REC CAMPUS
SCHOOL
PROJECT
HOW DID IT ALL BEGIN???
An idea can change your life…but how
can your idea change the lives of
others??? This must have been the
thought in our then club President’s
mind in 2010 – Sreenivas
Panchamukhi Sir.
TIME TO REWIND
THE LEO STATE OF AFFAIRS
IN 2010In 2010, Leo had made its mark in NIT
Rourkela. It was in a good
position, both aesthetically and
financially.
But the time table of the club had
become monotonous…
To break this saturation period…our
then President – Sreenivas
Panchamukhi Sir – came up with the
idea of a whole new project : a generic
full-fledged one, which was non-
existent at that time.
WHY WE CHOSE
THE
REC SCHOOL???
This was the question on
everybody’s mind at that
time.
The primary reasons behind it
were:- It was already one of our workplaces. The school is inside the NITR campus
and thus NIT had a great relation with REC School.
The kids there are equally brilliant. Its just that they didn’t get the exposure that they deserved.
Other places like Shanti Bhawan, Home & Hope Foundation, SOS Village, etc. were either already on our list of workplaces or were well endowed by other organizations.
WHAT WE DID
THERE???
The best thing that we know about are
examinations. So, playing to our
strengths, we decided to give a
scholarship of Rs. 1000 to one Std X
student, based on his performance in
an aptitude test and a personal
interview conducted by us.
We thought that the sum of thousand
rupees would be enough for a Std X
student of the BSE, Odisha.
With this idea in our mind…we
approached the Principal of REC
School who was more than happy to
oblige. The concept was then
conveyed to the parents through the
teachers, who gave positive
responses to the idea.
But, the language barrier was one
thing that had to be taken care of.
Since most of the children there were
conversant in Odia only, we had to
make sure that we too interact with
them in Odia; and make the question
papers too in Odia.
THE FIRST SCHOLARSHIP
EXAM
The first scholarship exam was
conducted in 2010. After the aptitude
test, 6 students were selected for the
personal interview.
After interviewing the students and
their parents, and making an analysis
of their financial conditions, Prashant
Pradhan was selected for the
scholarship.
The thing to note here is that the money
was never given directly to Prashant…it
was given to his mentor- our very own
Anurag Mohapatra Sir.
THE CONCEPT OF
MENTORING
It was decided by the club members that
they wouldn’t look after Prashant as a unit;
instead we would assign a one to one
mentor for him who would guide him
throughout the course.
The mentor for a particular student was
chosen on the basis that he/she should be
a day scholar having his own vehicle.
The reasons being:
Liberty and mobility
Time
Knowledge about Rourkela’s education
infrastructure.
AFTER SELECTION…
Having received the money on behalf of Prashant, Anurag Sir spent it for him…on him. Buying quality Std X books and the necessary stationery for Prashant was one of the things that Anurag Sir did.
Apart from the monetary help, Anurag Sir imparted to Prashant two very important things from the point of view of a student-motivation and confidence.
He regularly met Prashant and his parents, talked and counselled them about academics.
Being a child, Prashant initially hesitated
upon the Anurag Sir’s participation in his
academics; but the ice between them was
soon broken and they started interacting
more freely.
THE RESULTS-
HIT YA MISS???
Prashant did really well in his Class 10 Board Exams and is now studying Science in the Ispat College, Rourkela.
Prashant’s success also meant that our project was successful. Subsequently in 2011, we decided to increase the budget to Rs. 2000 and select two instead of one Std X student for the scholarship.
Last year, two Std X kids-Soumya Ranjan and Swarnashree were studying under the mentorship of Anupam Mishra Sir.
NEXT IS WHAT???
LEO CLUB,
NIT ROURKELA