Millennium Community

Rucha Tambe – Std 12 topper

Appreciation of teachers

Siddhant Tonapi, Dhruv Aggarwal and Lalit Jayanti from Std 6th have made us really proud by winning the silver medal each at the Dr. Homi Bhabha young scientist exam. The Mumbai Science Teachers’ Association (MSTA) conducts Dr. Homi Bhabha Balvaidnyanik competition since 1981 to encourage students to take interest in science, to inculcate scientific attitude & search science talent in students.

This competition is conducted for students of std. VI and IX.
The exam consists of 4 levels and the students have to face elimination at each level. After the written exam in September, only 7.5% students go to the 2nd level which is a practical exam in Physics, Chemistry and Biology. Only 10% students from this level move to the next round. This consists of an action research project and then an interview on the project and also a general science interview conducted in Mumbai.

According to the MSTA, around 45000 students from 6th and 9th standards appeared for the 1st level from all over Maharashtra this year. Finally it was only 350 students left at the very end who received either a gold, silver or bronze medal.

The research topic for this year’s project was ‘Nature study of your area’.
Siddhant’s topic was ‘Native vs Exotic trees – Which are better for the environment’. He studied trees in his neighborhood, observed bird and insect activity and made some very interesting observations and conclusions on why it is important to plant more native trees.

Dhruv’s topic was ‘Animal Mortality on Pune roads’. In the project, he researched the causes of animal mortality, its impact on our society and environment and found out the necessary remedial measures.
Lalit’s topic was ‘Study of spread of feral pigeons’. Lalit studied the feral pigeons, the problems because of their increasing number and measures needed to lessen their impact on our environment.

Copies of all the three project reports are kept in our school library for student reference. All 3 students will get a wonderful opportunity to attend a residential camp at the Dr. Homi Bhabha Center for Science inside the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) campus in Mumbai during their summer vacation.

Along with this, Siddhant Tonapi and Dhruv Aggarwal also excelled in the Maharashtra Olympiad Movement (MOM) exam taken by Maharashtra Knowledge Corporation Limited (MKCL).

This is a state level exam with 2 rounds of multiple choice questions on Maths, Science and Intelligence. Both students have aced the 2 level exam. Siddhant is placed 2nd (Silver Medal) and Dhruv is ranked 16 in the Pune district. Siddhant is ranked 17th at the state level and will get to attend a district level Science nurturance camp.

Kudos to our scholars!!

Students write about the lessons learnt during the competition

Hello! We would like to share our memorable experience in AWIM (A world in Motion), Jet Toy competition with you. We worked with utmost will power, inspired by our teachers and trainers. We learnt the basic laws of Physics, handling things more delicately and making very precise measurements. Further, we learnt how to handle situations correctly, life skills like teamwork, co-ordination, rapid thinking, presentation and decoration skills and distributing work according to our talents.

Our trainers and teachers were from John Deere and out of school. Jyotsna teacher and Rutuja teacher from our very own school trained and taught us many important aspects of the competition. Vinit sir from John Deere explained to us the laws of physics.

In the competition, we had to make a jet toy, a vehicle which had to cover 10 meters. Not only this, but the vehicle had to cover many more things like covering distance with weight and being very accurate. We had to design our vehicles to cover all the aspects for the competition. We had to decide a theme, team name, logo and slogan. We had to prepare a presentation and a chart with a decorative toy. Two teams got selected:-
1) The Girls rescue Squad
Member- Aditi Rangarajan, Siddhi Lipare, Renuka Gadkari and Sai Pawar.
2) The Doorstep school
Member- Ira Ghare, Chaitanya Sant, Sahil Sathe and Parth Wagh.

We learnt the importance of all the parts of the vehicle. We were well-prepared for the school- level competition. We were nervous and excited too. We had to complete all the tasks and vehicles in 2 hours. The teams mentioned above got selected.

After that we, the selected teams, were told about the Saturday practice timings. We also had extra practices in school hours. We practiced a lot with will power, excitement and energy more than ever as it was a golden opportunity for us to learn. Actually we were fully enjoying while practicing and learning. We were ready and we set out for the city competition. It was a fresh day. The competition was held at Orchid School.

When we reached the school, there was enthusiasm in the air and we all felt very happy. We got our badges and had a healthy and hearty breakfast. Then we went in the auditorium for the inauguration ceremony. There were many people who shared their experiences with us. This made us gain courage and with all the courage and the knowledge we were ready for the competition. We sat in groups and started making the toys and chart.

Though we were 2 different teams, we were like one. We helped each other and worked together like a team. We were feeling happy to help each other. Sometimes, we were in a hurry due to lack of time. So, we did each and every step by thinking thrice. We had small arguments, but each led to a new idea. We helped each other and finally finished our task. We were competing with ourselves, not each other.

Discussing the completion, we had a hearty lunch. The test engineers who had to test vehicles went for testing and others were practicing the presentation. We observed that each and every team had a nice and unique idea. The test engineers came back told the project Engineers and Facility Engineers. Our vehicles went well. Then came the time for the presentation. We wished each other a best of luck. We tried our best.

Everyone was nervous as the result drew near. Dilip Chabriya was the chief guest. Children came on stage to sing. Finally it was result time. We became nervous and then came the announcement. We were happy to hear that the Girls Rescue Squad got a prize for the Time on Track event and Door Step School for Distance event.

Though we did not go for the national level, we lost only by ½ mark. We felt satisfied with our work. Both teams did the work wholeheartedly and showed our duties towards completing our work. Each and every child seemed engrossed in the results. The environment was nice and was filled with one word, which was congratulations! Though we were a bit sad, nevertheless we said that getting awards in so many schools was a big achievement in itself. Our excitement never decreased. It was time to return to our very own lovely school.

We decided that we will use the skills we learnt in the journey so far in our daily lives and be solemn and courteous citizens of India. Whatever we achieved was also because of many other people and we give a loyal thanks to our parents, teachers, trainers, Radhika Madam and of course all of you who are reading this!
THANK YOU!!

Article credits: Ira Ghare, Aditi Rangarajan, Siddhi Lipare &
Chaitanya Sant

When Mrs. Anuradha Prabhudesai, founder of the Lakshya Foundation came to our school to pump patriotism in the students by making them aware about the hardships and glory of the armed forces profession, the students were left thoroughly inspired and decided to give back a special memento to our ‘jawans’.

Std 9th & 10th students prepared greeting cards wishing all the jawans a ‘happy & a prosperous Diwali’. Millennium received a quick response in the form of a letter of appreciation from Col. K.M.Bhagwat of the Maratha Light Infantry regiment. Col. Bhagwat mentions in the letter, “We are happy to inform that all the greetings have been personally delivered to our brave young soldiers on the occasion of “Diwali with Soldiers” celebrated by the Lakshya Foundation at the Maratha Light Infantry Regimental Centre. We thank you all for remembering the brave sons of Mother India and their sacrifices.”

“No adolescent ever wants to be understood, which is why they complain about being misunderstood all the time.” ― Stephen Fry, writer.

This is exactly what the school’s should understand when their students are on the threshold of adolescence. Millennium National School had organized a lecture on the topic named, “Adolescence in girls and boys “which was conducted by Dr. Vaishali Deshmukh for 8th & 9th Std students and their parents.

Dr. Deshmukh is a renowned pediatrician from Pune, having an experience of many years into this field. Currently she is in-charge of ‘Nine-to-Nineteen Clinic’- a special clinic for teenagers at the Deenanth Mangeshkar Hospital, Pune.

Dr. Deshmukh pointed out that India will be surging as a young country in the next decade, wherein their energy will be required to be channelized appropriately.

Nowadays, there are lot of distractions in the form of TV, Internet, movies which fuel inapt exposure for their age. She said, “Parents need to understand the fact that the physical and mental changes are imperative and cannot be withheld. They need to be monitored in a subtle way by talking it out freely with their children, rather than giving them a dress-down.”

Dr.Deshmukh addressed the parents saying, “Children must be given independence of thoughts and action but they need to be guided properly at the correct time.”

Dr.Deshmukh has pro-actively co-conducted a workshop on ‘Learning Disabilities in children’ exclusively for our teaching staff also. Not only is she an enthusiastic Millennium parent but also a spirited and dedicated doctor who has contributed greatly to the organization by voluntarily taking up various workshops for the benefit of the school.

It was an initial step towards forming a ‘green group’ in the school. Environment sensitive students from std 9th joined hands for a cleaner city. Under the able guidance of Mr. Sanjay Athavale, founder of the NGO Green Hills group, Pune, a group of 20 students volunteered to visit the ARAI tekdi to learn about wet waste compost.

The students were asked to bring along wet waste like banana peels, vegetable waste etc and dispose it into the compost for plants which have been planted by the group in the past. The students were curious to know about the group’s activities apart from plantation drives. The group has planted more than 10,000 trees in and around the city.

Later, the students went on a green walk, where they spotted different species of birds like the Cormorant and the Indian Robin.