ADVERTORIAL T he International School Agra’s (TISA) annual day programme started with a 'Saraswati Vandana.' Lighting of the lamp was done by Shri Krishan Kalra, chairman of the school along with the advisory board members of the school, which included Shanta Kalra, trustee; Mohit Gupta, chairman, Baikunthi Devi Kanya Maha Vidyalaya and Meenu Tyagi of 'Sabla', an NGO from Lucknow. Also present was Dr Rita Sharma, academ- ic director of the school. Notably, under her guidance, her previous school had won the President’s award for the ‘Best Air Force School’ of the year. 'Colours of Life', depicting different stages of life starting from childhood to old age, was the theme of this year's annual day programme. Chief Guest for the occasion was Shri Raja Srivastava, IG, Agra zone. Students of classes VI, VII, VIII and IX sung the ‘Saraswati Vandana’ melodiously. Jayati, Shruti, Bhoomi and Nandini gave the vocals. Lead dance was per- formed by Shreshtha, Niharika, Rashmi and Shambhavi. The show was anchored by Abha Jain and Siloni Gupta. And the wel- come song was sung by the students of grade IV and V. It included Aaditya, Dhananjay, Kabir, Palak, Prateek and Shreya. Teachers who trained these students to perfection were Nidhi, Preetika and Amrit. Other than this, ‘Krishna’ act was a depiction of MD’s vision. Lead artists in this act were Daksh, Sunny, Abhijeet and Chirag. Festive songs and dances were performed by the students of pre- primary wing. The tiny tots brought to life true colours of the Indian festivals, be it Diwali, Christmas or Baisakhi. They beautifully danced on Arabic numbers too. A play based on the ‘Snow White and Seven Dwarfs’ was also staged by the students of pre-pri- mary section. Their performance brought to life each of the character. Teachers' in charge of the same were Steffi and Shalu. 'Quesera' dance per- formance was an answer to every young girl's question that what destiny holds for them in future. Lead dancers were Ashi, Moksha, Nandini and Yashi of classes I-III. Teachers incharge of the same were Ruchi, Chandni and Pooja. '5 Colours of life', a Hindi skit was a small enactment that showcased the seven stages of life. This skit had a beautiful mime act and it was per- formed by Arpit, Lalit, Abhigyaan, Imon and Ankit from classes VI and IX under the able guidance of Mrs Suinaina Kalra and Mrs Rekha Sharma. This act was followed by another skit that was performed by Humza (class VIII), Lovekush (class V), Harsh (class VII), Daksh (class VIII), and Sunny (class VIII). Teachers incharge were Rekha, Pooja and Samreen. Later, a Sufi song was sung by Bhavya, Muazzam, Vineet, Kush and Hardik, students of classes VI and IX. Teachers incharge were Vnadana and Raman. Highlighting social evils like cyber addic- tion, an English skit was staged on the same theme. Teachers who helped the students prepare this skit were Abha and Siloni. Students from classes V and IX includ- ing Aarya, Ikhtiyaar, Saiyam, Dhruv, Saket and Tasneem participated in it. Students of classes I and III, Adarsh, Advik, Monish, Anuj and Ibrahim increased the heart beats with their fabulous singing. Teachers in charge were Mona, Santosh and Preetika. Adding solemnity to the annual day celebrations, a yoga session was also performed by Saiyam, Raxit, Ishan and Sharik, students of classes II, IV, V and VI. Teachers incharge were Fehnaz, Tripti, Satish and Raman. The grand finale of the annual day celebrations was a power packed performance with glimpses of the Indian culture and its rich heritage. Bhavya, Nandini, Aditi, Pooja and Mohini from classes IV and IX presented this act. And teachers who helped them were Tanyali, Vandana, Dheeraj, Anjali, Chandni and Ruchi. Other than this, a group of students from Malaysia per- formed their tradition- al dance as a part of TISA's foreign collab- oration. Speaking about the event, Shri Raja Srivastava added, “It was a pleasure watching students performing on the stage with such energy and enthusi- asm. Har bachche mein chupi hui prat- ibha hoti hai and hume usse bahar nikalna chaiye.” Annual day celebrations THE THIRD ANNUAL DAY WAS CELEBRATED WITH GREAT POMPAND SHOW AT TISA. STUDENTS PERFORMED WITH UNMATCHED ZEAL AND ENTHUSIASM Sanjay Kalra, MD, TISA B uilding the school was easy, but nurturing it into a reputed school of Agra was the vision that we strived for and have achieved it in a short span of 3 years. This would not have been possible without the commitment of our teachers, director and principal. Moreover, I will remain indebted to the parents of our school students for showing trust in TISA. We are now a CBSE affiliated school. Adding an international edge to our curriculum and activities is one of our mainstays. We are collaborat- ing with the best schools across the world includ- ing schools in Switzerland and Dubai. Schools from these places will be visiting TISA in the coming years and our students will be going abroad to visit their schools. At TISA, we have always been proactive in our approach. We started our 2017-18 batches with an interactive session, in which the parents and students were educated about 'good and bad touch.' We also compiled an illus- trative booklet and gave it to all the parents, so that they can teach their children about it. We started TISA with a dream to provide the best of infra- structure, best education practices as well as sports facilities to our students. Our dreams have changed and they are now aligned with the dreams of our students. And these are not mere dreams; these are plausible aspirations that can be achieved. I request parents to spend quality time with their children, trying to know about their dreams and encourage them to take the road of success. Syed Ali Haider Rizvi, principal, TISA T ISA and I (the proud parent community) came togeth- er in 2015 and made a great beginning, we pro- gressed well in the last two years and now we are moving towards success as a team. We at TISA, sow the seeds of success. I believe that our students are like seeds and they add wonderful colours to our family garden. We intend to provide our students the best possible learning environment at school. Let them dream big and allow them to develop skills to achieve those dreams. There is no short cut to success and I am not aware of any specific formula to achieve it. But over the years, I have observed that some attributes of leadership are universal and are often about finding ways of encourag- ing people to combine their efforts, tal- ents, insights, enthusiasm and inspiration to work together. For this annual day, our theme is 'colours of life' that depicts our love and appreciation for all colours. We must teach our children to accept all shades and enjoy every moment of life. We either win or learn and there is nothing called failure. This is the only way to help our children to understand failure. As a parent and as a school, we need to give healthy choices to our children to choose from. TISA has been striving since the beginning to give its students exposure in most of the areas of learning. We were honoured by CBSE in the form of affiliation and this academic year we have registered our first batch of grade IX with CBSE. We strike a balance between academics and co-curricular activities. We have also qualified for the nationals in the Students Olympic Associations in dance and singing. Students of TISA have made us proud in the arena of sports too by winning several inter-school compe- titions. We have been rated among the top green schools in Agra. NEW INITIATIVES OF TISA PSP-Pupils Sports Programme House assemblies CPD for teachers to enhance activity based learning International School Award from the British Council New and dynamic website for parents to stay updated with school activities New curriculum develop- ment New assessment system Descriptive report card sys- tem MUN training for students of the middle-school Launching of the school app for Android phones Our dreams have changed and they are now aligned with the dreams of our students – Sanjay Kalra, MD, TISA