The Sounds of Open Minds August 2017ECHOES

This nation will remain the

land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.

Volume - 2 Edition - 3

Swaraj is my birthright and I shall have it.

- Bal Gangadhar Tilak

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On the 7th, OMites celebrated Rakshabandhan by preparing Rakhi and writing a letter expressing gratitude for the brave soldiers protecting our countrys border. They wrote how their young world is shaped by the soldiers. They expressed their gratitude for being able to go to school, celebrate festivals and sleep peacefully at night while the soldiers fight to protect them far away from family and comfort. They further added that the Rakhi they are sending is blessed with the duty of protecting the soldiers. The students poured out their individual feelings and sent the Rakhi along with the letter.

7th AugustRakshabandhan Celebrations

Janmashtami Celebrations 11th AugustOMites performed a musical skit on the life of Lord Krishna in the assembly. The story of Lord Krishnas birth, joyous days from his childhood and the eventual destruction of Kansa at his hands were visualized in the grand skit.

As the Sun rose high on the morning of 15th August 2017, it blessed every Indian affirming that we live under a free sky. To keep the memories of our forefathers alive; paying tribute to the great unsung heroes; to take their vision to the next level, Open Minds celebrated the 71st National Independence Day.

The Director Ms. Sharmila Reddy, our Principal Ms. Swapnali Deore and the Chief Guest Colonel Lokesh Saxena graced the occasion along with the SPIC members. The event was hosted by the Literary Captain, Rithvik Cuddapah and Literary Vice Captain, Ananya Rautela.

After the inauguration, the School Dean Guneet Reddy welcomed everyone and shared his thought provoking views about the big day. In his words Freedom was given to us on a silver platter. Are we doing our bit to value it and keep it intact? The new generation shall come together to rid India of the evils that lurk around jeopardizing the freedom we so gladly enjoy.

Independence Day Celebrations 15thAugust

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The Principal emphasized it is ones karma that defines him. We are no better or less than our fellow humans. We are capable of bringing change if we desire. It should not be the duty of only a person in power to cleanse the country. It lies within every citizens power to take charge and turn things around for good. Col. Saxena recalled the sacrifices of great freedom fighters and inspired the audience. He stated how Vande Mataram has become One-day Mataram for some and that such should not be the case.

The jubilation witnessed various enthralling elements such as dance, drama, speeches, and flash mob which was a sight to behold. Phanni Dasari of Grade 10, mesmerized every Indian present at the venue with his flute recital of Vande Mataram. The fruitful event came to an end with Assistant Dean Phanni of Grade 9 presenting the Vote of thanks.

Open Minds conducted an event at Manjeera Diamonds to emphasize the importance of Eco-friendly Ganesha. In association with Globe Toters - Manjeera Diamonds, we taught the residents how to create and design artistic Ganeshas out of clay and gave away prizes to the best Ganesha. Children and adults of all age group participated in the event and made it a big success.

Awareness Drive - Eco-friendly Ganesha 19th August

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Airtel Marathon and Soles 4 Souls 20th AugustOpen Minds co-sponsored a section of the Airtel marathon which was conducted on the 20th from Necklace road to Gachibowli stadium and participated in the run. We were also part of a musical band, cheering squad and of the transport unit.

OMites also contributed for the Soles 4 Souls event. Students donated their shoes for the needy as part of the Sharing is Caring campaign.

Ganesh Chaturthi Celebrations 24th AugustOMites for the celebration of Ganesh Chaturthi created clay Ganeshas at the Campus. Students were provided with clay and were seated at various venues on the campus. Together they infused life into lifeless clay and created the God who disrupts all obstacles.

Students displayed the completed Ganeshas in the class and took it home for celebrations.

Jewel with Open Minds 27th AugustOpen Minds in association with Globe Toters conducted an event at My Home Jewel, Miyapur. Kids were invited to participate in Fancy dress competitions, coloring and making Ganesha out of discarded products. And lastly, there was also an event of Poster designing on the Go Green initiative.

The event saw parents and kids participating alike and with unified spirit even in the rain.

Vaccination Drive 29th AugustOpen Minds conducted vaccination drive supporting the governments attempt to drive the diseases. The purpose of the Measles-Rubella campaign is to protect children and eliminate transmission of Measles and Rubella from the community by vaccinating 100% target children with MR vaccine.

The vaccination drive was conducted under the supervision of school authorities and in the presence of the parents by a qualified doctor.

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psMs. Asha, our ICT teacher attended a workshop by Google India. The workshop covered Scratch and App Inventor tools for improving logical thinking among students. Ms. Asha was given access to various creative outputs that can be generated using the app and its immense possibilities in the field of enriching a students learning experience.

Workshops for TeachersGoogle Workshop 11th August

Workshop for Prefect bodyOn the 12th, the CPO Ms. Padmaja conducted a STUCO workshop to elaborate on the tasks each prefect will begin working on for various committees at the school.

Committee members were called in the meet and prefects were assigned. The committee members briefed the prefects about the responsibilities of various OM committees and their roles in it.

Workshop for students

12th August

9th and 11th AugustLanguage Development SkillsMs. Deepa from Ripples was invited to conduct a workshop on Language Development for students of Grade 5 to 8. She emphasized on the objective of learning a language and how to enhance the LSRW skills.

She gave fun filled worksheets with individual and group tasks as she planned. The activities involved students in listening, reading, remembering, writing and reproducing what they have learned. The most beautiful part of the workshop was that the child was engaged and all the students feedback was that they had an amazing time and enjoyed the whole 2-hour session.

Each child was given a feedback on the activities done by them by Ms. Deepa. Students were informed about their areas of improvement.

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Awareness on Drugs and their EffectsAs part of our continuous initiatives for the holistic development of our students, we conducted a workshop for students of Grade 8 to 10 on the topic of Drug abuse A social menace. This workshop was conducted on the 17th August by Dr. Devika Rani Kakarala, a psychologist and the Director of the Amrita foundation society for rehabilitation and counseling.

Students were tasked with case-studies and were asked to compare and write the qualities of a drug addict to that of a non-addict.

The session boosted the morale of the students and helped them envision an addiction-free future for themselves.

17th August

Gender Sensitivity 28th AugustMs. Pooja from Young Indians conducted a workshop on Gender Sensitivity and staying safe in our society on the 28th August for the students from Grade 1 - 10.

Students were made to identify and relate to what are acceptable and unacceptable actions. They were shown an animated short film to relate to the topic and were explained what needs to be done during any crisis.

The concept of safe touch and unsafe touch was beautifully explained.

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lGrade 3 and 4 to Sids FarmStudents from Grade 3 and 4 visited the famous Sids Farm as part of their education field trip. The children saw various farming equipment, fodder machines, and field machines. They saw how the caretakers tend the animals. Students were allowed to milk the cows, bathe buffaloes and even rode on a bullock cart.

The most exhilarating moment was when they saw a cow giving birth to its young one.

Kids played football in the open fields and towards the end had fresh cow milk with chocolate sauce.

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In Primary years, Theme 2 which deals with topics dealing with Ecosystem was initiated.

Middle years are studying Unit 3 and are gearing up for the half yearly exams. They had their second periodic tests on the 8th, 9th and 10th of August.Continuing our legacy of activity based learning, the following are some of the highlights from the month of August.

SCHOLASTICS ACROSS PRIMARY AND MIDDLE YEARS

Primary years students on Nature walk. The objective is to identify various parts of plants, their functions, and uses. They appreciated the arrangement of leaves and flowers. They were also taught to identify medicinal plants. They saw shrubs and climbers and how plants do ev-erything in their strength to survive.

Additionally, they were taught about cereals and grains. They were shown aromatic plants and plants that yield spices.

Students had fun on their nature walk in the school.

7th Graders doing an activity on Mathematics on the topic Lines and Angles.

The objective was to learn about the concept of Angles like Adjacent Angles, Vertically Opposite An-gles; Complementary Angles; Alternate Angles; Cor-responding Angles; Supplementary Angles.

Students were made to sit in a pair and were given necessary resources to do the activity. They were then asked to elaborate their work verbally and their un-derstanding was tested.

Grade 10 students debating on the topic Students and parents should be allowed to grade teachers. The objective was to put information from multiple sources into correct debate format and participate in a debate arguing one position in a focused manner.

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ds LAP - Language Application ProgramAcross the Primary Years, the students have been taught and revised the concepts of Vowel Sounds,of short and long Vowels. The purpose of taking them through this is to help them with their spellingstructure, as; it would be helpful for them in creating spellings. To give clarity and to strengthen thelanguage skills, the basic concept of Vowel Sounds has been taken up in this month so the children can devise the spellings of new words, which they come across.

In Middle Years, students were assessed on their understanding of all the LAP concepts taught so far which includes an extended understanding of Parts of Speech, Precis writing, Comprehension, and Letter writing techniques.

Apart from these, applicational topics included Debate, Free speech and mastering the art of Dumb Charades.

SAP - Science Application ProgramTopics that were covered in SAP were Our Country, Living and non-living things, Child labor, Community helpers etc. Students were given worksheets and were taken on Nature walk too.

MAP - Math Application ProgramThe concept of Addition and Subtraction was reinforced. Multiplication tables from 2 to 12 and other related exercises were given in Worksheet in PY.

ILS - Integrated Learning StudioILS in August worked on the Axiom of An Open-minded Approach to Learning. The theme discussed for Primary years was Our Ecosystem. Students were presented with concepts based on twin approach to learning. One that follows a set rule and the other that breaks it.

Students were made to understand the beginning of life on Earth and how the origin of all life is one. We discussed that while mans journey of evolution began from the Ocean the Blue whales journey had a brief period of stay on land too.

We discussed about plants and animals and their economic importance. We saw the biggest of flowers and amazed ourselves with the largest and longest of all animals. We learned to admire life from the perspective of Coexistence. We learned why planet Earth needs to be protected along with all the life in it. We learned to see and love the world in an Open Minded way!

In the Middle years, we dealt with the emergence of various civilizations and understood the need for transformation from Nomadic to a Civilized life and the role that water played. We marveled at Indus valley civilization and polished our skills on OM-MUN for the upcoming Aurora fest.

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ClubsCuisine ClubCuisine club members prepared delicious and healthy burger and learned how to dress it. FotoKnightsIn club FotoKnights, students learned about various techniques to frame a shot and understanding how to visualize a picture before taking it. They were taken to various arena at the school and were asked to use various regular and irregular elements to click a picture.

A Ganesh Chaturthi Photography com-petition was also announced. The results will be declared in the next issue.

Literary ClubStudents learned the art of Debating and debated on the following topics. 1. Dictionary vs. Google2. Books vs. Kindle

ArtisiansStudents learned to hold needles, use carbon paper, making simple lines, etc and were also taught to sketch and paint using various intricate techniques.

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Visual ArtsStudents were introduced to many intricate techniques such as drawing a family tree. design a name, figure in action, warli painting etc.

DramaticsIn the Hobby Classes, the students learned about Personality Development.

In Primary years topics of enactments were based on Theme 2 while in the Middle years it was Unit 2.

Junior students also interviewed Mrs. Sukriti and Ms. Shama from the Admissions Department and of Ms. Namita, HOD PY English.

Senior students interviewed the CAO Mr. Arup Sinha.

Students were trained to perform a skit on the Independence day and the upcoming Aurora fest.

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SportsStudents were tested on various parameters for the endurance, fine and gross motor skills.

Students performed various asanas as instructed by the coach and learned about their health benefits.

Students from across various grades revised the basic techniques in sports like Lawn Tennis, Table Tennis, Football, Basket Ball etc. They also were taught advanced techniques pertaining to these sports.

Students were rigorously trained for various sports events happening across the state.

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Interschool Chess CompetitionRuhaan, Karthikeya and Sanjana Reddy of Grade 4 along with Aanya Reddy of Grade 2 participated in an interschool Chess Competition held at Delhi School of Excellence on the 9th of August. Ruhaan brought glory to our school by securing 5th place out of 250 competitors. Open Minds was ranked 3rd amongst the 28 schools that participated.

TennisPaavani of Grade 9, Hrisheek of Grade 6, and P.Abhinav of Grade 4 took part in various interschool Tennis Tournaments held at Delhi Public School, Noor Academy, and Phoenix Greens. Hrisheek came out as the champion in Under-10 category at Noor Academy on 6th August 2017.

BasketballOpen Minds basketball team participated in an inter-school Basketball Tournament held at Phoenix Greens, Kokapet on 29th August. The match was a fun filled, exciting challenge for students. It helped the kids understand the importance of team effort and strategize efficiently for future endeavors.

BVB Sahodaya Cluster CompetitionsOMites participated in various sports organized by the BVB Sahodaya cluster of CBSE schools. Sanjana Reddy of Grade 10 bagged second position in Shot put and Discus throw. Inika of Grade 9 won third place in 100 mts. sprint.

Udhbhav Nersu of Grade 8 had participated in Under 14, HTA- AITA Championship Series 2017 held at Jassowal, Ludhiana from 14th August to 18th August. He won the doubles and was the quarter finalist in the singles category.

Airtel MarathonThe following students participated in the Airtel Marathon conducted on the 20th August and bagged medals. Tripti Kaur from Grade 1A, Akshaj of Grade 3A, Rishika Gade of Grade 6A, Shubha K of Grade 6A, Venya Reddy of Grade 6B, Shyamanth Krishna of Grade 8 and Siddhant of Grade 9.

Paavani Pathak- Grade 9

Udhbhav Nersu - Grade 8

Guneet - Grade 10 Guneet - Grade 10 Spandana - Grade 10 Inika - Grade 9

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Story writing CompetitionStory Writing was conducted as an Inter House Competition on 4th August. Kids were encouraged to compose their own story following the writing style of their choice. It was an enriching activity for kids as the genres varied from humor to horror, fiction to non-fiction and no boundaries were set for a plot. The winners were announced by the class teachers.

Winners:Grade 3A 1. Medha 2. Viraat 3. Siri and Durga Grade 3B 1. Nakshatra 2. Shloka 3. Devansh Grade 3C 1. Indu 2. Rohan 3. L. Shaurya Rao Grade 4A 1. Ruhan 2. Navya 3. Aditi N Grade 5A 1. Siddharth.G 2. Riddhi Reddy 3. Siddharth. N

Grade 5 B 1. Janani 2. Sanvi 3. Shishir

Winners:Grade 6 A 1. Sanjana Pashu 2. Priyansha Karla 3. Aryan Tipnis Grade 6 B 1. Raga Reddy 2. Sujay Indupuru 3. Nritya Manohari Grade 7 1. Saanvi 2. Sanjana 3. Aparajita Grade 8 1. Anshika 2. Aryan 3. Shyamanth Grade 9 1. Ria 2. Paavani 3. Phanni Grade 10 1. Rithvik Cuddapah 2. Gayatri 3. Keerthi

Grades 1 and 2 had a competition where they had to speak on topics pertaining to themselves.Winners:Grade 1A 1. Rishi and Anirudh 2. Sofian and Tanishka 3. Dyuti and Harini Grade 1B 1. Jaineel 2. Keosha 3. Aarka Grade 1C 1. Rishab 2. Dhruva 3. Dyuthi and Jayatej Grade 1D 1. Akaash 2. Twisha 3. Anshika

Winners:Grade 2A 1. Abhinav 2. Aanya Reddy 3. Tejal Grade 2B 1. Veda 2. Nishka 3. Kanishk Grade 2C 1. Neil 2. Hitaishi 3. Medha Kak Grade 2D 1. Mahi 2. Abhinav 3. Swabhav

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Winners:Grade 1A 1. Shrika 2. Niharika 3. Aalya Grade 1B 1. Meenakshi 2. Shlok 3. Aarika Grade 1C 1. Abhinav 2. Pransi 3. Arnav Grade 1D 1. Twisha 2. Simran 3. Anshika Grade 2A 1. Laasya 2. Vritika 3. Aanya Grade 2B 1. Nishka 2. Veda 3. Vasishta Grade 2C 1. Hitaishi 2. Aashritha 3. Treya Grade 2D 1. Mahi 2. Eeshita 3. Armaan Grade 3A 1. Medha 2. Varun 3. K. Akshya Grade 3B 1. Lakshmi 2. Neeraj 3. Niranjan Pandey Grade 3C 1. Shaurya Rao 2. Vanika 3. Kushagra

Winners: Grade 4A 1. Harshini 2. Navya 3. Yajnesh Grade 4B 1. Jasmine 2. Sriharsha 3. Sri Divya Grade 5A 1. Hritvik 2. Sia Agarwal 3. Arshiya Grade 5B 1. Janani 2. Sanjana Hota 3. Ananya

Grade 6A 1. Raghav 2. Priyansha 3. Siddharth Grade 6B 1. Raga 2. Sujay 3. Amritha Grade 7 1. Ikjot 2. Viprakshi 3. Sanjana Gumma Grade 8 1. Sri Dhruthi 2. Aniket 3. Inika Grade 9 1. Ria 2. Phanni 3. Pavitra Grade 10 1. Aadhya 2. Spandana 3. Ananya

Coloring CompetitionIn this beautiful festive season, the second week of August witnessed Inter House Coloring Competition. Kids from Grade 1 to 10 were supplied with a picture they had to color on August 11. What to make of the background and how to make it more creative was left entirely up to the artists. Some of the art works turned out to be simply amazing.

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Ganesha Making CompetitionWith Ganesha Chaturthi round the corner, the theme for Inter House Competition could not be anything better than Ganesha Making Competition. On August 18, the Kids of Grade 1 to Grade 8 sat down together and enjoyed molding the shapeless clay into beautiful, eco-friendly idols of Ganesha under the guidance of Mr. Arup Kuity and Ms. Panjushree. This enriching experience unearthed some hidden talents and left kids with the satisfying feeling that comes only when one is close to nature.Winners:Grade 1A 1. Kaivalya 2. Rishi 3. Shrika Grade 1B 1. Abhiram 2. Keosha 3. Sri Charan Grade 1C 1. Dhruva 2. Saanvi 3. Manasvi Grade 1D 1. Arshith 2. Karthik 3. Aakash Grade 2A 1. Aadhya 2. Bharath 3. Laasya Grade 2B 1. Paritosh 2. Kanishk 3. Avyukth Grade 2C 1. Harshith 2. Drisha 3. Aashritha Grade 2D 1. Mahi 2. Suzanne 3. Eshan Grade 3A 1. Medha 2. Anvitha 3. Nihit Grade 3B 1. Afraz 2. Soham 3. Devansh Grade 3C 1. Vibhuveer 2. Nandini 3. Shambhavi

Winners: Grade 4A 1. Karthikeya 2. Arnav 3. Samarjeet Grade 4B 1. Nihal 2. Jahanvi 3. Keertana Grade 5A 1. Riddhi 2. Alekha 3. Dyuti Grade 5B 1.Aanya 2. Koushik 3. Vikhyath

Grade 6A 1. Sahil 2. Manjunath 3. Raghav Grade 6B 1. Ameya 2. Kannishk 3. Sujay Grade 7 1. Tanvi 2. Sanjana 3. Prashanthi Grade 8 1. Manvita 2. Akshan 3. Shishir

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Aryan Vemuri of Grade 4A drew this beautiful art. I went to Nature walk into the woods along with my family. I saw different plants n beautiful flowers in the woods. Some of them are Daisies, Lilies, hibiscuses, Roses, Jasmine etc. With those memories, I drew this beautiful flower with a colorful background. I want to spread a message with this drawing. Save earth by planting more trees.

Ishika of Grade 4A prepared this artsy fieldtrip report

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Ritika from Grade 4A has prepared a comic strip on the events from Sids Farm

Rithvik Cuddapah from Grade 10 tells us about the Life of a StarStars. The incredibly hot and bright bodies in space that have intrigued humans since the first ages. Inside the core, hydrogen violently fuses to generate incredible amounts of heat and light. The formation of these massive spheres was a mystery to mankind until a group of astronomers in the late 19th century make a remarkable discovery.

It all starts in nebulae, enormous clouds of gas and element dust that start to pull together and form lumps under its own gravity. Eventually, these lumps combine to form a spinning sphere of superheated particles. The temperatures keep increasing under the influence of friction and gravity and nuclear fusion begins at the core. Hydrogen isotopes fuse together to form helium and release energy that radiates outwards from the core. Leftover material collects in globes around the star and form planets.

A few billion years pass by like this until the star finally runs out of hydrogen fuel. At this point, the star is composed mainly of the fusion byproduct, helium. As the star turns to helium to fuel its fusion, it expands to over twice its original radius and develops a dull red hue, the result of a dying star.

Now two scenarios can take place. If the star is relatively small, it expands and sheds its outer layers. The core then condenses to form a white dwarf. The shed layers disperse and form a nebula, hence starting the process once again. The white dwarf gradually loses all its energy and takes its final form as a brown dwarf.

A massive start, on the other hand, keeps expanding and combining its byproducts to form heavier and heavier elements, until it finally collapses upon itself due to its immense gravity in a celestial supernova. It shrinks and compacts its mass into a relatively tiny sphere with an unimaginable density, a black hole. Swallowing everything in its path, the black hole becomes one of the most destructive objects in space. It ultimately evaporates into nothing due to a phenomenon known as Hawking radiation.

Another possibility includes that the star is not massive enough to form a black hole, yet is big enough to avoid shedding its outer layers. It then forms a Neutron Star, a blindingly bright object several times smaller and denser than a normal star. To get a perspective of how dense they are, a teaspoon of matter from an average neutron star comprises of the entire mass of the earth.

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Mr. Seshu, the HOD of Social Science writes about GSTGST-GOODS AND SERVICES TAX

GST-Goods and Services Tax is a major step in the reformation of Indirect taxation in India. GST is an amalgamation of several central and state taxes into a single tax. It will result in reduction of tax burden on the consumers from 25-30% to 18-20% and also avoid any chance of double taxation.

GST subsumes the following taxes like central excise, service tax, VAT, sales tax, entry tax, etc. It took nearly 13 years for this bill to turn into an act, passing through various hurdles before finally getting approved. It started in 2003 and is came into effect on the 1st July 2017.

In the constitution of India, amendment 122 is made to combine all the various taxes falling under central and state government.

For the implementation of GST-GSTN: Goods and Services Tax Network council is established under the chairmanship of the Union Finance minister and will have all the state governments as its members.

This is one of the major steps taken by the Modi Government in pushing the country into the Single Tax System and giving the advantage to millions of Indians, reducing the tax burden from July 2017.

I hope very soon we shall see the real value for the hard earned money of every Indian and believe this marks the beginning of Ache Din in the largest democratic country- India.

Ms. Priti, the Hindi faculty writes about what it is like being a teacher. , | | |

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OM - SPICOn the 15th August, the new SPIC committee for the year 2017-18 took charge. The members introduced themselves. SPIC committee chair Ms. Swapnali Deore announced the committee posts. SPIC parents were given their respective posts and committees such as Vice Chair, Secretary, Joint Secretary, Management Representative, Academics, Cultural and Sports.The posts are as follows:Chair : Ms. Swapnali DeoreVice Chair : Mr. Balarama RajuSecretary : Mr. Arup Kumar SinhaJoint Secretary : Ms. Suraiya Ali NaqviTeacher - Parent : Ms. Suneela DasariManagement Representative : Ms. Padmaja PenmetsaParent Representative : Mr. Srinivasa Rao

Academic Representative : Ms. Vemuri Sireesha Members : Mr. V. Balarama Raju, Mr. Alok Mehta, Mr. Binoy Gopinathan, S. Payal Agarwal, Ms. P. Aparna Kadari and Ms. B. Santosh Roopa Devi

Cultural Representative : Ms. Bhuvaneshwari Members : Ms. Swetha Lakshmi and Mr. Vinay Huddar

Sports Representative : Mr. S. Inderjeet Aidhi Members : Mr. Nagarajan B, Mr. Marreddy Gade, Ms. S. Archana and Mr. S. Mohan

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sTeachers Day Celebrations

4th September

Aurora and OM - MUN

14th, 15th and 16th September

STUDENTLEDCONFERENCES

16thSeptember

The school in which good training is most practiced will,

as a rule, turn outthe best Scholars

- Anthony Trollope Open Minds - A Birla School, near Financial District,Hyderabad.Contact no. : +91 7660973334 / +91 8499993928 Landline: 040 30878889 Email ID: admissions@dsredu.in info@dsredu.in