February 2016 Newsletter View this email in yourbrowser

February 2016 Newsletter

LFI Hosts Successful Fundraiser in Maryland

Meet Sandhya.

Sandhya, a 7thgrader at AvasaraAcademy, comes

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Drs. Sanjiv and Joan Lakhanpal and their family hosted afundraiser in their home near Annapolis, Maryland onJanuary 30, raising nearly $17,000 for The LeadershipFoundation of India in support of Avasara Academy.Bringing together family and friends in the South Asiancommunity, the Lakhanpal family gave LFI and Avasara awarm and inviting welcome into their home and helpedraise awareness for Avasara's important work in India. Theevening's youngest donor was a high school student fromBethesda who gifted his first paycheck from his after-school job to LFI.

We are grateful to all who came out to support us!

Avasara Academy Hosts Sports LeadershipWorkshop

In honor of National Girl Child Day in India, on January 24,Avasara Academy hosted Shikha Uberoi, a social

from a migrantfamily from Bihar.Her mother soldtiffins (lunch boxes)to make ends meet,which Sandhya'sformer teacherspurchased to helpkeep her in school.Sandhya has growntremendously atAvasara, recentlywriting a 30-pagepersonal narrativeabout genderissues.

With Avasara'ssupport, Sandhyahas been able todevelop herconfidence, skills,and her ownpowerful voice.

Avasara's world-class facultyis raising the bar for teachingin India. Through the AvasaraProfessional LearningNetwork, Avasara faculty leadintensive weekend workshopswith teachers throughoutPune, sharing best practicesand teaching strategiesamong the education

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entrepreneur and former Indian Number 1 ranked tennisplayer, to lead a sports leadership workshop. Afterspeaking about her own challenges and successes as afemale athlete, Shikha led students outside to teach themsome life lessons in a more hands-on way. They practicedproper posture and breathing techniques while runningand doing push-ups, huddling up at the end of the work-out to debrief their experience. Reflecting on her sessionwith Shikha, Manasi S., a 7th grader, said "I always usedto think that to respect someone, I should keep my headdown and talk politely. Ms. Uberoi taught me to keep myhead up, maintain eye contact and talk proudly."

Innovative Academics: Interdisciplinary Week

The first week of February was unlike any other atAvasara Academy. Instead of beginning Monday withEnglish or Science class, the students kicked off of theweek with an exploratory Community of Inquiry that wouldlaunch them into their topic of intensive study for the next5 days: water.

Water plays a central role in the daily lives of millionsacross India. Far beyond water outages, water shortagesperpetuate health, educational, social and economicdisparities between rich and poor, city-dwellers and

community.

If you are an educator and areinterested in joining theAvasara team, please contactpersonnel@avasara.in.

Construction on AvasaraAcademy’s final campus site iswell underway. Thefoundations, plinth, groundfloor slab and columns arecomplete for the first of sixbuildings on campus--the TCSGAINS (Girls Advancing inSTEM) Building--and work isbeing done in preparation forcasting the first floor slab.

Large concrete pipes laid beneath the surface are theearth ducts that will bring in aconsistent supply of fresh coolair and are an important partof the passive cooling system.Once the first floor slab ispoured and de-shuttered, workwill begin on the second floorstructure.

Your donation will supportcritical infrastructure onAvasara's campus and enablethe Academy to grow.

villagers, men and women. This is precisely why Avasarafaculty chose water as the theme for the first annualInterdisciplinary Week, a full week dedicated to the studyof a single topic across subject areas.

Some highlights included simulating fetching water from arural well; comparing and contrasting methods of humanwaste disposal; and meeting with a water purity expert totest water samples. As Vaishnavi S., a 7th grader, sharedat the end of the week, "From when Interdisciplinary Weekstarted, I started following all the things I learned in school.I didn't even waste one drop of water. I told thisinformation to my family as well, so they can follow it andmake an impact on other people."

Come Bhangra with us at American University!

Come dance with us at AU Bhangra Crew's DanceWorkshop! Learn a routine from the team, work up asweat, have fun, and support girls' education all in oneamazing class! Proceeds from the Dance Workshop willsupport Avasara Academy and its extraordinary students!

Join us:Sunday, February 28th 3:30-5:00pm Cassell FitnessCenter (Studio)Wednesday, March 2nd 7:00-8:00 pm Anderson 3KLounge

For more information, click here.

Support TheLeadership

Foundation of India.

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We are The LeadershipFoundation of India. Weare a US 501(c)(3) non-profit organization thatsupports the developmentof our partner institution,Avasara Academy, a first-of-its-kind secondaryschool and leadershipacademy for India'sbrightest girls. TheLeadership Foundation ofIndia is proud to supportAvasara's critical work onbehalf of India's girls. Formore information aboutAvasara, visit avasara.in.

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Copyright © 2016 The Leadership Foundation of India, All rights reserved.

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