At about 5:00 am early Monday morning, I was woken up by Cat and Melissa. I was told that I was to replace Cat (who was sick) and travel to Vidyanagar with Principal Mahida and Melissa. We had a meeting with at the H.M. Patel Institute of English Training and Research in Vidyanagar about implementing the SCOPE (Society for Creation of Opportunities through Proficiency in English) program at KHS. ). After a 5 hour drive on the rocky roads of Gujarat during which we made many stops to meet the Principal’s brothers and sisters along the way, we finally made it to Vidyanagar, the education capital of Gujarat! This town is amazing—it was filled with students of all ages going to and from school. In Vidyanagar, we spoke with R. P. Jadeja (Director) and Surendra Gohil (teaching faculty) about the SCOPE program and its possible implementation. We also learned a little bit about the history of the Institute: it was started in 1965 by H.M. Patel, who also played a role in the Partition of India. Although there was a lot of opposition to the creation of the institute in the beginning because people did not see the worth of English on Gujarat, especially after British rule, Patel gradually gained support. The Institute is now one of the only Institutes of Advanced studies in Education and English in India. The SCOPE Program, which is an initiative by the Gujarat government, is a program through which students can gain teacher training in English. We were told that it is extremely useful for those planning on going abroad in the future.
Back at school, we’ve been working on a Dialogue Project for the past week in our Spoken English classes. Students worked hard on Tuesday and Wednesday, writing their own skits in which each member of the group played an important role in the scenes they portrayed. On Friday, it was finally time to see what everyone had come up with! All the groups performed their dialogues for the class….and they were truly hilarious!!!! In my all boys 5:00 pm class, one of the groups performed a scene that took place at a post office. Another group had created a restaurant dialogue; one student, who was a customer, ordered some food from the waiter at a restaurant….only to find a mosquito in his pizza! Luckily, the manager, gave the customer another pizza! In another scene in Priya’s class, students put on a robbery scene. These students are seriously amazing actors and actresses. I was so proud of them and the show they had put on for the class!
The Bank Scene!
A Visit to the Doctor's Office!
In other news, we also planned a little 4th of July party in our home. We invited the Principal Mahida, his wife, their sons Yashpalbhai and Jaydeepbhai, and Yashpalbhai’s wife, Sejalben, for dinner and after-dinner festivities! In order to bring a little of America to Kadod, we bought American-style Sour Cream and Onion chips to serve as appetizers. We also bought cheese (Amul cheese that is….), and tomatoes and bread to make little sandwiches. Cat and Melissa even made flags and “Happy 4th of July” signs to decorate our living room! After our guests arrived, we ate the appetizers and chatted. We then ate a delicious meal of Chinese Manchurian and noodles that had been prepared for us. After we had finished eating, we went outside to set off the fireworks we had bought earlier in the day. Even though it had rained all day long and it was windy and wet, we eventually managed to light the sparklers and fireworks! It was so much fun! Even the hostel boys came out to see what all the commotion was about! The celebrations were a great end to the week and we were so glad that the party we’d been planning for days worked out so well!
OK well school just ended and students are all running out of classes in every direction like caged animals that have just been let loose! Spoken English class is just about to start….so until next time!
Vanisha
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