Author: Tasneem Najmuddin

Promise me! You will honor each second you spend with your whole heart!                                                                                                                                 -Tasneem Ammar Najmuddin-

It was not any less than a reverie to expect a theatre artist, actor and director ravishing the chocolaty brown stage of BHS.

‘Dreams come true’, a belief with which BHS opened the doors of opportunities for students to explore.

27^th of February, a day that welcomed Sir Mehdi, a renowned theater performer who greeted students with strategies and techniques to rule the stage over and prepared students of grade VIII as they will embark on a greater mission to create history by performing Shakespearean theater live for the audience, in a 1_1/2 hour session that populated the idea of experiential learning.

His art of teaching was that of modeling, where he engaged students in interactive activities all converging in the establishment of,

• Trust building
• Valuing characters on stage/use of stage
• Giving the lead the required limelight
• Imitate your partner
• Delivering dialogues with intonation (especially focusing on narration)

On explaining the difference between Shakespeare and Brecht Theater he clarified plethora of ambiguities that hovered over students mind, answering to one of the most asked question, ‘What happens if we forget our dialogues in the middle of the stage?’, to which Mr. Mehdi calmly explained over an activity, ’Take ownership, Give cues!’ Through his explicit understanding students understood that in life your size, color, age gap are mere things of no greater value, all that matters is to respect and trust.

The success of his session reflected in students wanting it more and more despite the session being stretched for half an hour than the designated time. The way of his conduct not only enthralled students but made them promise for complete dedication and devotion to the stage which will now become a big part of their lives.

PAF museum symbolizes nothing but the element of grace, dignity and the charm of patriotic sentiments. It stands strong and robust as an example of the Pakistan Air Force’s relentless and valiant efforts to safeguard each individual of Pakistan.

To acknowledge and pay tribute to our heroes’ grits and sacrifices, students of grade 7 were taken for a field trip to the PAF museum on 18^th of November, 2019.

The clear blue sky streaked with the white of peace ignited students with passion and energy.  The history of each fighter plane completely inspired the students as they were left in admiration knowing that the briefing for each aircraft was given by the retired air force pilot himself, Shk.Abbas bhai Mohsin Petiwala—a source of pride for our community.

Shk. Abbas bhai Petiwala is a star pilot who has served in the Air Force for more than 33 years, holding badges like Sitara-e-Jurrat and Sitara-e-Imtiaz which made students appreciate the fruits of education. Shk. Abbas eloquently orated his experience of flying different fighter planes, not missing out on any detail. The way he communicated brought life to each exhibited plane and the students’ anticipation rose to the level where they bombarded Shk. Abbas bhai with questions.

Sharing one of his experiences he remembered crashing a plane risking his and his fellow partner’s life for the sake of their country. This spirit of patriotism motivated students to the level that they pledged to serve their nation by any possible means.

Marching further, students glanced at the mannequin of the captured Indian pilot Abhinandan. They were enthralled knowing how spirited our national heroes were at the Pulwama attack.

Later, students were rewarded with a canteen treat and a gala time at the end of their trip as they maintained immaculate discipline and showcased optimistic demeanor.

BHS stresses on the idea that ‘Leaders are Readers’.  Reading involves plethora of skills out of which knowing spellings tops the list.  Spelling and reading skills are closely related and help develop overall literacy.

Learning spellings via reading serves to encourage learners to adapt the major principles and patterns of English, expand their vocabulary and their pronunciation.

The National Spelling Bee organized by Dawn in Education provides students with the right exposure where they can practice their spellings. It is imperative that students prepare themselves by familiarizing themselves with the correct pronunciation of the words, pay attention to pronunciation guides in dictionaries and practice saying words correctly by saying the words aloud and recognizing the number of syllables.

Preparing for a Spelling Bee means becoming acquainted with hundreds of words, remembering their spelling and meanings — so much so that when a word is pronounced the speller is able to visualize it.

After tough training sessions for weeks, our 6 young participants belonging to 2 pools-Pool A of age group 12-14 (Al Aqmar Yousuf, Husaina Tahir and Maria Mushtaq)and Pool B of age group 15-17 were ready on the 1^st of November 2019 to face the music at the Arts Council.

It is but natural to be nervous and excited on the day of the contest. There is the dual pressure of stage fright along with the stress of remembering a myriad of spellings. But it was a sight to see young spellers from BHS ruling the stage on the singular component of their hard work.

It helped pool B not only qualify first round, but they cleared the double sting second round as well entering into the eliminations where unfortunately, we got knocked out.

Winning and losing is a part of an active journey only trodden by the brave. The spirit of the Bee at the end of the day is to do our best. It is indeed a matter of great pride to be able to represent one’s school at a National Contest.

The Robotics and LFR contest organized by Edvon at the Expo Centre filled 45 daring young engineers of BHS from Classes 8, 9 and 10 with energy that was electrifying.

Poised to prove themselves they pledged to prepare under the tutelage of their Science and Computer teachers for this upcoming competition held at the EXPO CENTRE on 18^th and 19^th September 2019.

 

Before the contest itself the students attended a 3 day- workshop on how to program the LFR (Line Following Robot), and were constantly trained by Sir Ibrahim, Sir Amjad and Ms. Rashida. The much anticipated engineers quickly grasped on to the skills and programming of how to code the bot so that it follows the black line on any given arena.

 

Out of 100 teams nation-wide from top notch schools at the completion, 12 teams of 45 participants represented BHS and were appreciated for the discipline they maintained, the manner they projected, and the collaborated team work they produced at the competition. Their pious execution, elementary coherent understanding of the programming of LFR and ethics were highly cherished by the organisers.

 

End result on 18^th of September for 2 initial rounds announced the victory of 8 teams of BHS amongst the other 32 top teams.  Their effortless performance allowed them to qualify for the second day’s session and 3 teams of BHS made it to finals and tried their best to accomplish the task given to them. Finally, they stood among the top five position holders.

 

This truly embarked upon a new chivalrous journey for our young participants as it packaged plethora of intrinsic and extrinsic learning of dealing and programming not only bots but their emotional intelligence brewed under such pressure.

 

‘The ultimate victory in competition is derived from the inner satisfaction of knowing that you have done your best and that you have gotten the most out of what you had to give.’ -Howard Cosell.

The atmosphere on 9^th of August 2019 was laced with power, passion and vibrant energy that fruitfully provoked each individual with an idea. An idea of a ‘society’ where one can have the right to feel free and express with exponentials.

For how can a society be fair, until everyone has equal ability to articulate and express themselves?

Slamming the traditional mindsets to triumph freedom of speech, BHS reckons that it’s highly essential that despite of teaching students to shut up and sit down, we believe in making students stand up and speak out.

The practical understanding of it is vivid in the poetry elocution that serves as a trademark of BHS as it is rich in compassion, flair, elegance, dignity, confidence, passion and dedication. It helps Badrians master the art of oral communication, which aids in improving the quality of individuals’ life, as words have the energy and the power to help, to heal, and to be humble.

As known by all; the Human Voice is the instrument that we all have. It creates the most powerful sound in the world, probably the only one that can either start a WAR or say I LOVE YOU at the same time.

To provide students with the platform of understanding the power of human voice in terms of approach, attitude and practice, it was mandatory for the management to plan yet another spectacular Bilingual Elocution at BHS.

Elocution is defined as a skill of clear and expressive speech, especially of distinct pronunciation and articulation.

Ringing the bell weeks earlier before the finale, the air at BHS hummed with excitement as each child out of 24 participants, from grade 7 and 8, after qualifying their auditions in their respective classes were all set to raise the stakes high to secure positions at their Bilingual Elocution Competition.

The tinge in their manners, the rhythm of their dedication, their cyclonic confidence all geared up to serve for the better purpose. The purpose to educate, to acknowledge, and to involve the BHS society, by presenting a vision of our mighty existence by delivering different poets.

The pulpit, standing mike, and picturesque stage stood bright canvasing beautiful weather that gleefully welcomed speakers who orated the cries of Blake, ranted the anguish of prenominal Iqbal, chanted the delight of Mir Taqi Mir, and intoned the voice of Maya Angelou and many more to reinvigorate the richness of responsibility in each learner, who were listening to their calls with utmost serenity.

Plugging in more, the unwavering communication of our young orators never missed to mesmerize our esteemed internal judges Miss Nafisa Shk. Esaaji and Miss Arwa who wore their ardent smile throughout the show and beaded words of appreciation later for our now professional speakers who are well-prepared to conquer any stage with elegance, obligation and commitment as they have truly understood the language of diction, imagery, figures of speech, symbolism, syntax, sound, rhythm, structure, and delivery.

Thus, it was a perfectly pitched hour program, that helped each individual clear mental clogs, slurred speech and indolent speaking, making each more compelling, more convincing and more credible.

This blog is to congratulate all the participants and winners in specific as it is rightly said, ‘If Your Actions Inspire Others To Dream More, Learn More, Do More and Become More, You Are a Leader’.
The participants not only delivered but successfully created. They created leaders out of themselves and others from their audiences. As true form of 21st century teaching is based on the principal fact of students bringing the best in their peers. Yet, elocution 2019 proved to root deeper understanding of authentic wisdom where students learnt to bring forth and rekindle the best in their fellow students.
The management team of BHS, would like to take this moment to congratulate our participants and their parents for working side-by-side with BHS to extract the relative best form of an individual.

Following are the positions secured by young orators:

Winners from grade 7:
English Orators:

Position	Student	Poem
First	Mustafa Murtaza	I saw my teacher on a Saturday
Second	Fatema Adnan	A friend from above
Third	Sakina Yousuf	The Vetro’s ghost

Urdu Orators:

Position	Student
First	Shireen Hakimuddin
Second	Shabbir Ghulam
Third	Murtaza Hussain

Winners from grade 8:
English Orators:

Position	Student	Poem
First	Abde Ali Murtaza	Echoing Green
Second	Mudreka Zoeb	Stopping by woods
Second	Ammar Munawar	Revelation
Third	Sakina Zohair	Still I Rise

Urdu Orators:

Position	Student
First	Hussain Shabbir
Second	Rashida Tahir
Third	Fatema Ali

What better idea than fashioning a PLANET for learners that is fused with technology, core competencies of the English Language and creativity at the same time.

Badri High School feels proud to become the pioneers of launching Literacy Planet in Pakistan for the first time ever. 
Helping learners develop
skills
like
Communication, Collaboration, Creativity and Critical Analytical Thinking through Computer Assisted Language based Learning (CALL) is a mega-project that has been accomplished in the Academic year 2019-2020 by the blessings and benedictions of His Holiness Dr. Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin TUS.

After constantly striving hard for months, BHS inaugurated its first live class in literacy planet that is equipped with high-tech tablets in a well-designed Digital room which facilitate to a pair of students.

The program is an Australia-based, comprehensive and engaging online program to develop English literacy skills which the BHS team discovered at GESS Dubai two years ago. Discussions ensued and finally things were finalized to launch it in the year 2019-20.

Literacy Planet comes equipped with a benefit of thousands of comprehensive and grammatical exercises/games for learners to take advantage from. The environment of the application is highly engaging as it is illustrated and colourful. The exercises provided by the application are curriculum aligned (exclusive of Pakistan National Curriculum) and are suitable for learners of all abilities and intelligences (ref. to Howard Gardner`s theory of Multiple Intelligences).

Amidst the excitement, it was an eye freshener to see the high-maintenance of discipline amongst the students while working in the Digital room, the development of ownership skills, the level of their confidence, the involvement to score better in four skills of language learning in order to win the credits, assimilated in promoting 21^st century learning that is solely focused on active teaching approaches.

In a world where complaints, grudges and animosity strikes faster than lightning itself; we at Badri High School ticked off the ice breaking activities of the year with the understanding of ‘Power of Appreciation’.

William James, well-known psychologist and philosopher, said, ‘The deepest principle of human nature is a craving to be appreciated.’  If we are honest with ourselves, we all want and need to feel valued for who we are and recognized for our contributions and accomplishments. It’s important for us to know that we have made a difference in someone’s life.

It helps people effectively deal with adversity and stay positive in the midst of change and challenges. When you genuinely appreciate someone, you make him believe in his potential and help him perform at his best.

Adhering with this strategy, students of grade 8 were asked to inaugurate their Academic year with the idea behind the power of appreciation.

Plethora of ideas bubbled amidst students as they started appreciating their peers. The glint in the eyes, the fresh smiles, and their body language foreshowed nothing but a true positive environment where learners acknowledged the idea of giving.

Taking a step further, Shel Silverstein’s “Giving Tree” was read in the class that converged learners’ attention to the point of giving cost-free gifts. The concept was to treat the class with one cost-free gift. Values such as respect, love, discipline, commitments, and peace sprouted high leaving each student in awe.

Taking it a step further, students designed a ‘Thank Card’ with a quote and their love for their teachers of the Secondary Section to salute and honour their dedication and hard work.

Hearing teachers say, ‘You made my day dear! Thank you’ boosted students’ confidence and the level of their ecstasy as they understood ‘For it is in Giving that we Receive!’

If thou seek to see the angels glee

Hum Hussain, Hussain, and in humility beseech

With each soul of BHS that with reverence speak

Labaik Ya Hussain in teary screech

To please our Dai Mufaddal Saifuddin

 

The forthright Monday morning sun of July 1^st, 2019 actively participated to cherish the courtyard of BHS as it glinted colours of trust, just, patience and victory under the sky that was perfectly bleached white radiating its popular golden streaks to welcome BHS’ young army squad. The students of the Primary and Secondary section, all charged up with enthusiasm, tailored with discipline and ignited with hope, marched up chivalrously to salute the beginning of the Academic year 2019-2020.

With a sole aim of promoting practical education; be it in a form of project-based learning, problem-based learning, Robotics, Literacy Planet and more, BHS has always strived hard to promote holistic learning through practical approaches. And what better than the Ohbatat Majlis of Imam Husain AS itself that nests the heart with love and roots the soul with compassion and communication with the divine. After all, the Zikr of Imam Husain AS is the essence of all knowledge.

The Zikar, Matam and the recitation of Maula Abbas AS and Aqa Hussain’s AS shahadat reached the skies and our renowned guest of honor, Shk. Khuzaimabhai Rangwala, was highly pleased to see our hearty squad at BHS lamenting over Aqa Hussain AS with such intensity. The rhythmic chants of Hussain! Hussain! Hussain! roared with such vigor that it fruitfully enlightened each  culpable  soul.

In his address, Sh Khuzaima bhai’s wise proclamation commonly spoke of how to amalgamate the knowledge of deen and dunya, carefully instilling within us the objectives of our living and learning.

Further, the students dressed into the spirit of zeal and enthusiasm to cherish the high achievers of the previous Academic Year 2018-2019; the 3 toppers and 12 participants of  ICATS Linguistics and 3 toppers and 19 participants of ICATS Mathematics competition with Sakina M. Yosuf being the National topper securing 92% nationwide for her ICATS linguistics.

Congratulations to all the students for their praiseworthy performances!

Embellishing the event BHS proudly launched “SMALL HANDS” a book of short stories written by our passionate young authors of last year’s Grade 5. Their enthusiastic and versatile write-ups successfully captivated the interests of their readers across the school. What a milestone to be published authors at such a young age! This achievement will be with them like a shining lamp for a lifetime.

Delightedly, Badri High School’s first day was filled with fervor and excitement experienced amidst delighted shrieks and cheers. There was laughter and there was a lot of learning that promised us with an awe-inspiring year 2019-20 ahead.