AMITY EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE CENTREVirtual AERC | March-Oct 2020

Global learning continuesIn 2004, when I laid the foundation ofAmity Educational Resource Centre(AERC) I had a mission and vision to

create a global learning hub for all my stu-dents that would enrich and internationalisethe academic curriculum. The aim of the cen-tre was to nurture global citizenship with val-ues and to provide exposure and skills tooperate in a global environment. Sixteenyears later, I am happy and proud to see thatAERC has endeavoured to build a gateway tothe world at Amity, a world where respect fordiversities, quest for learning without bound-aries and success rooted in human values isthe way of life.With Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam as its drivingforce, AERC has partnered with over 30countries across the world including USA,Japan, Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy,Denmark, Slovakia, Slovenia, Netherlands,Finland, Russia, Korea, Maldives, China,Dubai, Abu Dhabi, etc. It carries out exten-sive research, conceptualises, designs, coor-dinates and launches new innovative projectsthrough collaboration and partnerships withinternational schools, universities, UNESCO,UNEP, UNODC, United Nations InformationCenter, European Union, foreign embassies,Education Ministries, Cultural and Educa-tional Centres of different countries, NGOs,

etc. In its quest to blend the best of east meetsthe west, the centre has created some signa-ture programmes like AIMUN, MUN Sum-mer Club, Nurturing Leadership Program,Amity International Debate Club, AmityGlobal Alumni Meet, Entrepreneurship andStart Workshop, Leadership Workshop, etc,which bestow world class exposure, culturalunderstanding, thinking and innovation skillswoven with values to young minds. As it nurtures young changemakers, AERC it-self became an insignia of change in a diffi-cult time like that of pandemic, when learningacross the globe went virtual. While the ex-isting programmes launched by the depart-ment like AIMUN, YRoNS, Summer MUN

Camp, Wharton Global Youth Program- TheSaturn Parable, Inter Amity Debate, HarvardIndia MUN, etc., continued the same way andwith same passion on virtual platforms. Thisperiod also saw the launch of many new pro-grammes like Debate Workshop by IndianSchools Debating Society, GRUEN (onlineProject)- Green Urban Environment in col-laboration with Goethe Institute, Hongkong,Entrepreneurship and Start-up workshop byAmity Alumni , Harvard Online LeadershipWorkshop, Young leaders Digital Summit-Oxford, to nurture global citizens with humanvalues. In fact the outreach increased moreand brought the world much closer virtually.Sweet sixteen, unstoppable and bubbling withthe energy to foster leadership with love andbuilding a happy world as one big family withdiversity as its soul, the centre truly achievednew vistas to be conquered. And with morecultural and educational exchange projects,internships and language enrichment projects,etc. planned, there are many new prospects tobe conquered, taking Amity to the world. Thisspecial newsletter brings to you a glimpse ofthe many events that AERC organised virtu-ally while the schools were closed as well asthe ones to be held as it continues with itsjourney to fulfill the motto ‘Vasudhaiv Ku-tumbakam’, meaning the world is one.

Dr (Mrs) Amita Chauhan, Chairperson

Wha

t’s in

side?

Training young diplomats Learning to lead A tribute to Anne Frank

AERC NEWSLETTERhttps://www.facebook.com/AERCResourceCenter/

Amity InternationalModel United Nations(AIMUN) is an aca-

demic simulation of the UnitedNations, tasked to nurture stu-dents in a way they learn to dis-cuss and resolve real-time issuesplaguing the world at large, andgain in-depth knowledge of inter-national relations, diplomacy, andthe overall United Nationsagenda. Providing the young del-egates with an opportunity to in-teract, comprehend, andappreciate different cultures andview points during its three-daysession, AIMUN justly imbibesthe meaning of its insignia “Va-sudhaiva Kutumbakam” – “the

world is one family”, and believesin proselytising world citizenswho are patriotic yet global, flex-ible yet assertive, with good lead-ership and publicspeaking skills andeternal light of theirown.As AIMUN stepsinto its 13th editionthis year, overcom-ing all the chal-lenges 2020 posedfor the world, it yet again estab-lishes itself as a quintessential ex-ample of experiential learning;and as it chooses the virtual path,it bears testimony to the trails ittraversed in its 13-year long jour-

ney thus far, becoming more en-hanced and enriching each pass-ing year.Unfailingly keeping up with the

Preamble to theCharter of theUnited Nations: “Topractise toleranceand live together inpeace with one an-other as good neigh-bours,” AIMUN’20would witness a

total of 27 international partici-pants from 3 countries includingFrance, Finland and Slovakia, andabout 210 national participants. Itwould entail a total of 6 commit-tees this year, each with an agenda

of its own, including WorldHealth Organization(COVID-19response), United Nations Secu-rity Council (Security situation inSouth and East China Sea), Na-tional Security Council of India(Open Agenda), UNESCO (Edu-cational gaps and technologicaldisparities in times of onlineteaching), United Nations Envi-ronment program (Promoting theDevelopment and AcceleratedTransfer of EnvironmentallySound Technologies for Low Car-bon and Climate Resilient Devel-opment to Developing Countries),and All India Political PartiesMeet (Economic slowdown andChinese aggression).

2AERC, 2020

To know more about AERC: Contact - Jyoti Arora, Director, AERC, Amity Group of Schools | Email- jarora@aisn.amity.edu

It has been more than sevenmonths since the WorldHealth Organisation officially

declared ‘COVID-19’ a pandemic.With the world suddenly screech-ing to a halt, it was a huge chal-lenge for learning and educationacross the world. Amity, under theleadership of Chairperson Dr ( Mrs) Amita Chauhan, rose tochallenge with zeal and resilience.Empowered with technology, itembraced many opportunities tonot just keep the channels of learn-ing open, but to innovate and em-brace new forms of learning.Amity Educational Resource Cen-tre ( AERC) was established morethan fifteen years ago by Dr ( Mrs ) Amita Chauhan, Chairperson, to take learning be-yond the classroom and foster cre-ative global citizens, empoweredwith the skills and knowledge theyrequire to become leaders of to-morrow. In the last seven months,

AERC has maintained a steadypace on its journey to achieve this.Since March 2020, AERC hasadapted its international pro-grammes to the demands of thevirtual world to continue to bringnew resources to Amitians. Pro-grammes such as school ex-changes, workshops on leadershipskills and debate tournaments wereconducted successfully, and wecontinued to bring the world toAmity through webinars, interac-tions with global thought leaders,

and collaboration with our knowl-edge partners like the EuropeanUnion, International cultural cen-tres, foreign universities and inter-national schools. With the launchof 8 to 10 new programmes everyyear, we are determined to keepthe lamp of learning burning brightin young minds.AERC's flagship annual pro-gramme is Amity InternationalModel United Nations , which hasin the past few years gone globalthrough the launch of AIMUN

Singapore and Dubai. It hasevolved into a platform for healthydebate, negotiation, and discourse,and has become a stage for cele-brating cultures, embracing diver-sity by transcending borders. Asyou read these words, AIMUN ishosting it’s 13th edition, whichalso happens to be the first evervirtual AIMUN, or e-AIMUN.This mega international event ofAmity Group of Schools is set togrow bigger and better, throughengagement with Amity's richAlumni network and collaborationwith eminent diplomats fromaround the world.Since its inception, AERC hasbuilt a community of innovativeand enterprising Amitians. The vir-tual events held in the last sevenmonths are a tribute to theirgrowth, innovation and potential.

Thank you and regards,Jyoti Arora

The light of learning

Jyoti Arora, Director, Amity Educational Resource CentreAmity Group of Schools

Nine nations, 48 studentsincluding 11 Amitiansfrom different branches

of Amity Group of Schools,Delhi/NCR, participated in the13th *YRoNS (Young Re-searchers of Natural Science) heldvirtually on June 2, 9 & 16, 2020under the aegis of Amity Educa-tional Resource Centre (AERC).The unique platform of scientificand cultural exchange that sawparticipation from nations likeHungary, Germany, Norway,France, Slovenia, Netherlands,Russia, Brazil and India, proved tobe undeterred by COVID-19. Or-ganised virtually, the programmekept the learning flowing duringtransformed times. Each partici-pating school’s projects and pre-sentations on a different themewere showcased online, under theguidance of their mentor teachersand proved to be enriching for all.The theme for the first day ‘Theworld during the COVID-19 pe-

riod’ entailed an introductoryround where the representativesexhibited how their world waskeeping abreast with the COVIDaffected times. The guest speaker,Professor Daniel Soares, FederalProfessor at Institute of Education,Science and Technology, SaoPaulo, Brazil, opined maintainingequilibrium in lives and contem-porary issues impacting all. The second day opened up with adiscussion and informative sessionon the topic, ‘Our country duringCOVI-19’. Highlight of this daywas the address by Karoly Gyorgi,International Secretary at Hungar-ian Trade Union Confederationwho spoke about how workingand schooling online has becomethe new normal and how the entirehumanity has risen to the occasion.

The third and last day of the con-ference based on the theme ‘Sci-ence and cultural presentations’showcased avant-garde abilities ofyoung scientists. Innovations likesuper absorbent material ‘Hydra-tonic’, making apple wine usingyeast, plant health monitoring app,inventing a battery run vehicle forcontactless deliveries, plantingvegetable gardens in urban spaceswith self-tilting solar panels, etc.,were shared and discussed withpeers around the globe. The youngminds also deliberated on issuessuch as why lycra masks werebeneficial, importance of home-schooling amidst transformedtimes, etc. The three days sympo-sium proved to be a platform forexchanging scientific ideas and de-veloping cultural understanding

between the nations.

About the programmeYRoNS is a scientific student pro-gramme that offers students an op-portunity to showcase theirpotential through natural scienceresearching projects. Under thisinitiative students from differentcountries, exchange experiencesbetween themselves.

YRoNS, the new wayBrilliant Young Scientists Share Their Learning Online

3

Amitians at YRoNS’20•Suhani Chauhan, AIS Pushp Vihar

•Bhuvi Pandey, AIS Saket

•Niamat Gill, AIS Noida

•Sarah Chawla, AIS Gurugram 43

•Sudiksha Sarcar, AIS Gurugram 46

•Alok Pratap Singh Jadon, AIS Gwalior

•Shivanshi Sharma, AIS Mayur Vihar

•Anika Joshi, AIS Vasundhara 1

•Mahi Gangal, AIS Vasundhara 6

•Sia Gandhi, AGS Gurugram

•Gauri Rathor, AGS Noida

AERC, 2020

Chairperson addresses the delegates from different countries Students from diverse countries come together for the event

Live hawan being organised for the event Faculty advisors come together Delegates from Norway present their culture

Guest speaker Founder, YRoNS Keynote speaker

‘The Saturn Parable’ Heroes

4AERC, 2020

Amitians engage in the virtual game ‘The Saturn Parable’

Three Amitians partici-pated, two of whom wonthe overall first position

in the virtual game, ‘The SaturnParable’ organised by WhartonGlobal Youth Program & WhartonInteractive, University of Pennsyl-vania, USA held from July 11-12,2020. The proud winners of thehighly engaging multiplayer gameare Dakshesh Bharal (XII) fromAIS Pushp Vihar and PoojaChandna (XI) from AIS Saketwho beat 130 participants world-wide as team Saturnus. SaumyaChauhan (X) from AIS PV alsoparticipated immersively in thegame. Participation of Amity inthis one of its kind, Alternate Re-

ality based competition was coor-dinated by Amity Educational Re-source Centre (AERC). In thegame, team Saturnus set out in avirtual expedition based in theyear 2087. Students assumed theroles of the members of the Ence-ladus Expedition, the first com-mercial space mission to Saturn’smoon Enceladus. The South Poleof this moon is the only reliablesource of liquid water beyondEarth and the team to land therefirst was to gain exclusive miningrights for water. During the game,all 130 participants interacted witheach other in real time and, Pro-fessor Ethan Mollick from Whar-ton Global Youth Program &

Wharton Interactive delivered on-line live lectures.

About the programmeThe Saturn parable is a multi-player virtual game that aims atteaching students how to effec-tively lead and collaborate onteams using the very latest evi-

dence-based leadership andteamwork approaches taught inWharton’s leadership, strategy,and organisation classes. Eachplayer is required to navigatereal-world challenges in a fic-tional setting, receiving continu-ous, adaptive performancefeedback via gaming interface.

Making her alma mater proud,Swasti Sharma (III) from AISVasundhara 6 bagged second

position nationwide in the primarycategory of WWF’s Wild WisdomQuiz 2020. Held in collaborationwith CBSE, it was scheduled forits prelims and finals on August 9and August 16-17, respectively.Coordinated by AERC, the quiz, inits first ever digital avatar this year, had ‘Re-imagine our planet’ as its theme, with MCQs

based on topics including the lesser knownplants and animals, adaptations in species,innovative solutions for conservation, and

revolutionary conservationistsaround the world, etc., to name afew. For her exemplary feat, Swastiwas featured on the India Newschannel, and will also be awardedwith an e-certificate signed by SirDavid Attenborough, along with a

chance to interact with the InternationalChess Master, Vishwanathan Anand soon.

About the programmeWild Wisdom Quiz is an initiative of the WorldWide Fund (WWF) in partnership with CBSE,which is conducted for the primary school(III-V) and middle school (VI-VIII) studentsin India, every year. As India’s only interna-tional wildlife quiz, it aims to instil sensitivityin the young towards the environment andhelps them create solutions to ensure absoluteharmony betwixt the world and the wild.

Race for water to Moon

Lil’ environment warrior

Swasti Sharma

National Winner at WWF Quiz 2020

“I have learnt so many life lessons and leadershipskills through The Saturn Parable. The game putsus in several real life stressful situations and testsour abilities. It also gives us a taste of what leadinga team is actually like and allows us to learnthrough these experiences.”

Saumya Chauhan

“The competition required us to solve cryptographs,figure out drone paths and read landing maps withinthe given time. Though we did have a few disagree-ments, we were able to discuss and reach consensusquite easily. I will forever be indebted to Amity andAERC for this wonderful experience.”

Pooja Chandna

“The immense feeling of pride that filled us whenthey announced us as the winners was beyond com-pare. From negotiation to quick and efficient deci-sion making to studying probability and mappinglocations, this competition has truly given me anamazing learning experience.”

Dakshesh Bharal

A snapshot of Swasti on India News

AIS Noida, under the aegis of AmityEducational Resource Centre(AERC), garnered applause and ac-

colades at the ‘GRUEN: Green Urban Envi-ronments’ workshop, an initiative of the HongKong Baptist University, co-funded by theErasmus+ Programme of the EU.The Goethe Institute, in collaboration withGRUEN, presented a gripping challenge infront of the participating students - to designtheir version of a sustainable urban future. During the course of the workshop, whichspanned over a couple of months, studentsfrom schools in Asia, along with partnerschools in Europe, joined hands and workedtogether to develop their own idea of a sustain-able future. The GRUEN project, which useda special Moodle workshop, was divided into2 cycles and saw students engage in meaning-ful conversations and discussions and sharetheir thoughts and perspectives about the vi-sion of a sustainable future. On May 31, 2020, during the first round of thecompetition, the participating teams got the op-portunity to give their presentation on an inter-national Zoom meeting. After the declarationof the results of the first round, twostudents from Class XI of AISNoida, Urja Kohli and ManasaBangaru, qualified for the next level.For the second round, out of the 23 par-ticipating groups, 12 were selected to at-tend an e-conference which was originallyscheduled to be held at Hong Kong BaptistUniversity.

Through the medium of Zoom, the e-conference began with opening re-marks of GRUEN project leader DrTushar Chaudhari, followed by an in-spiring speech from Kathleen Ferrier,chair Dutch UNESCO commission.The conference was also graced by

Paul Zimmerman, CEODesigning Hong Kong.

The selected groups weregiven the opportunity to

present their ideas virtually to theGRUEN community attendees from

across the globe.On the basis of their performance, 6groups were further shortlisted for the

Q/A round which took place on theSept 12, 2020. After an enlighteninground of Q&A, Urja Kohli, as thegroup head, led her team to find aplace in the top three positions in theGruen International Competition forwhich they were awarded prizemoney of €400. The Goethe GreenAward, a special award given by theGoethe Institute, was won by Man-asa Bangaru along with prize money

of €100. Through this innovative initiative, studentsgot the ultimate opportunity to envision a fu-ture whose main aim was to uphold the idealsof sustainability.

About the programmeThe GRUEN project is an initiative of theHong Kong Baptist University, co-funded bythe Erasmus+ Programme of the EU. With anaim to encourage students to build their ownsustainable future, this workshop presents stu-dents with a platform to gain insight into theobjectives of the EU’s 7th European UnionGovernment Action Programme 2020.

Towards a greener futureAmitians Make Amity Proud At The GRUEN Project

5AERC, 2020

Participants share viewpoints on creating green urban spaces

Urja Kohli

Mansa Bangaru

Prizes Amount Name of student School

Goethe GRUEN Award €100 Manasa Bangaru (XI) AIS Noida

Originality Award €75 per person Nalin Jayaswal (XI)Divyansh Jain (XI)Ahaan Bhandari (XI)

AIS Pushp Vihar

Bagged position in top 3 €100 Urja Kohli (XI) AIS Noida

Best E-tools €75 Vyakhya Gupta (XI) AIS Gurugram 46

Diti Sharma, Class X stu-dent of Amity Interna-tional School Noida, did

Amity proud by qualifying for par-ticipation in *Harvard YLC (YouthLead the Change) India, held vir-tually from June 25 - July 1, 2020.Total 120 youth from all over Indiawere selected for the conferencewhich saw around 3,000 appli-cants from India. This unique op-portunity which hones theleadership skills was organisedunder the aegis of Amity Educa-tional Resource Centre (AERC).

All the participants weredivided into differentgroups comprising 11-12 participants each, su-pervised by a counsellor(students of Harvard).On the first day of YLC, all partic-ipants interacted with each otherand were asked to find 10 thingsthat everyone in the group had incommon. Later on, they learnt todefine leadership and were alsogiven key pointers for becoming aleader and practicing leadershiproles. They were taught to identify

their leadership stylethrough an activity andwere told about how tomake SMART Goalsand use them for betterproblem solving. They

were then asked to choose a proj-ect that they would like to work onfor the next one year. Diti’s groupworked on the project ‘Educa-tional facilities for mental disabil-ities’ and made a plan based onSMART Goals. They analysedleadership style (of a few leaders)from some videos and delivered

extempore speeches. They werealso given ‘life hacks’ by the coun-selors and learnt about Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Test. Therewas also a session on college ad-missions and the project duringwhich the participants asked ques-tions regarding college life and ad-mission process at Harvard. Onthe last day of the conference,project plans were presented, re-views were shared and all the par-ticipants were conferred withe-certificates. Diti and her teamformed during the conference arecurrently working on the projectunder the mentorship of the coun-sellors from Harvard. Her teamhas already made a website, socialmedia accounts and plan to reachout to NGOs and schools to workcollaboratively for enhancing theeducational facilities for mentallydisabled children. For, true leader-ship in Amity leads to serve othersabove the self.

About the programmeYouth Lead the Change is a socialimpact conference developed bythe Leadership Institute at Har-vard College that empowers stu-dents to develop tangible solutionsto confront the problems faced byour local and global communities.

Harvard YLCLearners Of Today To Become The Leaders Of Tomorrow

6AERC, 2020

Students from all around the world come together for the prestigious programme

Presentation being made on the topic Diti Sharma takes part in the event Youth Lead the Change conference in progress

Diti Sharma

On the occasion of World Day for Cul-tural Diversity for Dialogue and De-velopment, American Field Service

(AFS), in collaboration with Amity EducationalResource Centre (AERC) organised DomesticCultural Exchange Programme with 5 virtualsessions between May 8-21, 2020. The onlineevent was organised with the aim to bridge thegap between cultures and to harbinger peace,stability and development in the society. Facilitating cultural interactions through new-fangled ways like PowerPoint presentations,zoom calls and telephonic conversations, themarvellous event saw immense participationfrom schools from various states like Maha-rashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Assam, all ofwhom were adept in showcasing the peculiarityof their states, despite the annual event goingvirtual this year. The exciting aspects of theevent were workshops on music, dance, art,cookery, etc., conducted by the students them-selves. In a first, this event also welcomed par-ents and family members to be part of it.Ananya Nayyar, Parth Khullar and SuhaniSinha from AIS Saket, enthusiastically partici-pated in the event with absolute zeal in every

possible way. Making the best out of the oppor-tunity, the team members enthusiastically brain-stormed presentations on Indian cultural

diversity, with guidance from their teachers.The programme was highly educational, as allthe participating schools put their best foot for-ward in representing their chosen states with ut-most elegance. The stunning presentation andBihu dance performed by Maria’s PublicSchool, Assam, to the informative perform-ances by the Springfield World School, Vidisha,and PVG’s Dr. Kalkasaheb Deodhar EnglishSchool, depicted the spell-binding diversity ofIndian culture. Although the event was internet bound, the on-line meetings were successfully carried out forall the activities like presentations, group dis-cussions and the final programme. With thepandemic taking a toll on all the significant an-nual events this year, technology aided in car-rying out the same digitally this year.

About the programmeAFS Domestic Exchange Program aims to giveregional cultural learning to students of differ-ent schools across India. The programme is de-signed in a way that can encourage the youthto indulge in intercultural learning through var-ious extracurricular activities.

AFS Virtual ExchangeCelebrating The Rich Cultural Diversity Of The Country

7AERC, 2020

Participants from across the country show their engagement in the virtual exchange programme

Cultural depiction by various schools

In a continued endeavour ofAmity to hone the leadershipskills of young minds, 18

Amitians, for the first time, partic-ipated in Digital Young LeadersSummit 2020 held from July 20-22, 2020. An initiative by AERC,it was based on the theme ‘2020Vision: Future Changemakers’.Students from various nations likethe UK, Greece, Poland, SaudiArabia, Singapore, China andIndia, participated in the globalevent aimed at nurturing global

leaders of tomorrow. SaumyaChauhan (X) from AIS PV gavean enthralling presentation aboutAmity Group highlighting life andtimes of Dr Ashok K. Chauhan,Founder President, Amity Uni-verse, Amity’s philosophy, AU,Amity Group of Schools, AERC,The Global Times, Amitasha andAtulasha during the cultural im-mersion session.For three days, students imbibedvarious learnings from eminentglobal experts on an array of top-

ics. Simon Bucknall, an eminentmotivational speaker and story-teller, gave a session on how to bean effective presenter. SamanthaPower, 28th US Ambassador to theUN, emphasised on the role of sto-rytelling for journalism as a career.Isaac Sesi, who has created a so-cial entrepreneurial business tohelp solve food and agricultureproblems of Africa, demonstratedhow engineering and technology isfacilitating to alleviate the problemof food scarcity in Africa. Ruby

Granger, famous content creator ofStudy Tube, shared how childrencan become better learners by fol-lowing a proper routine and focus-ing on productivity at the sametime. Eminent writer, historian andcomedian Subhadra Das gave apresentation on ‘Science is fun’and engaged students in activitiesthrough which even those with nobackground in Science can learn iteasily. The forum presented a goodlearning opportunity for the stu-dents who got the chance to inter-act with experts around the globeon a range of topics like creativity,sustainability, personal story-telling, and methods and processesof innovative thinking.

About the programmeDigital Young Leaders Summit isan annual summit for secondaryschool students held by a coreteam of fellows from the Universityof Oxford, in collaboration withKnowledge Collective. They aim toteach skill and design thinking forcreative and practical real-worldproblem solving. They providementors from University of Oxfordand industry experts from variousdomains to create a collaborativelearning environment and help theyoung global leaders tackle thepressing challenges of tomorrow.

Learning to leadAmitians Interact With The Global Experts At DYLS 2020

8AERC, 2020

Amitians at the Digital Young Leaders Summit 2020

Samantha Power apprises the students Presentation by Samara Chauhan Simon Bucknall addresses the youth

Since the beginning, the vi-sion of Amity has been tomotivate students towards

structuring a better society, a soci-ety that nurtures social responsibil-ity in the youth. Keeping up withthis vision, under the guidance ofJyoti Arora (Director, AERC) andArti Chopra, Principal, Amity Gu-rugram 46, and in collaborationwith the Embassy of Netherlands,AIS Gurugram 46 got the oppor-tunity to present a three-day proj-ect, the Anne Frank Video DiaryE-Project. Students from 11schools of Amity in Delhi NCRand Gwalior took part in this on-line event, which was held fromJune 4-6, 2020.During the three-day session, the

participating students were intro-duced to the situations one has toface when hiding during a war.The students could relate to AnneFrank’s life with their own, duringthe COVID-19 pandemic. Theylooked at the same situation in dif-ferent ways, from different van-tage points including theperspective of a teenager. Through the project, the studentslearnt about the outcomes of WW2along with the chain of events thatled up to it. The sessions high-lighted the life of Anne Frankalong with the lives of the otherresidents of the Annex and shed asobering light into their living con-ditions and the situations theyfaced. The students were given an

insight into the Holocaust and theplight of the Jews during WorldWar 2. They could sense the ex-treme terror of hiding in a tinyspace, surrounded by continuousbombings and gun fire, whereevery day posed a new challenge. During the course of the project,the participants were presentedwith the opportunity to interactwith Anneke Adema, DeputyHead of Mission, Embassy ofNetherlands. She further enlight-ened the students about the Holo-caust. Special guests from theAnne Frank House in Amsterdam,Loes Singels and Priya Machado,Project Managers of the Taskforcein India, Sri Lanka andBangladesh, of the International

Department of the Anne FrankHouse, also addressed the virtualgathering and apprised the stu-dents about the Anne FrankHouse. During the virtual ses-sion, students were encouraged tomaintain a journal of their ownjust like Anne Frank. As the project concluded, the stu-dents were left to ponder about theatrocities of war and persecutionof communities, about the fightingspirit in human beings and the re-silience of a teenage girl hiding ina secret annex in Amsterdam. TheAnne Frank Video Diary E-Pro-ject was indeed a successful en-deavour, and it proved to be anenriching experience for all theparticipating students.

A tribute to Anne Frank9AERC, 2020

Students from various Amity International Schools attend the event

Amitians share their viewpoints on the project Priya Machado & Loes Singels address the virtual gathering

A depiction of Anne Frank’s video diary

Anneke Adema promotes the event on Twitter

Knowing The Struggles of Survival During World War II

With the motive oftraining the studentsto approve ‘a debat-

ing motion’ and present logicallybacked arguments, Amity Educa-tional Resource Centre, alongwith Indian Schools Debating So-ciety, held debating masterclassesfrom June 18-20, 2020. The stu-dents were educated about thetwo stages of debate drafting –Argumentation and Refutation,and also taught the basics of ap-

proaching a debating motion,building a model around it, con-structing arguments, identifyingand delivering rebuttals. A specialsession was conducted solely onMilitary Interventions whichbriefed students about the same.The detailed explanation anddemonstration of each step withexamples instilled in students abetter understanding of the topicand the confidence to be able totry the same during activities in-

terspersed within the sessions.three day experience was noveland full of revelation for the stu-dents as they were encouraged tospend quality time in their re-search and creating solid founda-tion for their debates. In all the sessions, students’ keeninterest and enthusiasm was ablyreflected in their extensive use ofthe chat window for posing ques-tions and their eager display ofthe completed activities.

This experience is sure to staywith the students for a long timeand has definitely given them anedge over other students in draft-ing debates.

About the programmeIndian Schools Debating Society isa not-for-profit organisation pow-ered by the Ramco Group of Com-panies that aims to takecompetitive debating to studentsacross India.

Debating masterclasses10AERC, 2020

The proceedings of the debating masterclasses session Participants attend the session

Learning How To Construct Impactful & Strong Speeches

Amitians Reach For The High Stars At HMUN 2020Masters of diplomacyAteam of twenty stu-

dents from Amity In-ternational Schools

across Delhi NCR participatedin a Special Online Edition ofHMUN India which took placefrom August 13-16 2020. Over 1400 high school studentsfrom more than 150 schools and13 countries around the worldparticipated in the event co-hosted by Harvard University'sInternational Relations Council(IRC) and Worldview. This special edition of HMUNsaw raging debates on topics

such as ‘Combating Anti-Micro-bial Resistance & Public healthand Recreational Drug Use’ inWHO; Lethal AutonomousWeapons systems’ in LegalCommittee, etc. Dhruv Bhargava from AIS Gur46 and Sanjali Sharma from AISNoida, students of Class X, wonthe title of Best Delegate and

Outstanding Delegate, in LegalCommittee and UNGA respec-tively. Dhruv represented thecountry of Palau, and Sanjalirepresented Cyprus. Further-more, Lakshita Aggarwal ofClass VIII, AIS Saket, wonDiplomatic Commendation inUNEP and Archisha Veda ofClass XII, AIS Gur 46 won Hon-

orable Mention in UNCSW. ASpecial Appreciation Award waspresented to Somesh Taori ofClass XII, AIS Gur 46, whoplayed the role of Assistant Di-rector in Legal Committee.Held on an online platform, thisvirtual edition of HMUN saw thesame amount of grit, zing andelectricity from the participants.This amazing opportunity by theAERC gave students of Amitythe chance to showcase their tal-ents at diplomacy on a globallevel and learn from studentslike them across the world.

Dhruv BhargavaArchisha Veda Somesh TaoriLakshita Aggarwal Sanjali Sharma

Amity makes every effortto provide its youngleaders with a platform

to hone their entrepreneurial andleadership skills. The three-days’workshop, from September 28-30,on Amity Entrepreneurship andStart-Up Programme, conductedby two Amity alumni - ShauryaMehta, Junior at Stanford Univer-sity & Naman Tekriwal, Sopho-more at Hong Kong University ofScience & Technology, and or-ganised under the aegis of AmityEducational Resource Centre(AERC), aimed at just that. The workshop that saw a total of45 students from all branches ofAmity schools participate in it,commenced with a brief insightinto the conceptualisation of theStart-up programme followed bya brief introduction of the guests. The workshop provided all with

an end-to-end knowledge of theentrepreneurship cycle, from itsinitial phase of evaluating a busi-ness idea to the actual businesslaunch. Participants were furtherintroduced to the realities of en-trepreneurship and the miscon-ceptions surrounding it usingvarious case studies like those ofBYJU’S, Unacademy, Apple,Airbnb, etc., to name a few.Various other activities wereconducted by dividing studentsinto breakout rooms for them towork in teams with randomlychosen members and developtheir ideas. Concepts like ‘TargetMarket’, ‘Competition Analysis,‘Venture Capital’, ‘CustomerDiscovery’, ‘SWOT’ Analysis &‘Lean Business Canvas’ were allpart of the three-day session, thatconcluded with 11 teams deliver-ing powerful presentations, each

with a unique business idea oftheir own, judged by Kevin Ho,Ex Managing Director, BarclaysAsia Pacific, Hong Kong andRohit Jha, Founder, Vikings Ca-reer Strategists, India. The Best Pitch Award went toTeam 6 for their idea ‘PatientHouse’ and they were also de-clared the winners of the compe-tition for the same; Team 3bagged second position withtheir idea ‘Who's cookin’; thirdprize was awarded to Team 7 fortheir idea ‘Liaison Hub’, with theSpecial Mention Award going toTeam 8 for their idea ‘Mood El-evato’. With renowned guest speakersYatin K Thakur, Chairman ofGlobal Entrepreneurship Net-work (GEN), Asia & ManagingDirector of GEN, India andKieran Fung, Venture Partner at

Kineticone, Intensive Accelera-tor, Hong Kong, sharing theirjourney, the programme as awhole gave students a realisticpicture of the start-up world,which is precisely what is neededtoday!

About the programme Amity Entrepreneurship andStart-Up Programme is an initia-tive of Amity Educational Re-source Centre (AERC) that aimsto provide a unique opportunityto the young leaders of Amity toexplore and develop their talentsand become successful entrepre-neurs. This programme includesan annual workshop conductedby leading entrepreneurs fromacross the globe, that givesyoung minds an insight into theA to Z of entrepreneurship andthe working of a start-up.

Starting a start-upMoulding Young Minds Into Successful Entrepreneurs

11AERC, 2020

A snapshot of the student participants The esteemed jury panel

Honourable Chairperson at the workshop Guest speaker Kieran Fung addresses the students

On July 17, 2020, AmityEducational ResourceCentre (AERC) organ-

ised the virtual inter-Amity De-bate competition which washosted by AIS Noida. The entireprogramme had three events or-ganised for the students of ClassVIII-XII. All the three events ransimultaneously and successfullywherein all the principals, teachersand students from across allAmity schools were able to joineasily and maneuver through thevarious channels easily using thelinks provided. The programmecommenced with a warm wel-come to all by director AERC toeveryone present in the event, fol-lowed by host school principalgreetings and emphasising on theimportance of public speaking anddebating.In the first event JAM Corner

(Just A Minute), 22 Class VIII stu-dents competed against each otherfor the award of ‘Best Speaker’ inthe categories ‘Against the mo-tion’ and ‘For the motion’. Deb-jani Das, AIS Saket; AnanyaBhatia, AIS Gur 46 and ShwetaTomar, AIS Vas 6 judged the stu-dents on the topics ‘Competitionis a necessary part of the educa-tion process’, ‘Academics and co-curricular go hand in hand’,‘Celebrity endorsements are un-ethical’ and ‘The lockdown in-duced lethargy’. In the category‘For the motion’, Chavi Gautam(AIS MV) won the first prize.Second position was shared byAarna Banyal and Prisha Verma(AIS Noida) while Nitya Gupta(AIS PV) bagged the third prize.For ‘Against the motion’ category,Avneet Kaur (AIS PV) bagged thefirst prize, Dia Agarwal (AIS

Gwalior) won second positionwhile the third prize was sharedby Suhani Chauhan (AIS PV) andMaanya Jain (AIS Noida).For the second event ‘TurncoatView’, 22 Class IX students de-bated against each other and de-bated articulately on the topics‘Celebrities are not our role mod-els’, ‘Women reservation is a ne-cessity for women empowerment’and ‘Boycott Chinese products’.Judges Archana Upadhyay, AISMV; Anvesha Singh, AIS Gwaliorand Praveen Ravindran, AISNoida judged the students on var-ious debating aspects for theaward of the ‘Best speaker’. Man-sha Rapria (AIS Gur 43) baggedfirst position. Second prize waswon by Ahana Kohli (AIS Saket)while the third position wasshared by Gouri Srivastava (AISVKC Lucknow) and Yeshita Jeet

Tripathi (AIS Noida).The third event ‘Debate Connect’saw participation from students ofClass X-XII. 27 students took partin the event wherein they spoke onthe topics ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat-Aviable reality’, ‘Covid lockdown-a nightmare’ and ‘Social media isdoing more harm than benefit tosociety’. Judges Preeti Khullar,AIS Noida;Vira Sharma, Manag-ing Editor, The Global Times andLily Pant, AGS Noida, expressedtheir admiration at the quality ofthe speakers and provided pre-cious pearls of wisdom as adviceto the students. Samiksha Dubey(AIS Noida) bagged the first posi-tion while the second prize wastied between Sheen Sarup (AISVas 6) and Angad Singh Ahuja(AIS PV). Third prize was won byAnika Bahuguna (AGS Gur).The event ended on a very highnote of happiness, satisfaction,gratitude and fulfillment.

*About the programmeAERC organises various inter-Amity programmes on a regularbasis for the students with thesheer motive of growth for thestudents, debate competitionbeing one of them.

The talking mindsInter Amity Debate Competition Spurs A Wind Of Change

12AERC, 2020

AERC in collaboration with AIS Noida organised inter-Amity debate competition on a virtual platform

Online inter-Amity debate competition in progress

To train the national and internationaldelegates participating in E-AIMUN2020, three extensive online training

sessions were organised under the guidance andsupervision of AERC. For the esteemed foreigndelegates from France, a training session onZoom was conducted by AIS Noida on Septem-ber 25 and September 29, 2020. This sessionwas effective in briefing the 20 delegates andtheir teacher in-charge, Ms Pauline, regardingthe event and its specialities. The session fo-cused on basic MUN training, ROPs, positionpapers etc., and was conducted by Anandi Gan-guly, Antra Rajpoot and Sanjali Sharma. Thedelegates happily took part in the session, andwere even welcomed by Jyoti Arora, Director,AERC, at the very beginning with words of en-couragement and an explanation of the true vi-

sion of this international conference.To guide the national delegates, another sessionwas organised on Zoom for the 18 student del-egates and their teacher in-charges from AISLucknow, AIS Gwalior and DPS Lucknow. Theforum, which was conducted by Anandi Gan-guly, Siddharth Johar and Sanjali Sharma,briefed them about ROPs, discussion on agen-das, documentation process and how to re-search. Delegates from Amitasha, Amity’s wingfor less-privileged girl children, were also vig-orously trained for the event in a session dis-cussion planned on September 9, 2020, whichwas conducted by Siddharth Johar, SanjaliSharma and Divik Dodeja. It extensivelyguided the students on ROPs for AIPPM, re-search methodologies, documentation process,and diplomacy guidelines.

Feedback from all the delegations were takenat the end of the sessions where they thankedAERC for conducting sessions that helpedthem understand the event better and madethem feel welcomed at AIMUN.

About the programmeAmity International Model United Nations isthe Amity wing of MUN. It is an academic sim-ulation of the United Nations, which aims toeducate participants about current events, top-ics in international relations, diplomacy andthe United National agenda. It provides a plat-form for delegates to interact, comprehend,and appreciate different cultures and view-points. It enables students to learn to resolveissues. It is the platform for the young ambas-sadors to display their act of diplomacy.

Prepping for E-AIMUN 2020Delegates Zealously Gear Up For The Virtual Conference

13AERC, 2020

National and international delegates attend the online training session ahead of E-AIMUN 2020

Online AIMUN training session being conducted for delegates from France

Afive day E-MUN work-shop was organised byAmity Educational Re-

source Center (AERC) from May25-29, 2020, for the students ofClass VI-IX. A first of its kind vir-tual summer camp, the event wasaimed at enhancing the under-standing of MUN concepts, proce-dures and encouraging youngminds to keep themselves engagedwith global and local issues con-structively. Total 55 students from11 branches of Amity Group ofSchools participated in the onlineworkshop. Various training ses-sions were conducted over a spanof five days, with Sumedh Kapoorof AIS Saket introducing the con-

cept of UN and MUNS. KusumKapoor from AIS Gur 46 andPradyuman Singh an alumnus ofthe same school spoke on topicslike flow of debate, rules of proce-dures, conventional–unconven-tional committees andargumentation. Debanjali Ganguliof AIS Noida and student AnandiGanguli from the same school dis-cussed diplomacy and resolutionmaking process. Jhanavi and Va-sundhara, alumnus from AISNoida conducted a session on jointcrisis committee and AIPPM. Theworkshop was enriched with ses-sions by eminent guest speakersHE Ashok Sajjanhar former am-bassador for India in various coun-

tries and Brig Nalin Bhatia, an ex-pert in foreign intelligence affairs.HE Ashok Sajjanhar spoke aboutthe ‘Role of WHO and interna-tional bodies in times of crisis likeCovid-19’. He apprised studentson the humanitarian works doneby the government during the pan-demic and urged them to be opti-mistic and develop patience to deal

with the situation. Brig Nalin Bha-tia shared his view points on thedevelopments taking place in Iran,Afghanistan and Pakistan and theirimpact on India. They both en-gaged students in a very interac-tive question and answer session.During last two days of the work-shop, mock MUN sessions wereconducted by Sonsie Khatri andRaghav Agarwal, Class XII stu-dents of AIS Saket. Students got tosimulate a MUN and also imbibedrich insights about the proceedingsof MUN. They also honed their in-nate skills to become criticallythinking global leaders of tomor-row.

*About the programmeModel United Nations (MUN) isan academic simulation of theUnited Nations where studentsplay the role of delegates from dif-ferent countries and attempt tosolve real world issues with thepolicies and perspectives of theirassigned country.

Training young diplomatsNurturing Global Leaders At E-MUN Summer Workshop

14AERC, 2020

Participants from various Amity schools partake in the workshop

HE Ashok Sajjanhar enlightens the audience A student shares points on MUNs Brig Nalin Bhatia opines his view

n 1st Virtual AIMUN 2020, India (October 14-16, 2020)

n Ritsumeikan Super Global Forum, Japan (November 10-14, 2020)

n SPEAKER SERIES in collaboration with Oxford University , UK (Nov onwards)

n Inter Amity Debate (December 5, 2020)

n KWHS (Knowledge @Wharton High School), USA (ongoing 2020-2021)

Upcoming programs of AERC