Category Archives: Prerna

Updates on Prerna Girls School

“Education is the basic right of every child,” says Sandeep Kumar Singh, Minister of state, Basic Education, UP

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“Education is the basic right of every child, and we are trying to reach every child in the country. Prerna school is doing such amazing work by educating girls and boys from the most vulnerable communities and has empowered them to reach new heights,” said Sandeep Kumar Singh, Minister of state, Basic Education, UP who was as the chief guest at the convocation ceremony of Prerna Girls and Boys School. Mr G Ramesh, Managing Director of HDB Financial Services Ltd and Dr Vinit Chauhan, Associate professor at IIM Lucknow and Dr Rajender Pensiya IAS officer, Lucknow UPS Nagar Vikas were the guests of honour at the ceremony. 

Prerna Girls School and Prerna Boys School (units of Study Hall Educational Foundation) organized their convocation ceremony on the 6 September. The students who successfully completed their class 10th and 12th board exams were felicitated. 40 girls and 13 boys were awarded with Late Sundari Devi Kapoor Memorial Scholarship. In addition, three Prerna alumnae who successfully completed their graduation and have enrolled for master’s program were awarded with Late Rajendra Mohini Satpal Malhotra Memorial scholarship.

The program started with Principal Rakhee Panjwani addressing the parents and thanking them for their support and congratulating the girls and boys for their achievements. The students performed ‘Ganesh Vandana’ mesmerizing the audience. 

Dr Urvashi Sahni, founder and CEO of SHEF congratulated the students and the parents. She said, “Every aspect of education at Prerna — the teachers, the curriculum, the culture of the school, is focused on helping the girls construct a sense of themselves as equal persons worthy of being respected by themselves and their communities. We don’t just focus on academic excellence, but to empower them and to build a capacity to aspire, to take charge of their lives, and to flourish. We also focus on boys to help them ”  

The students shared their experiences with the audience. Sonali Sahu, Prerna graduate said, “I feel proud to be a part of Prerna, we are taught that girls are equal and have every right to a life of their own choosing. With my teacher’s support I was able to do well in my class 12th examination. I also got the opportunity to study in Italy through a scholarship program. And it has been a great learning experience for me.” She also thanked her teachers and parents. 

Manju Rawat, mother of Shalu, a Prerna student said, “There is no school like Prerna. My children are welcomed in the classrooms with their lives and their problems. Teachers don’t just teach here but support them through all their challenges and help them achieve their dreams.” 

The ceremony continued with a delightful dance performance. The ceremony finished up with a vote of thanks by the vice Principal, Roli Saxena and National Anthem.

Photo courtesy: DSH Team

“Going to study in the US is like a dream for me” says 16 year-old who won the US State Department’s scholarship

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Lucknow: “Going to study in the US is like a dream for me, I would have never imagined studying abroad,” says 16 year-old Kashish, who got selected for the US State Department’s Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) programme scholarship. She leaves for St Louis, Missouri later this week. “It is a great learning opportunity for me and my school has been my biggest support throughout.” Kashish is a Prerna alum, who is currently studying in class 11 at Study Hall School on scholarship. She joined Prerna Girls School in 2009 and later earned a scholarship to study at Study Hall School because of her excellent academic performance. Kashish will be studying at Parkway South High School, in St Louis, Missouri, USA for this academic year. 

Kashish lost her father at the age of five. Her mother, Shashi is a single parent, raising three daughters and works at a women’s self help group, where she makes dry snacks and pickles. “My daughters have made me so proud. Kashish is going to study abroad. All of us are so excited and happy,” says Sahshi. “I dealt with society when they questioned me for not having a son and raising three daughters alone after losing my husband. I was able to send all my daughters to school because of Prerna School. I don’t need a son, I have my daughters”, she adds. 

Rakhee Panjwani, principal, Prerna Girls School (a unit of Study Hall Educational Foundation) says, “This is indeed a very proud moment for our school. Kashish has been one of the brightest students and it is her dedication and hard work that got her selected for the scholarship. We wish her good luck for her journey and hope that she returns more confident and encourages her peers too.”

In the past, 10 girls had been selected from Study Hall Educational Foundation for the YES programme to study in the US. The Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) programme brings high school students from countries of strategic importance to the United States for an academic year.

Climate Warriors 2021: 22 schools, over 13,000 children come together to raise awareness on climate crisis

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Lucknow: Inspiring action on climate issues, Study Hall School, Prerna Girls School and Center For Learning organised the culmination ceremony of a unique inter-school competition – Climate Warriors 2021. 22 schools, 13800 children from Lucknow, Barabanki and Jaipur participated in the competitions. The event was organized in partnership with the British Council and Scottish Youth Theatre under the Conference of the Parties (COP26) banner. Climate Warriors was organized in accordance with the 13th Sustainable Development Goal set up by the United Nations. All the three organiser schools are a unit of Study Hall Educational Foundation (SHEF).

Priya Kakkar, event coordinator said, “It was exciting to see all these young minds bring their creativity to make the competitions a success. The idea was to engage children and youth and spread awareness about the climate crisis. These children have worked on brilliant projects to bring about change through small but effective solutions to climate change issues.”

Viraj, a student of class 9 at Study Hall said, “Climate change is real, we all need to take this seriously. We are responsible for it and it is our duty to make sure that we work to find solutions to this crisis. It was a great opportunity for all of us to learn and work together.” Study Hall School, Vidyasthali Kanar Inter College, Prerna Girls School, City international School Manas City, Modern Academy, were among the top schools who won laurels in various categories. 

From drama to arts to memes, children raised awareness about the climate crisis through these competitions. Earlier in March 2021, Study Hall Educational Foundation (SHEF) qualified for Phone Call to the World – a collaborative project created to mobilize youth to take actions regarding climate issues. Youth from England, India, Palestine, Scotland and South Africa collaborated to create digital performance work to draw attention to climate change issues through artistic means. Phone Call to the World is one of the 17 global projects commissioned by the British Council to sensitize the world about the environmental crisis through performing arts and digital technology. The event ended with prize distribution and vote of thanks.

Prerna girl wins scholarship, in New York for studies

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Meet Simran, a student of class 10 at Prerna Girls school, a unit of Study Hall Educational Foundation (SHEF) has been selected for the U.S. State Department’s Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) program. She lost her father three years ago, her mother works as domestic help to barely make ends meet but defying all odds Simran is now in New York to continue her high school at West Seneca East High School in West Seneca, New York for this academic year. 

Simran (second from right) biding goodbye to sister Jiya (left), her mother (second from left) and her best friend (extreme right)

Back in 2018, seeing her mother struggle financially, Simran decided to get a job. Despite all the challenges, Simran spared no effort to get good grades in school and eentually got selected for the scholarship.

Simran (left) with Dr Urvashi Sahni (center), founder & CEO of SHEF and principal of Prerna Girls School, Ms Rakhee Panjwani (right) posing for the lens man before she left for New York

“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for me. I have really worked hard for the selection and I am grateful for the support that I got from my school. I am really excited about my journey. I want to learn about different cultures, social issues there and share what my school has taught me,” says an elated 16-year-old Simran. 

Simran along with her host family in New York

Simran aspires to be a doctor and is determined to achieve her dreams. She strongly believes that all girls should have dreams and they should pursue their dreams. In the past, ten children have been selected for international scholarships from SHEF. 

httpvh://youtu.be/xPqcrjYG8ic

Empower girls like Simran and help them get access to life changing education.
Visit www.shef.ngo for more information. 

Teachers Day Celebration virtually

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Happy Teachers’ Day

Welcoming all to the celebrations of 5th September’20, Teachers’ Day. The students utilized the day to express their heartfelt gratitude and thankfulness towards their teachers through a virtual presentation. As is the ritual of Study Hall, the head girl of school Deepanshi Verma, adorned as the principal Meenakshi Bahadur aunty and the vice head girl Gaurisha Prakash, as vice principal Meenakshi Shah Aunty started the morning assembly with usual meditation and the vice head boy Aryaman Shukla, that day transformed into Rajesh sir, the yoga teacher @Study Hall headed the yoga session. The head boy Kushagra Trivedi entitled the teachers as the unsung heroes, and it’s worth it, all those moments they asking the students to switch on the cameras, permission for PDF in drives, responding to the questions, while the students sometimes choose to stay silent; thanked them for adapting to the virtual medium so well and making the teams classes as any other reality class. Thereafter Sherlock Holmes and James Watson, the comparers for the day (detective theme) opened the show, which was mostly pre-recorded and displayed through screen share on zoom, and invited the students of standard 6th and 7th to present their dance on peppy and fun numbers. It was enchanting to see the little ones hop and rock on the screen and how the teachers wished they were relishing the event physically in the school campus. Nevertheless there was no compromise from the student body in putting up a great show. The pair of detective friends handed over the microphone to batman and robin, who sadly drew the former’s vehicle into an accident and so the conversation moved on to listening and respecting elders and specifically teachers. Why? Due to 3 reasons- firstly if students are smart, teachers are double smart, next for the amount of hard work they put in and manage their job and homes both, and last teachers have since ancient times been the superior figures even where god stands in comparison, all of these creatively visualized and presented by the students of 8th and 9th in a skit. Next the celebration had Dana Scully and Fox Mulder from FBI opened the floor for riddles where the teachers were required to move the detective minds in them and ace the games. Then again the legends Feluda and Byomkesh, the celebrated detectives came on screen and introduced the music video prepared by the musicians of 10th and 11th. The audience was swaying and tip toeing to their tune, mesmerized, praised by Nancy Drew and the Hardy boys as well. And last but not the least, standard 12th put up yet another comical dance-drama to make their last teachers’ day in school memorable for their teachers. They took the reality of their virtual classes to the skit, mixed with additional comedy, intertwined with dance to portray the situation, garnished with emotions! And with a thank you note from all the students and Meenakshi aunty herself for making the celebration possible on virtual platform, the day came to an end. With all due respect and love, HAPPY TEACHERS’ DAY.

PANEL DISCUSSION- Every Life Matters…

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Class IV

The children of Class 4 and 5 of Study Hall Junior School and Prerna School engaged in a Panel Discussion on Tuesday, 18th August, 2020. The topic for the discussion was ‘Every Life Matters…No Matter What…’ Due to the Lockdown, the session was conducted online through Zoom. It was well attended by a large number of parents. The Head Mistress, Mrs. Bani Malhotra welcomed the parents very warmly and assured them that they would have a great time listening to the enthusiastic participants who eager to share their views with everyone.

Mrs. Uttara Saran and Mrs. Ruchi Bhateja were the moderators for this event. The C.E.O. of the school, Dr. Urvashi Sahni was truly delighted to see the young ones putting forth their points with bubbling enthusiasm. During the course of the discussion, sometimes they agreed with one another, whereas several times they also displayed their disagreement.  The hard work put in by the children and the teachers was clearly evident as the children replied to each question with immense confidence. Their views showed their sensitivity towards the less privileged and they had ready solutions for most of the problems. Their inputs were thought provoking, leaving the audience mesmerized and asking for more. It was indeed heartening to see them handling technology with great ease. It was heart warming to hear the views of the girls from Prerna, a school for the underprivileged girls as they shared their own life experiences. The parents were full of praises for the school authorities for conducting the Panel Discussion in a well organized manner.

The Programme came to an end with the Vote of Thanks delivered by Mrs. Meenakshi Bahadur, the  Principal of Study Hall.

India turns 74!!

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Study Hall marked the 74th Independence Day by a virtual meet. The principal, vice principal and CEO of Study Hall, along with a small group of teachers visited the school, maintaining social distancing, to hoist the Indian flag which the students and remaining faculty witnessed on their screens, followed by the national anthem and the pledge. The CEO, Urvashi aunty utilised the occasion to speak about the real freedom from fear, being loving countrymen, recent education policy and scope for democratic citizenship education. Principal, Meenakshi aunty devotedly spoke about the fight for freedom back in 1940s and today, freedom from the pandemic, COVID-19. The junior school too celebrated the occasion in the same fashion along with teachers, students and their parents as well. Thereafter, everyone geared up for the panel discussion. The panel had 2 students each from all the units of SHEF and everyone witnessed an enriching discussion on the entrenched inequalities in our society that were pushed into the light due to the pandemic. Various perspectives poured in as the panelists explored caste, gender and class discrimination. The discussion was opened to the audience and beautiful statements were given like, “if you want to make a change in the world look at the man in the mirror” amongst several others. Urvashi Aunty gave the closing speech as she urged the students to adopt a solution oriented approach and set an example by sharing the foundation’s recent achievement of providing hundreds of phones and laptops to the underprivileged students. The proceedings ended on a patriotic high leaving everyone with thoughts on how to create the India our forefathers envisioned. The event brought back a lot of memories and it was indeed a wonderful idea to hold the Independence Day function despite the physical limitations. Happy Independence Day!!

Daughter of Pan Shop Owner scores 86% in CBSE 12

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Dolly Modi, the daughter of a Pan Shop owner scored 86% in her class 12th Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) board exams. She was enrolled in Prerna Girls School in class 4th and got scholarship in 2018 to study in Study Hall School, an English medium school affiliated to CBSE board. Her remarkable academic performance at Prerna was recognized and she was integrated in class 11th, commerce stream at Study Hall School.

Belonging to an economically and socially backward section, Dolly shares with us, “It was very challenging at first, switching from NIOS board to CBSE English medium. I wanted to focus on my goals and that motivated me.” She added, “I am very thankful to my teachers at Study Hall and Prerna for encouraging me and supporting me. My classmates have been always been very helpful and lifted up my spirit.”

Meenaksi Bahadur, principal Study Hall School said, “Dolly is a very sincere student. Despite all the challenges, I have seen her determined to work hard and achieve her goals. And we are proud of her and hope she fulfils her dreams and keep on shining.”

“Dolly has always been a very dedicated girl at Prerna. She has managed to scored such good marks because of her resilient nature and hard work. I am proud of her and wish her all the best,” said Rakhee Panjwani, principal Prerna Girls School.

She aspires to be a senior government administrative officer (IAS) and serve the nation. Her family is very happy with the results and wishes her to excel further in life.

Annual Sports day held at Prerna School: Tiny tots display sporting talent

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The annual sports day of Prerna Girls and Prerna Boys School, a unit of Study Hall Educational Foundation (SHEF) was held on 16 February. The program was inaugurated by Dr. Urvashi Sahni, founder and CEO of SHEF.

Children from class nursery to class 3 took part in the program as well as the children of GyanSetu, a unit of SHEF providing education to out of school children, entertained the audience with their performances. The main attractions at this event were March Past, Hurdle Race, Baby Shark Dance, Taekwondo Display as well as GyanSetu children’s Get Ready for School.

Appreciating the efforts of children and teachers on the occasion, Dr. Urvashi Sahni thanked the parents for their support. 

The event had a special competition for parents of children which was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone. The show ended with a grand finale – Vandematram and vote of thanks.

Prerna school children give message of unity and equality through sports

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On 29 December, 2019 Prerna Girls School and Prerna Boys School, units of Study Hall Educational.

Foundation organised their annual Sports day. The chief guest of the event was Mrs Vasundhara Kumari Singh. Prerna School’s sports day theme this year was ‘We are equal’. The sports day started with the principal of Prerna School welcoming the audience and lighting of the torch by the head girl and head boy of Prerna School.

The founder of Study Hall Educational foundation Dr Urvashi Sahni congratulated the children and the teachers for their hark work. She added, “Seeing this enthusiasm in the children, it is evident that our boys and girls will move forward together and make the world a better place.”

The children performed a dupatta drill. Girls and boys participated in 400-meter relay race, 100-meter race and 200-meter race. The boys performed a wand drill and class 6 girls performed yoga. The children of Prerna Boys competed in bamboo race.

A pyramid was formed by the girls and boys of Prerna School, giving out the message of equality. Lezium dance by the girls of class 9, 10, 11 and 12 was joyed thoroughly by the audience.

The day ended with prize distribution and vote of thanks.