It gives me immense delight to launch our official website. This comes as a response to a long and persistent demand of our well-wishers and stakeholders.
It isn't that we were unaware of the benefits of this much-delayed plunge into the virtual world. But before the launch we had to ensure that we had the wherewithal to match the fast and furious pace of the electronic media, lest the time-lag in providing information should make the initiative redundant and counterproductive. The enthusiasm with which the proposal was greeted by our pupils - past and present - and the staff gives me the hope and confidence that the venture will be an unequivocal success.
The e-turn that the school is taking will certainly benefit the students and parents as they will have easy access to authentic and essential information about the school activities. In addition, it will be a boon to hundreds of our alumni spread all over the world, who can take a nostalgic peep into the premises of their beloved alma mater. Moreover, it will open a lifeline to the present batch of students, letting in an influx of information about a wide range of opportunities. Constant interaction with their predecessors who have made it big in various walks of life will broaden their outlook and widen their horizons.
This year A.E.C.S-4, Rawatbhata completes two decades of its existence. Though this isn't a very long period in the life of an institution, the school has grown, slowly but steadily, from strength to strength. The magnificent edifice with impressive infrastructure framed by an eye-soothing ring of verdant foliage never fails to amaze the first-time visitors to the school. The appearance isn't deceptive. There has never been a let-up in the quest for excellence under the eight LMC chairmen and nine principals, the school has had. They have been ably supported by a passionate and committed team of teachers and enlightened parents.
Academically, the school has been in the forefront among AEES schools, with the Board results hovering in the range of 90 to 100 and the spiral steadily moving up. Outstanding performances in Olympiads and NTSE are a pointer to the scholastic depth of the institution. In 1997, Kumari Swati Pandey did the school proud by winning a bronze medal in the International Biology Olympiad held in Turkey. Her younger sibling, Kumari Megha Pandey represented the school at All India Science Conference. There has been an unbroken succession of NTSE scholars, with as many as seven students in the fray in the final stage of the event this year. There has been a steady flow of students from the school into the premier engineering institutes such as IITs and NITs. Due attention has been paid to the co-scholastic areas as well. A number of NCC cadets have scaled the pinnacle of success by getting selected for the Republic Day Parades at the National Capital. Shreya Ghosal, Surabhi Rajput and Devendra Jarola drew national attention to the school by their prodigious music talent. Young champs of the school have made their mark in sports events at the state and national levels. There has been no dearth of literary and artistic talent either. The institution has played host to a number of mega sporting and cultural events at the AEES level.
The institution has fulfilled its social obligations by a series of campaigns aimed at promoting water conservation, tree plantation, polio eradication, environmental upgradation, eco-friendliness etc. The TNP launched under the aegis of AEES has been a telling success in the school. During the Annual Celebrations last year, the staff of the school pooled money together to present a cycle to a TNP student of exceptional merit. Funds are raised every year towards various welfare schemes and social causes. Much of our success story has to remain untold, because the work of a school unfolds slowly and invisibly. It is not unlike the unfolding of a flower: You see the bud� and a flower in full bloom; �not the slow unfurling; �not the effort that went into it. Thousands of tender buds have been tended to with love and care, gently coaxing them to bloom to their full potential. That story of a miraculous metamorphosis doesn't lend itself to telling.
The e-entry is another milestone in the annals of the school. The line between the real world and its virtual clone is increasingly blurred. With technological advancements and live feeds, the virtual and the real worlds will merge into one. When that happens, the classroom walls will lose their opaqueness. The wonderful and mysterious world will be presented to the child in all its starkness, to explore, to experiment, to fathom and to make it her own � lending immediacy to education � making education fully participatory. This is the ultimate challenge of an educator. May the launching of the official website be a first step in that direction!
I would like to conclude my words with a poem by Dianne Loomans, which offers some sound advice to all educators in striking word play:
If I had my child to raise all over again
I'd build self esteem first, and the house later.
I'd finger paint more, and point the finger less.
I'd do less correcting and more connecting.
I'd take my eyes off my watch, and watch with my eyes.
I'd care to know less and know to care more.
I'd stop playing serious, and seriously play.
I'll do less tugging and more hugging.
I'd be firm less often, and affirm much more.
I'd model less about the love of power, and more about the power of love.
DRS Rao
(Principal)
