of solid waste that changes the lifestyles and socio-economic conditions is directly proportional to the increase of population. As per a Central Pollution Control Board report, plastic waste accounts for 56 lakh tons or about 9% of the total waste (62 million tons) India generates every year. While countries like France, Sweden have brought in strict laws banning all kinds of plastic usage and Kenya is imposing world’s toughest law (imprisonment of up to four years or a fine of Rs. 25 lakh for purchasing, selling or using plastic bags). It may take time for our laws to get in place, but till then it is our responsibility to reduce plastic addiction, and it doesn’t imply cutting convenience, it just means making conscious alternatives choices rather than plastic.

M. Faazelah XI – A

Beware of Plastics

Plastic is made from Nonrenewable resources.Plastic pollutes our land and water.Plastic is harmful to human health.Plastic is cheap to buy and costly to clean up.Plastic is not easy to recycle.It takes thousand years to decompose into smaller pieces, which seep down into the soil and release chemicals, which reach the water supplyKills animals in the water when they eat plastic bags thinking they are jelly fish.The Manufacturing process uses toxic chemicals, pollutes the atmosphere and consumes energy.

Rida 6-B

FRESH THOUGHTS


“To care for those who cared for us is one of the highest honours and caring of our seniors is perhaps the greatest responsibility we have”

This is something which we realized when we visited an old age home,” Shelter of Elders” at Sellur with students of QMIS-KG department on 02.11.19,Saturday. The inmates were very hospitable and friendly and they welcomed us with their beautiful smiles. To break the monotony of their lives, children presented few songs and stories. The children then presented the residents, whom they addressed as Thatha, Paati with sweets, sarees, sweaters & bedspreads etc. Mr.Raja, who runs the home, was overwhelmed and said that the children had come with lot of preparation, enthusiasm and with good intentions. Though we spent only an hour with them, they made us realize the value of our grandparents and the tenderness with which we need to take care of them. The children realized that love for their family, particularly their grandparents has grown stronger and deeper. They also gifted us a rose plant as their token of love and gesture of gratitude.

‘FAMILY N FUN’CONSUMER DAYOLD AGE HOME

QUASAR KIDS (KINDERGARTEN)

Teacher Incharges: Ms.Priyadharshni

Ms.Jagadeeswari Student Incharge:

Anbuselvam.S.M.C

On 28th September, QMIS campus was energized with positive vibes because of our Kindergarteners and their roles as vendors in Q’s market and the related conversations with their parents as consumers.

The day at QMIS was named as Consumers’ Day and the venue was loaded with flowers, vegetables, groceries, fruits, stationeries, herbal cosmetics and snacks. Additionally there were soothing soups, refreshing nanari sarbath, and farm fresh tender coconut. KG children took up this project to undergo hands-on-experience of a real market and the related concepts of buying, selling, billing, bargaining, budgeting and money management under the ablest guidance of Grade 11 commerce students and their mentors. It was a collaborative learning for KG children and Grade 11 children. On the whole, the children departed for home with their parents with handful of market concepts in a matured way.

A day ‘Family N Fun’ at QMIS – KG Department was scheduled exclusively for KG parents on 19.10.2019 (Saturday) to enjoy the morning session with their children in a unique manner. With the Welcome card and drink, they were welcomed and the KG team took half of the parents to various venues and made them to participate in Flower carpet and Flameless cooking contests. The rest were given a chance to enjoy Edusports with their children. The other contests were related to challenging their intelligence and understanding of their wards collaboratively. Overall, the parents had a gala and fun time with their children for 3 hours. The unity of the family was highly evident in all the activities.

The event concluded with the announcement of the winners. As it is rightly said “Memories are timeless treasures of the heart”.

27www.queenmira.com

TRAILBLAZER (GRADES 1 & 2)

VISIT TO AN OLD HOME

“A Society that does not value its older peopledenies its roots and endangers its future.”– Nelson Mandela

We can’t run the society on data and computers alone. Keeping this thought for society in our mind, we arranged a trip to an old age home for grade 1 children on 13.09.19 (Friday). We started to educate our children on the importance of taking care of the elderly people. We were keen in our point that children should extend their respect, love and support to elderly people. It was a great initiative taken by our school to take our children for a fieldtrip like this. Though we spent only few hours with them, they made the children to realize the value of grandparents.

VISIT TO A DESTITUTE

“All Super Heroes are differently abledAll differently abled are Super Heroes”

To see how such superheroes are learning, we took Grade 2 children for a differently abled School.

The children were exposed to the “Audio & Braille Library used by visually challenged people. The library was piled up with books with Braille method, which can be read with the fingers by people who are visually challenged. Our children touched the system of raised dots and felt the letters which was not legible for them to comprehend. The teachers and children were very emotional. It was a touching moment to see children expressing their love. They held their friends hand and guided them on the path. Our Children were amazed to see their level of confidence and friendship.

We came back to school and children spent a moment to thank God to count their blessings.

SLUMBER BASH

The most interesting activity “Slumber Bash” for the children of Grade 2 was organized on 19th October 2019 in premises. It embarked with so much of excitement and expectations. It was kicked off by receiving them with a welcome card and drink .As a beginning, the evening engaged the children in Edusports and games. After this warm up activity they rested physically at the courtyard for a moontlight “Angry Bird 2 “with handful of popcorn in a theatre ambience. Later they were taken to Q’s cafeteria to relish on a moon light banquet. The children enjoyed the combo of chappathi, paneer gravy, curd and onion salad with kurma. Post dinner, the children’s most awaited “Camp Fire” was a hit and brought much happiness they enjoyed choco coated banana and choco milk and brushed teeth and proceeded for Prayer. The next day they woke up to welcome the guest “SUN “ and began the day with the light jog and posed for a group photo . They relished the breakfast and moved off to their homes. The children on the whole, learnt good values of independent living, sharing and adapting to any kind of situation.

Teacher Incharges: Ms.Kayalvizhi & Ms.Aruna Rajkumar


EXPEDITION TO CHIKMAGALUR“Travel is all about the experiences, not the destination”We are glad to share our memorable experience about the coffee land journey which we had planned after a very long time. Yes, it’s none other than our expedition to Chikmagalur, a hill station in Karnataka, a state in Southwest India which produces 75% of coffee in India.The best time to visit Chikmagalur is from September to March.The city is best known as the coffee land of Karnataka and is situated at the foothills of the Mullayanagiri Range. It experiences summer, winter and monsoon, without missing the right chance, we finally executed our long planned trip. We reached the city at noon. When we planned to take a halt for an hour, a passenger shared the idea of spending the pleasant evening with a visit to Hirekolale Lake and Mahatma Gandhi Park.That destination gave an awesome feeding to mind and heart. When we travelled to Hirekolale Lake, we were able to see lengthy silvertime oak trees with coffee plantations. Kids loved walking around and made a gentle hop here and there on both the places expressing their joy. It was overall a joyful and remarkable evening spent with family.We had a pleasant and cool night stay. Next day the journey started with scenic beauty of

Momullayanagiri hills (highest peak), the cool and fresh climate there made us to admire beauty and enjoy a lot. The buttermilk waterfall is one of the nice waterfalls with a natural water pool nearby. Kids enjoyed the water pool since it was not too deep. We travelled across dense forest by local transport, that journey really added up to the flavour of adventure. Hurray! It’s on mud wave travel which once again made us more happy and excited. We were heavy hearted to leave the paradise on earth; it was worth the spirit of joy and elation.“Journeys aren’t remembered for mileage but they are remembered for the joyous moments”

Teacher Incharges: Ms.Anitha Thiliban & Ms.Lilly Jeone Student Incharge: Ibrahim Shakir Syed

P/O K.Neeraj, KG 1-B

TRAVELOGUE

29www.queenmira.com

CONNEXIONS COLUMN

Teacher Incharge: Mr.Ajithkumar


LEARNER’S COLUMN

“Plastics – the greatest threat to environment”. Are we a Conserver? Or a Destructor? Plastic – The Menace - Article by Aysha FerozeWhenever, I see the roads littered largely with Plastics, the instantaneous thought that provokes my conscience is “Are we given that liberty to destroy Earth? If so, then why do we take pride in referring ourselves as the inhabitants of Earth when we directly or indirectly play a leading role in destroying Mother Earth with our cruel act of using Plastics? When I decided myself to draft an article on this grave issue about the ill effects of plastics and the ways its usage could be considerably reduced.Plastic is widely used in our day to day life. Starting from a pen to a polythene bag in which we carry fruits and books are forms of plastic. Though suitable in our day to day use, it has posed a frightening threat to the milieu. Though they are quite useful to human beings, but they are very dangerous for environment and animals. The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration have confirmed plastic debris kills approximately 100,000 marine mammals every year, as well as millions of birds and fishes.The need of the hour is to replace plastic with environmental friendly materials. All of us need to join our hands to fight this menace and preserve our beautiful environment. We must stop using plastic altogether. The governments of various nations, including our national Government have launched anti-plastic campaigns. We can make these campaigns by saying ‘NO TO PLASTIC’.

The Hindu STEP – Classroom Pre - workshop “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.”The best teacher is one who has that ability of express his/ her thoughts without flaws any. To make the teachers confident with carrying about with an effective classroom proceeding, the teaching team was given an opportunity to do an online course ‘STEP’ from Hindu Group. To make the teachers aware of the course a workshop was organised for the teaching fraternity to get an insight about the same.

“Tell Me & I may forget, Teach Me & I May remember, Involve Me & I will learn”With this prime objective the teaching faculty of KG & Pre Primary attended an exclusive phonic session led by Ms. Hilarie Balanchandran. The goal of phonics instruction is to teach students the most common sound-spelling relationships so that they can decode, or sound out, words. ... These strategies include using a knowledge of sound-spelling relationships. Phonics involves the relationship between sounds and written symbols, whereas phonemic awareness involves sounds in spoken words. Therefore, phonics instruction focuses on teaching sound-spelling relationships and is associated with print. Most phonemic awareness tasks are oral. The session was productive and made teachers under go indepth learning

31www.queenmira.com

Teacher Incharge: Ms. Aysha Siddika Feroze Student Incharge: Prajith Selvaraj Sherbourn Issac.S

A Session with Dr. Sudha Govindswamy – the CIS consultant of the schoolDr. Sudha Govuindswamy, the CIS Consultant of the school conducted a two days workshop on the importance & initiation of STEAM Education into the curriculum.STEAM Education is an approach to learning that uses Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics as access points for guiding student inquiry, dialogue, and critical thinking. Using STEAM education results in students, who take thoughtful risks, engage in experiential learning, persist in problem-solving, embrace collaboration and work through the creative process. These are the innovators, educators, leaders, and learners of the 21st century! We are at a point where it is not only possible, but imperative that we facilitate learning environments that are fluid, dynamic and relevant. STEAM removes limitations and replaces them with wonder, critique, inquiry and innovation.

Music and MovementThe session started with our ebullient KG & Grade 1 and 2 team who were bubbling over with gusto because the session was about “Music and Movement” presented by Ms.Jainool Fathima , the Coordinator for Grades 1 & 2. Rhymes were recited in such a way that every teacher was actively involved. She also explained the concept of living together through this rhyme reciting activity.Through rhymes recitation teachers got to know that even in a single rhyme we can edify vocabularies, life skills, numerical skills and science concepts. She also educated the teachers some simple yet effective techniques to design a lively class. The session also broke the stereotype of teaching poem for level 1 and 2 which is not only about reciting but the need for a teacher to do groundwork related to the topics.Conducting these kinds of fun-filled games will enrich the memory, awareness, vocabulary and pronunciation. The session was an eye - opener for the teachers in which a package of magnanimous ideas and strategies were handed over to induce our little sprout’s skills and abilities.

Session on 5SThe QMIS members had been allotted with new roles and a meeting was held clarifying each and every member’s hierarchy of reporting and schedules. Post that a need to emphasize on the importance of delegation was felt and hence a session on how delegation can be done in an effective manner was conducted. Those key members who have been assigned new role were given a thought about delegating down their respective line. The points discussed were :– Delegation Ladder– Dos & Don’ts of Delegation– Principles of Delegation– Process of Delegation– Barriers of DelegationThe participants of this session had gained a greater insight on delegation. This session acted as an eye opener to all the SLT and MLM team.


AGARAM

TAMIL HINDI

ïs» ïWF« be»Ê

cy»š eåd tuîfËš kÅj ïd¤â‰F bgÇa Ô§if

ÉisÉ¡f Toa x‹W be»Ê R‰W¢NHiy ghâ¡F«

gšntW fhuÂfËš x‹W.

ïs» ïWF« ïªj be»Ê 1907 ïš f©Lão¡f¥g£lJ.

kÅjD¡F ïj‹ ga‹ghL 12 ÃÄl§fŸ k£Lnk. Mdhš

ïJ ÉisÉ¡F« Ô§nfh MÆukhÆu«. ïij mÊ¡fî«

1000 M©LfŸ ão¡F«. ïªj be»Ê mQF©il Él

Mg¤jhdJ v‹W T¿íŸsJ ïªâa c¢rÚâk‹w«.

cyif fh¡F« I« ój§fisí« mÊ¡f eh« cUth¡»a

Mwh« ójkhf Ã‰»wJ be»Ê¥ ga‹ghL. v§F« vâY«

be»Ê vd ekJ m‹whl thœ¡ifÆš fyªJ É£lJ.

ïit òij¤jhY« k£»nghfhJ, vÇ¤jhY« fh‰iw

khRgL¤J«, khwhf k©ts¤ij k£f¢ brŒJ Étrha

Ó®nf£il ÉisÉ¡F«.

njhšnehŒ Kjš ò‰WnehŒ tiu gy nehŒfS¡F

fhuzkh»wJ. kÅj Fy¤â‰F k£LÄ‹¿ mid¤J

étuháfS¡F Mg¤ij ÉisÉ¡f ToaJ. cyfsÉš

50000 nfhoÆÈUªJ 1 y£r« nfho tiuÆyhd msî¡F

be»Ê¥ igfŸ ga‹gL¤j¥gLtjhf kâ¥ãl¥g£LŸsJ.

JhŒik ïªâah â£l¤â‹ XU gFâahf be»Ê ïšyh

ïªâahit cUth¡f nt©L« v‹W fhªâ ãwªj

âdkhd m¡nlhg® 2 Kjš ehL KGtâY« cŸs

R‰Wyh¤ js§fËš be»Ê jil Éâ¡f¥g£LŸsJ.

khir XÊ¡f eh« brŒa nt©oait

Fiw¡f (be»Ê bghUŸ ga‹gh£il)

kW¡f (tH§f¥gL« be»Ê¥ bghUis)

kWgoga‹gL¤j (fÊÉš nruÉlhkš m¥bghUis

kWgo ga‹gL¤j)

kWRH‰á brŒaî« (ga‹gL¤J« be»Ê¥ bghUis

jFªjthW mf‰Wî«)

ïit eh« brŒa nt©oait MF«.

cy»š kÅj Fy¤J¡F k£LÄ‹¿ mid¤J

étuháfS¡F« Mg¤ij ÉisÉ¡f¡ Toa be»Êia

xÊ¤J k© ts¤ij fh¥ngh«! khášyh cyif fh¥ngh«!

Teacher Incharges: Ms.Kasthuri Thilagam & Ms.Bhuvneshwari

Teacher Incharge: Ms.Shandhini Student Incharge: Omisha.G

33www.queenmira.com

JAPANESE FRENCH

The pride of Japan is in “omotenashi” or customer service is very important in their culture, which has led them to overly use plastic wrapping for aesthetic purpose. Now they have understood the need in holding back on unnecessary accumulation of plastics. The youth though have recognized and embraced the concept of recycling and limited usage. Collection boxes are installed all over the country to promote recycling. The local schools have also joined hands with the ‘green movement ‘ wherein activities are held for students to clean up the beaches and public areas. Japan is obsessed with recycling laws for eg. Even a milk carton has to be rinsed and flattened for recycling. They boast that 86% of the 9 million tones of plastic generated is recycled and just 8% is either burnt or sent to landfills. They have understood that more than indivuals taking action, businesses should help in eliminating plastics and move to environmentally friendly replacements. A small town in Kyoto, the old capital of Japan has taken the first step and has banned 800 retailers from using plastics and is striving to be completely waste free by next year. The old yet golden ways to package using plant products should be adapted to keep our planet from dying out. The sooner we realize the better.

Pollution has become one of the major concerns in today’s world. Especially plastic pollution is a major issue which is damaging our environment rapidly. Waste plastic materials which are hard to dispose of contributes to plastic pollution on earth. It’s time to unite and fight against the pollution to save our Mother Earth. Here is an imaginary poem in French, where Mother Earth laments over the deterioration of the planet because of the plastic pollution. She advises mankind not to harm the environment and to protect all the resources on Earth through this poem. Mother Earth is addressing to mankind.

Poème sur la pollutionÔ homme ! C’est l’appel de votre mère, Alarmée par le détérioration de la planète,A cause de la pollution plastique sur la terre.Il est temps de réagir contre la pollution, dis donc « non » au plastique avec honnête.

Cet univers est plein de sources naturelles,Entouré par la mer et l’océan partoutLes grands forets et les arbres, qui le couvrent, sont bien sûr un vrai atout.Ne nuisez pas à toutes ces ressources, car il n’y a pas de vie sans elles. Ô homme ! En jetant les plastiques dans la mer,Vous affectez la vie aquatique. Par mettre les déchets sur la terre,Vous tuez aussi les animaux.

Maintenant c’est le temps de se rendre compteQue les ressources se mettent à épuiser.Prenez conscience de votre acte de négligenceDonc protégez l’environnement avec prudence.

Conservez l’énergie et économisez les ressources,En retenant la règle des 3R : Réduire, Réutiliser, Recycler.Respectez la nature et prenez des mésures,Pour protéger la santé de la terre.

Pavithra Jothi Jennifer P/O Riya Jasmine

Teacher Incharge: Ms.Sountharya Student Incharge: Akash Nagu Subramaniam


37www.queenmira.com


“Let’s switch over to organic farming and food which gives us a healthy and affluent life”

“Soon people realized that organic vegetables taste just like their mom and grand moms cooking and it was way healthier and safer than using the ones with chemicals.”

Mr. Prashanth is a man who wanted to bring about a change in the society in terms of the people’s health and was actually successful in bringing about that change. He was able to change the mindset of the people from ‘organic vegetables are expensive’ to ‘organic vegetables are actually the same price as the rest’. He didn’t create any kind of advertisement; it was the people who found out about ‘pakirvu’ (his shop where he sells produce at the same market price). It was them who spread the awareness. Thus it was a self-spread good news.

Mr. Prashanth: Well, we didn’t exactly go and knock on everyone’s door. We got the people to come to us. We started to grow trees in small areas and then people got inspired by us and then I used to get a minimum of 100 calls every day saying that even they would like to help. But we didn’t give everyone who called a tree sapling because we would naturally know who would take care of the tree. Soon the number of people who planted trees increased and then we were able to get Pothys to fund us. With their financial support we were able to conduct small sessions with groups of 15 students and got them to help us.

Swathi: Then what inspired you to sell products sir?

Mr. Prashanth: The success of planting trees got us thinking why not sell organic and fresh products? At first, we had to break the myth that organic food is more expensive than the ones that are produced by using chemicals.

JUNIOR JOURNALIST Mr. Prashanth, Organic Farming

Swathi: Good morning sir. Could you tell us about yourself?

Mr. Prashanth: I have completed my college studies and I have worked in places like Singapore, US and UK.

Swathi: Then what inspired you to start organic farming sir?

Mr. Prashanth: Basically, when I came back to India, I was deeply disturbed by the amount of trash that was dumped into the water bodies and I wanted to do something about that. So I gathered a group of students who I knew and every week we used to clean the water bodies around our area. We did this every Saturday and Sunday but every time we go to clean the area, we would always find the same amount of trash being disposed there and then slowly the plan lost its importance. But we didn’t want to give up helping our earth and thus we thought of growing trees instead.

Swathi: How did you make this successful sir?

39www.queenmira.com

It was tough at first because we didn’t want to advertise, we wanted people to come to us. And we didn’t start this business to earn money but to ensure good health of the people. In the beginning, we hardly got any customers at the shop but then soon we had a huge crowd because when one person tells another and they tell others, the news spread like wildfire. Soon people realized that food prepared using organic vegetables made it tasty just like there grandmom or mom’s preparation in yester years and it was way healthier and safer than the ones with chemicals.

Swathi: Sir, how do you manage to keep out the insects from affecting the crops?

Mr. Prashanth: Instead of chemicals, we use natural insect repellants which is a spray of chilly, garlic and ginger. There are two types of insects: those that are good for the soil and those that aren’t. This repellent keeps away the bad ones and retains the good ones.

Swathi: And, sir what do you have to say about the use of plastics?

Mr. Prashanth: The use of plastics has definitely increased in the last 4 decades and they are polluting our environment. They have been the root cause for soil erosion, water pollution etc. The government has done a really good job by banning plastics and implementing the use of cotton bags or cloth bags instead of polythene bags.

Swathi: Thank you so much sir for spending your valuable time answering these questions.

Teacher Incharge: Ms.Praveena Rajan

Student Incharge: Muthu Swathi Lakshmi.M

Adolescence and Hygiene“Gender equality is more than a goal in itself. It is a precondition for meeting the challenge of reducing poverty, promoting sustainable development and building good governance.”

The Health and safety committee of QMIS decided to do more and beyond. Girls & boys of Grades 6 to 12 had a great afternoon on 06.09.19 with Dr.Muthuselvi, leading gynecologist cum professor, Madurai Medical College who educated girls on gender sensitivity and Ms.Saraswathy from Lady Doak College educated the boys on the same topic.

Adolescence is the time for puberty changes and growth spurts. The teenage years bring a whole lot of changes physically, emotionally, mentally and socially. A platform was created for the teens to raise queries and clear their ambiguities regarding the changes they were undergoing. It was a useful session that also gave awareness on how to maintain hygiene.

Transport Safety Evacuation Drill“One earnest worker can do more personal suggestion to prevent accidents than a carload of safety signs”

Keeping such great thoughts in mind we at QMIS organized a mock drill for the transport safety on 17.10.19 for all children and staff in the campus. HSC team explained on how to react to a travel emergency situation. They also conducted a demo session for the students to act smartly during the time of crisis. The students actively involved themselves in evacuation process of self and extended their hand to their friends from school transport. This gave a great learning experience for the kids and made them equipped for any such situation

HEALTH AND SAFETY COMMITTEE

Teacher Incharge: Ms.Jainool Fatima Student Incharge: Nakshatra.R.K


PRASHANTI SINGH BECOMES THE FIRST BASKETBALL PLAYER TO RECEIVE THE PRESTIGIOUS PADMA SHRI AWARD.Source:http://hoopistani.blogspot.com/2019/01/prashanti-singh-becomes-first.html

Prashanti hails from the holy city of Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, where she began playing basketball when she was 11years old. The journey similarly delivers Singh’s fights to be viewed as critical as Indian women picking sport against tradition and her bounce back in the wake of being shockingly dropped by the national gathering selectors.

She is an amazingly talented player that our country has ever produced. She has been awarded in the field of sports with the prestigious Rani Laxmi Bai Bravery Award 2016-17 by Uttar Pradesh Government. In the year 2010 in May, she was shown in Elle Magazine, and she was the first Indian basketball player to have ever featured by any magazine. The award of Most Valuable Player of Mahindra NBA challenge National Final in New Delhi 2012 is also in the name of Prashanti in which six thousand basketball players had taken part from all over India.

She has also taken part and represented as captain in many international games, such as the 2006 Commonwealth Games, in 2010 Asian Games Guangzhou and in 2014 at 17th Asian Games Incheon. A large number of achievements are attached to the name of Prashanti Singh. She holds an evidence of a maximum number of medals with 21 medals in National Championship Games.

The centre plaque in the trophy cabinet of the Singh sisters’ household in Varanasi has been left empty despite their 25 years of participation in basketball tourneys, local, national and international.

All five sisters – Priyanka, Divya, Prashanti, Akansha and Pratima – have played basketball competitively. For Prashanti, her Arjuna Award is the culmination of not just hers but all of their efforts.

Just when it seemed unlikely that her brilliant career could be exalted even higher, former Indian basketball captain Prashanti Singh from Varanasi has become the first basketball player in history to be handed the Padma Shri award! The Padma Shri is the fourth-highest civilian honour for Indian citizens and is handed annually on the Republic Day celebrations.

Singh, a 34-year-old former shooting guard for India’s national team, is the most decorated women basketball player in India, holding the national record for most number of medals (22) in national

SPORTS

41www.queenmira.com

Teacher Incharge: Mr.MuruganStudent Incharge: Thirupathi.M

championships for Delhi while she was an employee for MTNL. She has represented the national team in the 2006 Commonwealth Games, the 2010 and 2014 Asian Games, and six FIBA Asia Women’s Championships (2004, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013), plus one more at the junior level.

Prashanti Singh is among the star-studded “Singh Sisters” of Varanasi, four of whom have represented India’s national team and brought home numerous international and domestic honours.

Singh’s Padma Shri award is a pleasant surprise, especially considering that there have been several great basketball players throughout Indian history in both Men and Women’s divisions - including Khushi Ram, Abbas Moontasir, Ajmer Singh, Geethu Anna Rahul, and many more who are still active - who have been deserving, but were never conferred this honour.

Awards and Achievement

The President, Shri Ram Nath Kovind presented the Padma Shri Award to Prashanti Singh, at an Investiture Ceremony, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on March 16, 2019

• March 2019 : Padma Shri by Government of India

• August 2017 : Arjuna Award by Government of India[11]

• December 2016-17 : Rani Laxmi Bai Award (Outstanding Sports Person) by Uttar Pradesh Government

• December 2015-16 : Poorvanchal Ratna (Top Sports Person)

• October 2015 : Shakti Samman by APN News

• March 2015 : UP ke Sartaj titled by Radio Mirchi 98.3 FM.

• January 2015 : National record with 23 medals for one team in senior level.

• June 2013: Lokmat Samman (sportsperson of the year 2013) in Lucknow.

• October 2012: MVP (most valuable player) of Mahindra NBA challenge National Final in New Delhi.

• April 2011: Captained team West & won Best Player award in All Star Game in Mumbai.

• February 2011: Top scorer award with 129 points (25.8 point/game) in prestigious 25th IMG-Reliance Federation Cup, Raipur

• 2011: She is one of the first ever ranked Top Four A Grade elite Basketball player of India.

• 2010: Elle Magazine - first Indian basketball player featured in the May 2010 edition

• October 2006: Century Sports Award by Century Sports Club, Varanasi

• August 2006: Outstanding Player Honour by UP College Old Students’ Association

• December 2002: Best Player Award in UP State School Championship, held at Ghaziabad


Q’s ACHIEVEMENT

43www.queenmira.com


Date post:	28-Jul-2020
Category:	Documents
Upload:	others
View:	1 times
Download:	0 times

1€¦ · 6 YAGNA January 2020 THE EDITOR Hello Readers, I extend my warm greeting to you all with...

Documents