Catch Them Young: From the 26th to the 28th of October 2022, a three-day workshop on Life Skills/Value Education/Personality Enhancement for schoolchildren from NKT National Girls Higher Secondary School, Triplicane was held. A total of 170 students from the 12th, 11th, and 9th grades, as well as 13 teachers, including a few B.Ed. Students (trainees) enthusiastically participated in the workshop.
Swami Sathyaprabhananda ji, a senior monk from Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama, T. Nagar, kept the students engaged with relevant and relatable quotations and anecdotes from the lives of Einstein, Kennedy, Nehru, Thiruvalluvar, Bharath Rathna APJ Abdul Kalam and Honourable President Murmu and Brave Queen-Rani Jhansi Bai.
Swami Apavargananda ji Maharaj, Editor of Ramakrishna Vijayam (Tamil monthly magazine of the Ramakrishna order), led a session for 11th-grade students, inspiring them with captivating success stories of schoolchildren who were initially very down in life, but who overcame obstacles in life to achieve great levels of success.
Varsha ji, an ardent volunteer and resource person for all our Life Skills/Value Education workshops, led a peaceful meditative session to help children better understand their thoughts, which was followed by fun-filled activities that taught the kids self-discipline, respect for hard work, and valuing fellow students for their inner worth rather than their external appearances.
At the end, all participants were taken on a guided tour of the ‘Experience Vivekananda’ Museum, where they saw ancient Indian heritage and Swami Vivekananda galleries, 3-D show depicting the famous Chicago speech, culminating in a 1-minute silent meditation in the very room where Swami Vivekananda had stayed for nine days in Feb 1897!