4th Round of Chairman’s Trophy

The fourth chairman’s trophy was held on 29-2-12. The topic was ‘Internet- the death of newspapers’. Four students from each section had to speak about this topic. The audience was very excited and started cheering as the first class was being picked out. The students gave a lot of information. Some were Pros and some were Cons. Some of the Pros for internet were that internet news is easily accessible to people, internet saves trees and is easier to understand, newspapers lead to deforestation, newspapers keep you waiting, etc. Some of the pros for newspapers were that newspapers keep you healthy as it is not good staying on computers for a long time, they give general knowledge to younger children, they are a good way of entertainment for those who cannot access internet.

The Judges Ms.Raksha, Ms.Sheherbanoo and Ms. Sakina as well as the audience was very surprised by the way the students talked as they were speaking with so much enthusiasm. In the end, everyone was anxiously waiting for the results. The third place went to 6E, the second place went to 6B and the first place went to 6C.. All of us are eagerly waiting for the next Chairman’s Trophy.

Field trip to Chowmahalla Palace

On 23^rd of February, 2012, the CIE students of grades VII and VIII were taken on a field trip to Chowmahalla Palace in order to inculcate the idea of the history of Hyderabad among the students. With our hearts filled with excitement, we started from Oakridge International School at 9:40 am. In the bus we entertained ourselves throughout the 1 hour journey by singing songs. As we entered Old City, the roads narrowed. On the way, we spotted many buildings the Nizams built. We reached the Chowmahalla Palace at around 10:25 am.

As we entered the palace we were surrounded by long courtyards on either side. After proceeding from the security check we moved through the soldiers resting camps to reach the main palace of the complex- The Mehtab Mahal.

Inside the palace we saw the darbar, the court-hall where the tall pillars and chandeliers. The king was always seated on an elevated platform.

Then we were led into the picture galleries on the left and right sides of the court-hall, which talked about the history of the Nizams through pictures, manuscripts etc. the palace originally occupied 48 acres of land compared to the present 12 acres remaining.

The palace belonged to the Asif-Jahi dynasty, initiated for construction by Salabhat Jung; however, it was completed by Afzar-Ud-Dawla.

Here we saw the royal palakis placed on elephants on which the Nizams travelled. We also saw the currencies, seals and letters written by the Nizams.

We were then taken to another picture room which contained family pictures of the Nizams. The 8th Nizam is still alive and resides in Turkey.

Then, we went up the creaking stairs to reach the room containing textiles and artifacts of the Nizams which included Bidri Crafts and the crafts from Andhra Pradesh. The artifacts included treasure boxes, dolls etc. Ivory was used in decorating most of the artifacts.

The clothes were grand and elegant made of many different materials including velvet and silk.

We then came down to another room consisting of paintings of many Nizam rulers. A picture of Mahaboob Ali Khan with 2 dead tigers suggested that hunting was prominent.

We then moved on towards the ‘crockery room’ where we saw cups, bowls, plated, jugs and collections from many parts of the world including Germany, China and Persia. Wine consumed by the Nizams was also on exhibit.

Then we moved towards the Seliah Khana, armory. Here, we were surrounded by different kind of swords, daggers, shields and armor coats. We also spotted a hunting palaki.

After visiting 2 opposite rooms exhibiting armory, we moved on through the huge courtyard to the second palace- The Taninat Mahal. They led us into a hall which contained some ancient furniture of the Nizams. Here, we came across a stuffed tiger, 2 mirrors of around 6 feet, an old song player and a chariot clock which still works!

We walked to the third palace- The Aftab Mahal, which displayed the queens and their children’s jewels, Clothes and more. Music was played to give an idea about the sort of music the Nizams listened to at that time.

From here we moved on to the ‘Buggie Khana’. Here we came across cars from FIAT to WOLSELEY which was about a century old. The main attraction was the 1912 Rolls Royce Silver Phantom. Embodied with gold. This car is said to be one of the most expensive cars in the world.

From there, we moved on to the last palace called the Afzal Mahal. Although we could not enter, through the windows we could see the living room of the Nizams. We could see huge curtains anchored to the extra tall windows and two huge mirrors on the opposite sides of the room.

During the long walk while moving back we passed the council-hall and the clock tower popularly known as the Khilwat Clock, which has been ticking away since the palace was built.

After a long walk, tired and exhausted, we boarded the school bus at around 12 noon.

The rest of the time in the bus we spent relaxing, singing songs and playing games. After the 50 minute journey we reached school at 12:50pm. This trip to Chowmahalla Palace has helped us learn a lot for this we are thankful to everyone involved.

 Swetha Jasti and Advay Bhagirath (VII H)

ALL EVENTS ARE OPPORTUNITIES

“Jane complained to her father Harries about her life becoming unbearable. It seemed to her that when one problem was solved, a new one arose. She was totally confused with her life. Harris took her to the kitchen and filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to a boil. In one pot he placed a few carrots, in another a few eggs, and in the third he put some coffee powder. He then let them boil, without saying a word. Jane anxiously waited to see what her Dad was about.

“In about 20 minutes Harris took the carrots from the boiling water and placed them in a plate. He then took the eggs and placed them in another plate. He then emptied the coffee into two mugs, and turning to Jane he asked her, ‘Darling, what do you see?’ ‘Carrots, eggs and coffee,’ she replied. He brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She found them soft. He asked her to break an egg. She found the inside of the egg hard. He then offered her a mug of coffee and took the other mug. Both of them began to sip the coffee with its rich aroma.

‘What does this mean, Dad? Jane asked. ‘Darling,’ said Harris, ‘the carrots, eggs and the coffee powder faced the same enemy: boiling water. But whereas the carrots softened and became weak, the fragile eggs protecting the liquid within, hardened. The ground coffee changed the hot water into a drink with a rich aroma. Which are you when you are faced with pain and difficulties?”

Are we like carrots in boiling water: hard, but with pain and adversity, turning soft and losing our strength? Or are we like an egg, which starts off with a malleable heart? Are we fluid, but when caught up with a tragedy, a failure, a breakup, do we turn stiff and hardened? Our shell looks the same, but inside, do we turn bitter and tough, with attitudes that others fail to understand? Or when life’s water gets hottest, do we change the very difficulties and sufferings we face into opportunities for greater achievements in our lives?

IGCSE Comfest Day-2

  The second day of comfest started off with a very intense topic of global food crisis  and the timeline of the various famines since the 14^th century.

Dr. Sridevi Assistant lecturer, Department of economics, (our guest lecturer for the day) suggested that it was not just physical access to food, but as well as economic power that accounts to consumption of food.

She highlighted that food crisis didn’t have a single root cause, but a chain  of problems that lead to it. Poor weather being one of the natural causes that reduces crop production all together. Also with the increase in fuel prices poor farmers with good supply of good grains did not have access to effective and safe transportation.

The very controversial choice of the international market over the local ones also affects the regional purchase and so the people cannot consume the right amount of calories. This is because of weak social security measures. The ‘Right to food campaign’ had stated that each individual needs economic and physical access to food, but due to the drain of resources by the richer classes, the poor tend to face the problem of malnutrition.

An average person from the lower class tends to cope with food shortage by two meals a day instead of three meals. Ms Sridevi said that the low class population with low income is where child labour is seen the most. To gain physical access to food, affordability counts as well.

She concluded by saying that the government groups should appoint officials to identify the poor and ensure that the stocks should be equally distributed among the lower classes and the people should have a say in the distribution of food by surveys to eliminate world hunger.

MIT MUN Day-1

Breakfast at the Marriott Boston Cambridge

At MIT

MIT Guided Campus Tour

Harvard University Guided Campus Tour

At the Statue of John Harvard

MIT MUN Opening Ceremony

IGCSE ComFest Day-1

The first IGCSE ComFest at Oakridge began with a quote that summed up the experience´’ coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress working together is success.” The commerce festival was organized in the IGCSE section to encourage students to work as a team and develop interpersonal skills. The day’s event was ad ‘o’ mania. 7 groups advertised an existing product in 5mins or less.

The first of the seven groups, Group 3 used a basketball match to promote Red Bull. This was followed by another sports drink advert, only group 5 showed off Gatorade. Group 1 followed with a completely different company –Filpkart.com-and they were followed by group 2 and their trimax pens. Group 4 shook things up with a song and dance sequence for pop tarts, complete with pop tart costumes and group 6 had “Kobe Bryant” advertise zoom 7 shoes the last performers, group 7, finished off with a jingle for subway.

All the groups did their best, but there can be only a  winner. Ms Rajini, Ms Shalini and Ms Nagla , evaluated the results. 3^rd place went to group 4 whereas 2^nd place went to group 7 and the group with tremendous effort came first, group 5.

Tomorrow‘s event will be the impromptu CBA debate. Another day to come see and conquer .

oakridge in print media

Grade V Science Day Celebratio​ns

Rigorous projects help students learn key academic content and practice Skills (such as collaboration, communication & critical thinking). For the first time our students of grade V, interacted with their peer groups from different sections. Our learners were able to observe and understand the essence of sharing. I found the students had a hands-on experience. Learning opportunities using, active engagement, encouraged discussions while presenting their exhibits on various science topics. The peer assessment gave them an opportunity to be more open-minded and reflective.

Little Newton’s hands and brains on preparations of their exhibits for Science Day Celebrations

 

Presentation and sharing Time

Peer- Assessment