“This is double punch,” said G.Nagaraj, a student of Advent Christian High School, to one of the teachers in-charge of students in the age group 12 and 16 at Vidya Sagar, conveying his appreciation for the project he had just seen. “Even we do not work so much.”
Astonished and looking curiously at various charts and models exhibited in the classroom on ‘Impact of natural calamities on transport', the class VIII boy and his classmates made sure they smiled at the students for their good show and also got reciprocated. The annual project day of Vidya Sagar, this year on the theme ‘Natural Calamities' that opened on Friday, was an opportunity for children and young adults with cerebral palsy and other neurological disabilities to explore new avenues and enhance their learning. As a note on the project said: “Though some of the finer models and charts have been done by the teachers, it is our students' learning that we are actually presenting.”
A storytelling session on the Biblical representation of Noah's boat to explain calamities such as flood and draught; explanation of how animals and a few instruments were used in the olden days to foretell disaster, building blocks and other miniatures objects to depict a scene before and after an earthquake and a life-sized cut-out of a plane dropping food and medicines to show how rescue operations are conducted – these were some of the many exhibits that caught the attention of visitors. Students of one class even did a survey of their neighbourhood to gauge the effect of natural disaster. Tired after walking through all the classrooms, students of Adult Leisure Group were making fresh health drink powder and multi-wheat flour that promise to rejuvenate one this summer.
Day two of the project is on from 10 a.m. to 3.30 p.m. on Saturday.
