Sathya Sai School

Sathya Sai School
Toronto, Canada
Weekly Parent Information Letter # 20
June 9, 2010
Important
Announcements
www.sathyasaischool.ca
Walk for Values 2010:
Celebration of Unity
“When individuals change, society will change.
And when society changes, the whole world will change.
The welfare of the individual is bound up with the welfare of society
as a whole. Unity is the secret of social progress, and service to
society is the means to promote it.” ~ Sathya Sai Baba
“Education cannot be
confined to stuffing the
head. It has to melt the
heart, refine it and turn
it towards God. Man
has to be transformed
into an ideal human
being with a
compassionate heart.
Every effort should be
made to utilize
education for the
purpose of divinizing
man.”
man.”
~ Sathya Sai Baba
Grade 6 Field Trip:
Ottawa/Montreal
June 55-9
Sports Day
June 11
SK Graduation
June 17
Grade 6 Graduation
June 19
“Toronto the Good” has been the fortunate gathering place of the
annual Walk for Values – as its citizens, young and old, come to
celebrate peace and joy and walk together through the streets of this
wonderful city. Started by the Sathya Sai School of Canada in 2003,
the Walk for Values has become an international event bringing a
message of hope to cities around the world. .... more in the Parent
Information Letter #21
Coming soon! - Walk for Values
Special Edition
An Historic Moment…
Statement in Parliament Honours
Sathya Sai School & Walk for Values
It was a very proud moment for the Sathya Sai School of Canada on
Thursday, May 27, 2010, when its students stepped with dignity, two
by two, across the front of the federal Parliament building in Ottawa,
as they approached the entrance of the building to proceed to the
House of Commons. On this historic day, the Government of Canada
heard and recorded in its annals a Statement by the Hon. Michelle
Simson, Member of Parliament, on the Sathya Sai School and the
Walk for Values.
(continued on page 2)
A M.O.D.E.L3 SCHOOL where
everyone is a.WIN.a
.W IN.a
#4, 505 Ellesmere Road, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M1R 4E5 Ph: (416) 297-7970 Fax: (416) 297-0945
website: www.sathyasaischool.ca
Present to hear the tribute being paid by the
Federal Government to the Sathya Sai School
of Canada and the Walk for Values were
Grade 5 students, staff members, trustees,
volunteers and school supporters who all sat in
Statement in Parliament
“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the
Sathya Sai School of Canada who have joined
us here today and who are celebrating its 10th
Anniversary. This is the only school of its kind
in North America and I am very proud it is
located in Scarborough, Ontario. On Sunday,
May 30th, I will be participating in the 8th
Annual Walk for Values organized by the
school. I will join thousands of participants in
the GTA to walk in the name of Peace, NonViolence, Right Conduct, Truth and Love.
Since the Walk’s inception in Scarborough
eight years ago, it has grown and this year will
take place in nine Canadian cities. In addition,
walks will take place in 60 [sic] other countries
around the world. I would like to congratulate
and thank the Sathya Sai School of Canada for
their efforts in reinforcing these values, not
only here in Canada but around the world. June
6th Walk for Values takes place here in
Ottawa. I encourage all members to join me at
this important event.”
the Gallery of the House of Commons from
2:00 to 3:00 PM. The message on the
importance of reinforcing these values in our
lives was broadcast live across the country and
around the world by CPAC, a parliamentary
Internet news station. This was an important
moment of bringing recognition of the Sathya
Sai Education in Human Values program to
the people of Canada. All of us felt honoured
to be part of this moment of history, marking
another milestone of growth achieved during
the school’s 10th Anniversary Year.
After the completion of the House of
Commons reading period, the Sathya Sai
School group was taken on a tour of the
Parliament building. As we exited and stood in
A M.O.D.E.L3 SCHOOL where
everyone is a.WIN.a
.W IN.a
#4, 505 Ellesmere Road, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M1R 4E5 Ph: (416) 297-7970 Fax: (416) 297-0945
website: www.sathyasaischool.ca
front of Parliament, the Hon. Michelle Simson
presented her Statement on Parliamentary
letterhead
to
Principal
Dr.
Revathi
Chennabathni. To end a wonderful experience,
a group photo was taken with Hon. Michelle
Simson on the steps in front of Parliament,
capturing this important moment for the
Sathya Sai School of Canada and the Walk for
Values.
 We are now starting the walk. Great energy and
enthusiasm from the crowd! 7:51 AM May 30th
via UberTwitter
 Tons of people gathered at Dundas Square for
the Walk for Values. Walk starts at 11 am hope
you can come join us www.walkforvalues.com
7:33 AM May 30th via UberTwitter
 Ready 2 lace up my running shoes for Sunday's
Walk for Values, 10:00 a.m. Yonge & Dundas Sq.
Pls join Sathya Sai students! 3:48 PM May 28th
via UberTwitter
Follow ups: CPAC sent a crew to Toronto on
May 30th to video the Toronto Walk for Values
and will air the event on the Internet TV
program “On the Bright Side”.
The Grade 6 class and several staff members
will be making the trip to Ottawa to participate
on June 6th in the Ottawa Walk for Values,
joining with Hon. Michelle Simson and other
Members of Parliament to make a stand for
transforming ourselves and the world through
the practice of human values.
Grade 5 Field Trip to
Ottawa, May 2626-27
Link for viewing the broadcast in Parliament
on May 27th:
http://parlvuvod.parl.gc.ca/StreamLogger/2010
/2010-05/00019cd8.wmv
Link plays the video in a separate window
using Windows Media Player.
Thank You
Many thanks to Mrs. Prabha Gupta who
organized all aspects of the school’s trip to
Ottawa. Everything ran very smoothly and
comfortably for everyone!
We also offer heartfelt thanks to our hosts,
the Sathya Sai Baba Centre of Ottawa,
who accommodated all the students and
several adults, and provided delicious meals
for everyone. Their service was given most
graciously and lovingly!
Ottawa
When we unloaded our things and got inside,
Comments by Mrs. Simson on our school
and W4V:
 Welcome to Sathya Sai
School of Canada! They're on
Hill today being recognized
for 10th anniversary & Walk
for Values event May 30th.
11:36 AM May 27th via
UberTwitter
 I've just been given the
Walk for Values torch and
am proud to be walking
down Dundas Street with it.
Tons of positive energy by all! 8:41 AM May 30th
via UberTwitter
 Walking by the Sheraton Hotel downtown
Toronto for the Walk for Values and everybody is
chanting and waving. The energy is intense! 8:23
AM May 30th via UberTwitter
 The line is growing as we walk. We're now on
Richmond Street and the energy is awesome!
8:16 AM May 30th via UberTwitter
 CPAC is here covering the event. We are now
walking along Yong Street with a huge crowd!
8:04 AM May 30th via UberTwitter
we were shocked to see how amazingly
designed the Sai Centre was. After we settled
in, we freshened up and took the bus to the
Ottawa Currency Museum. It was supposed
to fall in with our unit at school. We learned
every single technique there is to tell if money
is real or not. So if there is a counterfeiter
out there, well good luck cause you can’t go
pass me! We learned all about the history of
currency around the world. After we came
back to the Sai Centre, we ate some yummy
food! Then we had a meditation session and
after we went to sleep in our sleeping bags. It
was a new experience because we never slept
with our friends before. Soon enough it was
time to go to the place and reason why we
went to Ottawa. It was Ottawa’s Parliament
Building! We were so anxious to get ourselves
in the House of Commons to have the Sathya
A M.O.D.E.L3 SCHOOL where
everyone is a.WIN.a
.W IN.a
#4, 505 Ellesmere Road, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M1R 4E5 Ph: (416) 297-7970 Fax: (416) 297-0945
website: www.sathyasaischool.ca
Sai School name mentioned in front of the
whole nation. The person who said our name
and talked about the W4V is none other than
the MP for Scarborough Southwest, Mrs.
Michelle Simson!! She proudly spoke to the
Speaker (the one who makes sure that the
debate is running smoothly) about how the
Sathya Sai School practices the values. It may
have been only 2 minutes, but it was the best 2
minutes of the entire trip. All that learning
about government and Canada paid off,
because we actually never fell asleep during
the debate!! Oh my god, looks like I took up to
much space even though I never covered the
entire trip, but I guess I covered the most
important parts. Ok until next time, take care.
Gee, I guess you can never underestimate the
power of teachers!!
Sindujeyan Jeyapalan &
Bagavan Ranjagunathas
2010 Canada Wide
Virtual Science Fair
We are proud to announce that all of the
student
projects
submitted from Sathya
Sai School to the 2010
Canada Wide Virtual
Science Fair received a
monetary prize and an
award! What a wonderful
achievement.
Grade 4-6:
From all of Canada, seven out of 164 students
from the Grade 4-6 category were awarded
the Summa Cum Laude Award (1st Best
Award) and we are proud to announce that our
Grade 4 student, Saiswaran Manorathan,
was chosen as one of these seven. He also won
the Best in School Award. His project is
entitled “Germs and Us”:
effective way to avoid getting sick by them. I
assumed that toilet seat will have most germs.
However, Unclean money (coin) had the most
amounts of bacteria instead of the toilet seat.
Also, the most effective cleaning agent was the
hand sanitizer.
Comments by judges: Your experiment was
both meticulously carried out and informative.
Thank you.
From across Canada, 15 projects were selected to
win the Magna Cum Laude Award from the
Grade 4-6 category and we are pleased that two of
our students won this award:
Emon Majumder, Grade 4, for his project
entitled “Fabric Insulators”
Devanshi Shukla, Grade 6, for her project
entitled “Efficient Angle for Solar Panel”
Grade K-3:
From across Canada, 7 out of 22 projects were
selected to win the Magna Cum Laude Award from
the Grade K-3 category and we are pleased that two
of our students won this award:
Shyana Shaiskandan, Grade 1, for her project
entitled “Light and Temperature – Plants”
Abirami Sivakanthan, Grade 3, for her project
entitled “Light Absorbed by Different Colours”
Award
No.
in
Awards to
Sathya Sai School
Canada
Grades 4-6
Summa
7
Cum
Laude
Magna
15
Cum
Laude
Cum
-Laude
Abstract: To determine where germs thrive in
our immediate environment and what is the
A M.O.D.E.L3 SCHOOL where
1
Saiswaran Manoharan, Grade 4
2
Emon Majumder, Grade 4
Devanshi Shukla, Grade 6
12
Sanjay Ram Ramanan, Grade 5,
“Lung Capacity”
Supratim Mitra, Grade 6, “Shape
of Airplane Wing”
Archana Thayanithy, Grade 6,
“Acidic Fruit Best for Battery”
Krithika Ragupathi, Grade 6,
“Materials that conduct electricity”
Sai Vikranth Desu, Grade 6,
“Series and Parallel Circuits”
Sindujeyan Jeyapalan, Grade 5,
“Speedy Solutions”
Dushanthi Dissanayake, Grade
5, “Innovation – Energy
Conservation”
Ashanth Santhiran, Grade 5,
“Advantages of Pulleys and
everyone is a.WIN.a
.W IN.a
#4, 505 Ellesmere Road, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M1R 4E5 Ph: (416) 297-7970 Fax: (416) 297-0945
website: www.sathyasaischool.ca
Inclined Planes”
Radhika Chawla, Grade 4,
“Reflection and Refraction”
Abivarna Raveendran, Grade 4,
“Effect of Soil Components on Pea
Plant Growth”
Paary Balakumar, Grade 4,
“Colour and Heat Absorption”
Smita Jariwala, Grade 5, “Starch
Test”
Grades K-3
Summa
1
Cum
Laude
Magna
7
Cum
Laude
Cum
Laude
Cum
Honore
11
3
none
2
Shyana Shaiskandan, Grade 1,
“Light and Temperature – Plants”
Abirami Sivakanthan, Grade 3,
“Light Absorbed by Different
Colours”
11
Sagaanan Ganeshathasan,
Grade 3, “How can static electricity
change the speed or direction of a
moving object?”
Keshavaa Shaiskandan, Grade
3, “Magnets and Motion”
Ashvinie Paraparan, Grade 3,
“Does adding sugar or salt to
water change the density?”
Eashvar Sukumar, Grade 1,
“Does electricity pass through all
materials?”
Dhruv Bhatt, Grade 2, “Keep It
Cool”
Neha Nerevetla, Grade 2,
“Parachutes – Does shape
matter?”
Gajan Sanmugananthan, Grade
2, “What makes a kite fly well?”
Ajay Maharaj, Grade 2, “Wet or
Dry?”
Janissha Pushpaharan, Grade 2,
“Metals – Heat Conduct”
Sabarish Gnanamoorthy, Grade
1, “How is electricity generated
from water?”
Keya Patel, Grade 3, “Effect of
Gravity”
2
Pranami Harsora, Grade 1,
“Power of Strong Structures”
Jeysruthee Jeyapalan, Grade 1,
“Power Me Up!”
Congratulations to the Coordinator of the
Virtual Science Fair, Miss Meera Ramdath,
Grade 5 teacher. In addition to organizing the
event, she also spent many hours interviewing
and recording all the students on their projects.
A note of tremendous appreciation goes to a
school parent, Mr. Tarun Jain, father of
Grade 3 student Raman Jain. Mr. Jain spent
400 hours working on the technical requirements necessary to transfer the projects onto
the computer and then upload these to the
Virtual Science Fair website. Without his help,
we would not have been able to participate in
this science fair and have the students’ hard
work recognized.
All of the students’ projects can be viewed at
the following link:
http://www.virtualsciencefair.org/display2003/
PublicSelect2010.asp
(Under “Grade Category” select ‘K-3’ or ‘4-6’
to see the students’ projects and awards.)
Dr. Ra
Raaj Vora & the
Medical Camp in Haiti
Students of Sathya Sai School were treated to
an inside view of the medical relief work being
done in Haiti by members of the Sri Sathya
Sai World Organization. On Friday, May
14th, 2010, Dr. Raaj
Vora, son of school
volunteer
Mrs.
Geeta Vora, gave
an
excellent
presentation to all
the students of his
experience in Haiti
as a member of the
medical relief team.
Anything you want to do, you can
do it!
The theme of Dr. Vora’s talk was that, “If you
believe in something, you have to make sure
you do it.” He explained that he wanted very
much to go to Haiti to help the people there,
despite people telling him it wouldn’t be
possible…but because he believed it was
possible – it happened. “If you want to be a
doctor, lawyer, etc. you can if you believe in
yourself.”
A M.O.D.E.L3 SCHOOL where
everyone is a.WIN.a
.W IN.a
#4, 505 Ellesmere Road, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M1R 4E5 Ph: (416) 297-7970 Fax: (416) 297-0945
website: www.sathyasaischool.ca
To give the students a firsthand experience of
this, he told the students that they can make it
rain inside, right in the gym. He directed them
to listen for the rain – and led them in class
order through a series of overlapping sounds
made by snapping fingers, clapping hands, and
tapping thighs which simulated the sound of
rain falling quietly, increasing to a heavy rain,
and then diminishing to a soft rainfall again.
He then restated his message, “Anything you
want to do, you can do it!”
We all need to help each other
People from many different organizations are
coming together to help the people of Haiti.
Dr. Vora said it was “a wonderful feeling – we
all need to help each other out.”
He asked the students to imagine they were
playing outside on a bright sunny day with
Mom and Dad and
best friends, and
then suddenly in
one
second,
houses
have
become
rubble,
the shopping mall
collapsed
on
thousands
of
people
and
children
lost
houses, schools,
and
family
members. Since then many people are crying
and hurt and there are signs saying, “We need
help, Food and Water, phone…..”
Dr. Vora was impressed with the positive
attitude of many of the Haitians. One family
took in teams from all over the world;
everyone in the family had a positive attitude.
They knew people were coming to rebuild
Haiti and everyone was happy about this.
The languages spoken in Haiti are French,
Creole (mixture of Spanish and French),
Spanish and English. He stressed to the
children how important it is to learn languages,
and that languages will become very important
for them in the future.
Ceiling on desires
desires
In Haiti, water is scarce and Dr. Raaj was
given one bucket of freezing cold water to
wash with: this was for bathing, brushing
teeth, washing one’s face, and flushing the
toilet. This makes you very aware of how
much (or little) water you have available for
each task. So we all need to conserve water
now – don’t let the tap run unnecessarily.
Medical he
help
They worked in a church full of 300 people at
a time, waiting to see a doctor. Some had
never seen a doctor before, while others may
have seen a doctor once or twice in their life.
The team of doctors had to help everyone and
they needed faith that this could be done.
Many people from Canada, U.S., and Europe
donated medicines, so the team was able to
give medication to can do everyone. Each team
would work for a week and then a new team
would come so that they could give continuous
care to the people. The team Dr. Vora was on
worked for three days and in that time they
saw 750 people.
The Orphanage
The children had been living there for four
months without their father and mother. Dr.
Vora expected to see all the children there
crying, but with the blessings of others he
found the children were beautiful – they were
smiling and happy and playing with each
other. They had a positive attitude and were
A M.O.D.E.L3 SCHOOL where
everyone is a.WIN.a
.W IN.a
#4, 505 Ellesmere Road, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M1R 4E5 Ph: (416) 297-7970 Fax: (416) 297-0945
website: www.sathyasaischool.ca
trying to get better together. Everything they
have is old, like the desks and chairs, but they
are happy with what they have, and they
were getting food regularly. The lesson here is
that we should not take things for granted,
such as:
Food
Water
Shelter
Clothes
The overall feeling Dr. Vora saw during his
work there was that everyone was very happy
and had a positive attitude, feeling that “we
can do this – as a group we can work together
and rebuild Haiti.”
they are slowly rebuilding their lives and
country. What was most evident was the
feeling of love and brotherhood amongst the
Haitians and all the foreign people coming
there to help. We can see a new spirit of
Oneness emerging here and in other places on
our planet devastated by natural disasters.
Thank you, Dr. Vora, for sharing this precious
experience with us!
EQAO exams completed ~
Congratulations Gr3 & 6
EQAO exams are over and
Grade 3 and 6 students are
noticeably relaxed after so
many months of study and
preparation.
The most important things
I learned
learned
The most important things Dr. Vora learned
while in Haiti were:
1. Importance of learning different languages
– this will help you out in the future.
2. Do not waste food and water – we waste so
much here, but someone over there is not
eating. Take only what you need.
3. Whenever there is an opportunity to help
out, do it. As brothers and sisters we can
help others.
4. Goal-setting – his school said he couldn’t
go to Haiti. If you really want to do
something that is positive and people say
‘no’ to you, there is always a way to do it
in a positive and loving way.
5. Always smile and be happy.
6. Ceiling on desires – we get so much and
don’t think about it. Students at Sathya Sai
School are lucky to be learning about this
now.
7. Early to bed and early to rise (before the
rooster wakes you up).
The students and staff all thoroughly enjoyed
the talk which Dr. Vora presented in a very
engaging manner, and the photographs made a
powerful impression. We were able to enter
into the visit with him and get an almost
firsthand experience of Haiti and the people as
We are very grateful to Miss Tanushree Das,
Grade 3 teacher and to Mrs. Ahalya Ganesh,
Grade 6 teacher for the time they spent with
their classes covering the academic material
that their students needed to learn, as well as
preparing themselves to administer the exams
according to all the strict regulations provided
by the Ministry of Education.
We also wish to thank our students for
applying themselves to do their best.
Sports Day: Fri, June 11th
10 AM to 3 PM
Drills and cheers are in the air as students get
ready for the annual Sports Day events, to be
held at the Ellesmere Community Centre
(1385 Warden Avenue) on Friday, June 11,
2010 from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm. Students
will compete in relay races and team sports in
the morning and enjoy fun sports activities like
kite flying and soccer in the afternoon.
Dismissal from school will be regular time at
3:20 p.m.
Parents who are free in the daytime are
welcome to join us and watch the games.
A M.O.D.E.L3 SCHOOL where
everyone is a.WIN.a
.W IN.a
#4, 505 Ellesmere Road, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M1R 4E5 Ph: (416) 297-7970 Fax: (416) 297-0945
website: www.sathyasaischool.ca
Celebrations for SK & Grade 6 ~
Graduation Time Is Here
The school year is ending
and we are looking forward
to celebrating the graduation
of two classes – the Senior
Kindergarteners and the
Grade 6’s.
On the morning of Thursday, June 17th, the
SK students will celebrate their Graduation
from Kindergarten, donned in caps and gowns
and ready to embark upon their bright future in
Grade 1 in September 2010.
On Saturday evening, June 19th, the Grade 6
students will celebrate their Graduation from
the Junior grades, which also marks the
completion of their studies at Sathya Sai
School. This is a momentous step for them, as
they prepare themselves to enter new schools
and carry the torch of knowledge and good
character into their communities.
We wish each and every student the best as
he/she continues upon the educational journey!
Monthly Uniform
Purchase Days
19
21
24
24
25
Changes to
School Calendar
Due to a number of scheduling needs, the Last
Day of School has been changed to Thursday,
June 24th, 2010. The Last Operational Day
will be June 25th (for Staff only).
May 17th
17th,
th, 2010 - PC meeting
New Grade 3 PC Rep: Reddy Nerevetla
joined the SSS Parent Council as Grade 3
Representative to take the place of Mr. Sai
Mudigonda.
Walk for Values – Parents’ Involvement:
• Floats – Parents have been contacted for
assembling and disassembling of floats.
Details of timings and location to be
provided.
• Parent Council & parents always assume an
important role in W4V.
• Promo event on May 25th –
Uniforms will be available for purchase on
Monday, June 14 from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00
p.m. and Tuesday, June 15 from 9:30 a.m.
to 3:30 p.m.
Current Parents – please purchase your
child’s uniforms for the coming year on June
14th and 15th. These will be the last days on
which you can make your purchases for the
coming school year, September 2010.
Last purchase dates will be June 14 & 15.
15.
June dates
1-4
5-9
11
16
17
17
Grade 6 Graduation
Parent Council Meeting
LAST DAY OF SCHOOL
Final Report Cards Issued
P.D. Day (Staff only)
o Grade 4 students accompanied by their
teachers and parent volunteers will
promote W4V at YDS.
o Volunteers to be provided all the detailed
information about the event – how to
approach people, what to say, etc
o Parent volunteers to help in stage setup
and tear down.
Parent Engagement strategies: PC discussed
various strategies on parent engagement in
school events.
EQAO exams
Grade 6 Trip to Ottawa/Montreal
Sports Day
Pizza Day - JK
SK Graduation
Pizza Day – SK – Gr.6
A M.O.D.E.L3 SCHOOL where
Yours truly,
Ms. Recht, Admin. Asst.
Dr. Revathi, Principal
Graphics by Mrs. Shastry
everyone is a.WIN.a
.W IN.a
#4, 505 Ellesmere Road, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M1R 4E5 Ph: (416) 297-7970 Fax: (416) 297-0945
website: www.sathyasaischool.ca