‘Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself,’ said John Dewey. And we could not agree more. The Shri Ram Universal School, Palava, recently received the accreditation that officially inducted it into the league of Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) schools in the country. And almost immediately, Principal, Radhika Srinivasan, called on her team of Physical Education teachers, Snehal Chikhale, Sagar Mane and Sayali Apte, to choose the best talent in sports to represent the school at the annual Association of ICSE School in Maharashtra (AISM) Athletics Championship 2022.
“While we have been training our students to compete professionally since the school was founded, everyone was eagerly waiting to receive this accreditation to be eligible to participate in this prestigious tournament, as it allows one to compete against the 275 ICSE schools from the country. I believe it does not matter whether you win or lose; competition helps you to learn how good you are and what needs more work.” says Radhika Srinivasan. Their Principal believed in her students, and they only made her belief stronger!
The Shri Ram Universal School Palava’s entourage returned with awards and accolades in swimming, karate, yoga and carrom! Swimming stars Ahaviah Gandhi, grade 7, and Anvesha Singh, grade 8, brought home a haul of three golds, two silvers and a bronze, along with the championship trophy! Ahaviah won a gold each for her participation in 100m & 200m breaststroke and 200m Individual Medley. Anvesha won two silvers in 200m Individual Medley and Butterfly and a bronze in 400m freestyle. Both these stars qualified for the Nationals, and Ahaviah made the state proud by bringing home laurels!
Our grade 10 Yoga stars, Swastika Bansal and Riddhima Teli, participated in the U-19 Rhythmic Yoga and Artistic Yoga, respectively. While Swastika won a gold for her effort and qualified for the Nationals, Riddhima was awarded a bronze. “We began practising two months before the event and kept at it. We did not know much about the playing field, so we put our best foot forward. We believe in ourselves and give our best!” said Swastika as Riddhima smiled in acknowledgement. The school’s Karate star, Ivana Martin, Grade 8, won a silver for Karate!
In addition to these champions, Prathamesh Salgoakar, Grade 7, stood 4th in the carrom tournament, and Aditi Singh, grade 9, participated in Lawn Tennis.
The tournament concluded on a sweet note as the school not only celebrated the selection of its students for the nationals but also received news of the selection of Snehal Chikhale as the coach for the Maharashtra Team for the nationals!