22 Jun Woodstock School and MGVS Kaplani School: An Update from the Woodstock School Community Engagement Office
We are pleased to share a letter from Chaplain & Director of Community Engagement Mrs. Sanjaya Mark sharing updates regarding Woodstock School’s ongoing engagement with MGVS Kaplani School:
6 June 2023
Dear Woodstock School and MGVS Kaplani School Communities,
Mussoorie Gramin Vikas Samiti (MGVS) Kaplani School Coordinator Mr. Surender Singh recently shared the 2023 Board exam results for grade 10 and grade 12 students with us. 8 girls and 8 boys from grade 12 appeared for the first time in the Board exams from Kaplani School and all passed. Of these, four girls and one boy got first division. Principal Nautiyal and all of the teachers at Kaplani School deserve high praise for achieving these results. However, there is still plenty to do, including providing continued encouragement and academic coaching for those who did not fare as well in grade 10 and grade 12 Board examinations.
Woodstock’s collaboration with the MGVS School has once again been successful over the last academic year. I am particularly proud of all that we have achieved as this was my last year directing the School’s Community Engagement programme. I know that many in our Woodstock School community are interested in the collaboration and am therefore sharing all we have achieved this year alone:
- Contributed INR Rs. 1,21,600 to tutor 19 students of Grade 10 in Mathematics, Science, Social Studies and English for two months prior to their Board examinations.
- Woodstock students painted 7 classrooms and the library to be at MGVS School. The paint and tools were also provided through Woodstock.
- Two student representatives from MGVS Kaplani were invited each month to attend a Waste and Water Management Meeting at Woodstock. This meeting was attended by student representatives from all the schools in Mussoorie. The aim of the meetings was to listen to a motivational speaker and then come up with solutions to better manage waste and water in individual schools. It is encouraging to note that quite a few ideas were shared and implemented by the students at their schools. It was wonderful to see the growing confidence with which the students from MGVS shared their ideas and suggestions.
- Students from Woodstock held science and art lessons at the MGVS School to give the students there the opportunity to engage in hands-on activities such as science experiments. Funds were raised by Woodstock students to purchase interesting art materials which were used for art lessons.
- Students from Woodstock held special sessions for girls at the MGVS School to educate them about feminine hygiene and create awareness about breast cancer.
- Woodstock students organized a book collection drive to further equip the library with suitable books, a project which the school tried to set up before the pandemic.
- During the book collection drive, we discovered that a significant number of the students at the MGVS School did not have textbooks and therefore, the Woodstock School Comunity Engagement Office bought and supplied these books to the School which are to be kept as school property but lent out to the very needy students.
Unfortunately, during the pandemic, we were not able to help much, but it is my hope now that the projects which Woodstock has set up through its Community Engagement program will continue to grow. This collaboration is as important for Woodstock School as it is for the MGVS Kaplani School. We are very grateful to MGVS for giving Woodstock students the chance to engage in so many projects and interact with the entire community at MGVS School (including students, their parents, and their school Principal and teachers). This engagement greatly helps Woodstock students and staff members gain knowledge, understanding, and skills pertaining to how they can approach community development work in the greater community in which they live. Above all, I know that Woodstock students are being motivated to become more responsible citizens through this interaction.
I would like to express my gratitude to Principal Nautiyal and all the teachers at the MGVS Kaplani School for their help, cooperation and support. The incremental successes of the school and its students are a testament to their commitment to the school and their heart for the students. MGVS is most fortunate to have them.
With prayers and very best wishes for this amazing collaboration,
Sanjaya Sarah Mark
Chaplain & Director of Community EngagementWoodstock School
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