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Strides Newsletter - August 2023 - Issue 206

Counseling & Assessments

From Radhika Sasankh's Desk

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Early Intervention and V-Excel Remedial Centre

From the staff of Early Intervention and V-Excel Remedial Centre

Greetings from Early Intervention and the Remedial Unit!

14th August - Independence Day was celebrated with our children in a simple manner. Children were taught patriotic songs. As part of Independence Day, Activities were conducted for the children.

Free Screening Camp at Olcott Memorial School

As part of our Outreach program supported by "Chola MS General Insurance" a screening camp was conducted in "Olcott Memorial School" on 16th, 17th, 18th August 2023. As part of the program. Teachers' sensitization Program was conducted by Ms. Lekshmi Ramesh. The intervention for both Therapy and Remedial was conducted for the students in the age group of 3 to 9 years. It was a three-day screening camp. Reports and interpretations were discussed with the teachers. The number of beneficiaries of the screening camp are 102.

Assessment camp in Dr. Jeyasekharan Medical Trust

We are very happy to inform that The Early Intervention/V-Excel Remedial Center of V-Excel Educational Trust got an opportunity to conduct an assessment camp for 12 children with special needs identified by the Pediatricians and Occupational Therapists of the Dr. Jeyasekharan Hospital. This was conducted on 28th and 29th of August by the EI/VRC team.

Dr. Jeyasekharan Hospital and Nursing Home was founded by the late Dr. N. D. Jeyasekharan in 1965 . It is a Multispecialty Hospital offering Quality Medical Services with reliable diagnostic facilities and 24-hours Accident & Emergency care. Over the years the Trust has grown, new facilities and specialties have been started, making it a hospital of repute in Kanyakumari District and Southern Tamil Nadu. This is a 200-bed multispecialty, secondary level NABH and ISO accredited health care institution. They have a PMR department with Occupational therapy, Physiotherapy, Speech therapy and Yoga therapy.

Today it serves as a referral Centre and NBE accredited post-graduate institution. It also offers Nursing and Paramedical courses.

We are very grateful to Dr. Renu Devaprasath and her team for the hospitality and support extended. We also had discussions on our further plans and are sure of extending V-Excel services to more and more beneficiaries.

Online session for the Tatapower employees

As a part of PAY AUTENTION - an initiative by Tatapower for the awareness and sensitization of Autism, Ms. Lekshmi Ramesh conducted an online program on 31-August-2023. It was attended by 140 employees of the Tata power community. The audience was very receptive and were eager to know more about neurodiversity and how to become a champion for people with Autism.

Kaleidoscope Learning Centre

From Shashikala Subramaniam's Desk

August: Love is Freedom in utmost faith – Rokith.

Freedom to be with friends, known adults, unknown adults and in public places, being like any other child or adolescent, enjoying the sights, the food, the parks, boating, eating in restaurants and other day to day activities are all made possible for our students through their curriculum and its related activities.

Kindergarten and Grade 3 students and teachers visited the Chetpet Eco Park. They played happily in the merry-go-round, slides and swings and enjoyed the walk around the park. The highlight of the trip was the boating. All the children enjoyed the boat ride and did not show any anxiety while getting in or coming out of the boat, neither were they disturbed during the ride.

They visited Parthasarathy Temple at Chepauk, in relation to their Krishna Block, enjoyed going around the temple, the attention they got, the prasaadam they ate and the Van trip.

Kindergarten and Grade 3
Chetpet Eco park, Chetpet
Boating
Parthasarathy Temple, Chepauk

The students and teachers of Grade 4,5 went to Kapaleeswarar Temple on 1st August. This was a field visit as part of the block. It was an extremely packed day at the temple. It was an auspicious day of Aadi Sevvai where people came in hoards to visit Karpagambal and pray to the Punnai Maram or Sthala Vruksha. It is said that it was near the Sthala Vruksha, that goddess Parvathi prayed in the form of a peahen to seek blessings from Lord Shiva and remove the curse on her.

Even though, the temple was packed with devotees, the children had a wonderful darshanam of all the deities and saw the different places within Kapaleeswarar Kovil, like the gopurams, the punnai maram, the goshala etc. We also took the children for lunch at Vasantha Bhavan which is in the East Mada street. The children walked all the way from the temple to the restaurant, observing the streets, its names and things that were being sold around. The tank with water to its brim and a few ducks swimming inside was one of the main attractions for most of the children as they looked in awe at the way the ducks swam together from one place to another. Beyond an academic experience, this was a very significant visit for the children. They were calm and composed in the crowd. Many of them extended a warm hand of friendship to the people they met at the temple which was reciprocated with equal warmth. The children ate at the restaurant with ease. The younger lot got their food first; however, it was amazing to see how the older and bigger children patiently waited for their food and ate.

They visited the Santhome Basilica and Church at Santhome. These visits were related to their main lesson of Geography where they learnt about Chennai and its important places.

Kapaleeshwarar Temple, Mylapore
Lunch at Vasantha Bhavan
Santhome Church, Santhome

Senior School too had their trips in relation to their main lesson of Andal and Mira – Padmanabha Swamy Temple, Adyar, Kesava Perumal Temple, Mylapore, lunch at Vasantha Bhavan and Senganthal Poonga, Gopalapuram where they had pre-ordered lunch.

Padmanabha Swami Temple, Adyar
Lunch at Vasantha Bhavan, Mylapore
Senganthal Poonga, Gopalapuram, where they had lunch too.

The second edition of the Tamil Nadu International Kite Festival (TNIKF) was an exciting event organized by Global Media Box in collaboration with the Department of Tourism Tamil Nadu. This exhilarating festival took place from 12th to 15th August 2023 at the picturesque TTDC Ocean View Mahabalipuram. There were more than 200 kites from renowned international teams, who showcased their artistic and acrobatic skills in the skies of Chennai.

Theme: This year's festival is themed as "Aquarium in the sky: Save Marine Life, aiming to raise awareness about the importance of preserving our oceans and marine ecosystems. Seven students from KLC with adults attended this Festival on 12th August and enjoyed the experience.

Padmanabha Swami Temple, Adyar
Lunch at Vasantha Bhavan, Mylapore

Learning about the local traditions, festivals, celebrations – the stories behind them, the method of celebrating it, why it is celebrated and how it is celebrated are enjoyed by our students. In this month of "Aadi or Aashada" when the Goddess Shakthi is celebrated for her Grace, benevolence and protection during the difficult days, comes Aadi Perukku or Pathinettam (18) Perukku. This festival is celebrated to show the gratitude to the mother nature and monsoon god for providing uninterrupted supply of water, in Tamil Nadu, pray for the good harvest in monsoon and prepare special food and various varieties of rice. Different varieties of rice were made and sent to school by the mothers and after a small pooja in the morning, a feast was had by them in class.

Vocations play an important part in senior school as a curriculum and for the health of the student. When the result of their hard work is visibly seen by them, it is even more rewarding. Gardening in the area around the school compound took lots of planning, hard work to implement it and consistent care during the rainy days. But the result of it was amazing to see and feel. A short picture story...

Visit to the Nursery to buy plants, seeds, pots and working implements for Gardening.

Sowing seeds on the cleared area by students under teachers Karthick and Priya supervision.

Sprouting seeds and the result – healthy, organic Molai Keerai (Spinach)

The journey through covid has been a difficult one for the entire world. For the parents of children with special needs it was even more difficult as they found their lives change abruptly upside down. While as a community we were helping each other, but it was the physical meeting that many were longing for. And this was the reason for organizing the 'Parent's Day Out @ KLC'. A reason to just celebrate the parents, let them relive their childhood with simple games, craft work and lot of interaction within themselves. The intention was to bring a relaxed and rejuvenating time for all the parents.

The young teachers of KLC, who call themselves 'The Youth Brigade', organized just the right kind of games and craft work. The day started with a small ice breaker game that put every parent at ease with each other. Then two very lively games were played which brought out the child-like spirit in even the oldest of the parents. A snack in between gave the much-needed time for parents to speak to each other and get to know each other. The day ended with a colourful craft work, where parents used a twine dipped in colours to create a magical design on chart paper.

Almost all the parents went home with a broad smile on their faces, many felt this was a much needed and timely get together and they all longed to meet in such a manner. A parent who could speak only in Hindi, left a note saying that it was one her finest days in a long time. She felt she truly laughed and smiled after a long time. Many parents felt such a meeting should be organized at least once in three months and not just for parents but also for the siblings of the children as it will bring the community closer and more aware of the challenges.

Independence Day, like every year, was celebrated in school with a theme based on Hariprasath, our senior school student’s poem – 'Our song of Freedom'. Click this link to view.

Tarang for the month of August included dances on both Lord Ganesha and Lord Krishna and his antics, performed by students of Nritya Samsrti, on the theme Nandhana Ganapathi and Nandana Krishna at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. It was enjoyed by the students.

Mahalakshmi Rajan, one of our teacher's son Vedesh got married to Aishwarya, at Dhakshin Chitra. Many of us attended the reception and a few attended the wedding the next day.

Radhika Sashank, our counselor conducted an interactive confidential group workshop that provided a safe space for cross learning and sharing on many issues, primarily adolescence and its issues, and issues related to puberty which our children are unable to express and how to work with it. It was open to the parents of our students who are just entering puberty in the age group of 13 – 16. It was well attended, and the parents found it very helpful in working with their children.

Feedback from a parent: Thank you for organising it! It was a really informative session. More than that it was really nice to interact with the other parents.

Independence in their life, where they can take care of themselves as they grow up, is one of the main objectives of KLC for the students. To bring about this we include individual cooking skills into the program of our students. Vishal, one of our senior school students has been learning to cook Lemon Rice and Cucumber Salad under supervision. Here is his presentation of Lemon Rice to one of our staff.

Onam @ KLC, this year was a celebration of colours in reverence of Vaamana, the 5th Avatar of Vishnu. The organizing teachers Sindhuja, Latha, Karthick came early to decorate the place in the traditional way, bringing the true flavour of Kerala. The celebration started with music, as children from each grade took turns to place different coloured flowers in the kolam. The story of Onam was narrated by Sindhuja. Sai Nikhil, a student of Stirring hearts dressed as Mahabali and Arya Sarathy, a student from the kindergarten dressed as Vaamana, graced our celebration in a divine way and were the highlight of the day. The whole celebration ended with a traditional Kerala dance by the teachers.

Raksha Bandhan, celebration of the unbreakable and special bonds between one another. Though earlier it was mostly celebrated by the sisters tying the Rakhi on to their brother’s wrist, times have changed. This promise of being there for each other is stronger in the ever-changing stressful life that we are living in. Every class celebrated Raksha Bandhan in KLC and it was beautiful to see the reverence, the love and the commitment in this.

Krishna Jayanthi – the birth of the natkhat Krishna, brings in a week of celebrations in KLC. The children begin transforming into little and big Krishnas full of joy, cheer, being naughty and enjoying the well-planned celebrations in school. The Krishna week started on 30th August and will extend till 8th September. The classrooms are converted into different places of Krishna’s life story at various stages of his life, from Gokul to Dwaraka and some depict stories of his life.

In relation to this many celebrations are planned -

A cow, Krishna’s favourite being a cowherd himself, was invited to school, welcomed with turmeric and kumkum and flowers and fed with luscious greens by all the students under the supervision of teachers.

The celebrations will continue till 8th September. Keep a watch!

Satellite Centers

From Jayanthi Vishwanath in Nashik

1st August, 2023 - Annabhau Sathe Jayanti

Annabhau Sathe Jayanti was celebrated at VLC to pay tribute to a well-known social reformer, folk poet and writer from Maharashtra. He was a follower of Dr Ambedkar's teachings and fought for the uplifting of weaker section.

9th August, 2023 - Tribal day celebrated at VLC

International day of the world's Indigenous people also known as World Tribal Day is observed every year on 9th August to raise awareness of challenges faced by this people and to promote and protect their rights around the world.

Adivasi Divas

15th August, 2023 - Independence celebration by V-Excel, Nashik

India celebrated 77th Independence Day on 15th August 2023. The theme for this year was 'Nation First Always First' to focus on national unity and development.

This year V- excel, Nashik celebrated Independence in a garden near VLC. The feeling of patriotism was spread with 'Swachata Abhiyan – Clean India Mission' by cleaning the garden. Staff of all the three centres and BLA students with their joint efforts accomplished the task to initiate healthy India by making the environment clean. The garden was cleaned and decorated with tricolor ribbons, flowers, patriotic rangolis and banners with quotes. Students with their enthusiastic performances glorified the celebration

Performances by Students

Chief guests were welcomed by the students by performing Lazim activity performed on rhythmic music beats of big drums famously known as 'Nashik Dhol'.

Children from VLC paid tribute to our community helpers like doctor, nurse, teacher, postman, farmer, policeman by their lovely role play.

Students of Bridges learning academy sung group song on patriotism and delivered speech on the topics like 'Struggle and Bravery of freedom fighters' and 'Achievement of India in science, technology and space exploration since 1947'.

VTU students performed a group dance.

Independence Day

Felicitation of Students

Students of VTU now the Newly recruited employees of NMD company were welcomed and felicitated.

NIOS students of Bridges Learning Academy received their well deserved Certificates issued by NIOS - National Institute of Open School for various levels of Open Basic education.

16th August, 2023 - Consultation and assessment for children with special needs @ Disha Physiotherapy Clinic

Consultations for more than 20 children with special needs were done at Disha Physiotherapy Clinic, Ahmed Nagar by V-Excel Nashik team headed by Regional Director Jayanti Vishwanath along with counsellor Pradnya Apte in collaboration with Disha Physiotherapy Clinic, Ahmed Nagar. 4 Team members along with Regional Director Jayanti Vishwanath went and more than 20+ connsultations done for children with special needs.

Ahmed Nagar Visit

19th August, 2023 - Paint a Dream event

Wall painting activity by Hausla NGO and Winjit technologies for V-Excel students.

Hausla NGO in collaboration with Winjit Technologies presented 'Paint a Dream event' nurturing the creativity of the enthusiastic students of V-Excel, Nashik.

It was an interactive and fun initiative activity to spread kindness through colors and love.

Coloring by Hausla

29th August, 2023 - Raksha Bandhan celebration at all the three centres

Raksha Bandhan was celebrated with full zeal and endeavour that one associates with this auspicious festival.

Children came in traditional attire enthusiastically to celebrate Raksha Bandhan . The main objective behind celebration was making them aware of the virtuous bond of love between brother and sister.

The new age Raksha Bandhan emphasis both Sister and Brother protecting, helping and loving each other for a better tomorrow.

Raksha Bandhan

Erode

Independence Day is celebrated with pomp across the nation by Indians around the globe. It is a reminder of the struggles that won us our liberation from the British Raj after nearly two centuries, the sacrifices made by the leaders, the freedom fighters who laid their lives to win Independence, and more. This year being the 77 th year of Independence,we planned to celebrate it in a grand manner involving our children.

The following were the activities done:

• A quiz program for Pre voc students was organized based on the important facts about our nation.
• The Primary group students were involved in a play that had a message of saving trees.
• The Early Intervention group did a meme to demonstrate the need for keeping our environment clean.
• One of the staff members gave a speech on our national leaders.

Our unit head, Ms.Lekshmi Ramesh along with Mr. Sivaprakash, our HR Manager visited Erode on as a part of the quarterly visit. Ms. Lekshmi Ramesh gave us training on the use of VAPS, an assessment tool for understanding the generic skills of the Pre Voc students.She also did individual parental reviews. We also had a discussion on the therapy materials for the center. The individual goals and the time table structure and the related activities were also discussed. We also visited Dr. Arunkumar, a pediatrician who has agreed to refer children for therapies and assessment.

Success story of our Student Ahamed Suhail

Ahmed Suhail aged 19, has been coming to us since 2018. He was diagnosed as having mild cognitive difficulties , Poor Academic skills with occasional seizures for which he was on medication. He was under the care of his mother, a single parent, and Suhail was one of the twins. He had behavioural issues like tearing cloth when angry, pulling hair and had sleep disturbances. He was watching TV and mobile for long hours.

An assessment was done and we started working on him. Therapy was given for his behaviour concern Calming activities like painting was given. Training was also given for his functional Academic skillls like Money, Time, Number skills etc. He was on individual sessions but joined our full day program when he was dropped out from his school.

We could see him improving and co operating well. After around 4 1/2 years, he has now got a job in a wholesale shop as the godown keeper. He also helps with other daily chores and is happy.

We are in constant touch with him to help wherever he requires us.

Solapur

Visit of Disha District Coordinator - 3-Aug-2023

Disha District coordinator Manoj Pawar sir visited our Centre on 3rd August 2023.we welcomed him with respect and love. Pawar sir visited every classroom of early invention, a display of activities held in the classrooms, relating to curriculum. Sir observed that method of teaching as teachers follows the disha manual. He took photos of students while doing activities. And also he visited our vocational training Centre, he gave a demo to teachers about how to train the students. He also addressed the students to be creative and have good knowledge of training given by teachers.

Opening of Vocational Training Centre

V-Excel Educational Trust is happy to share that our Vocational Training Centre was inaugurated on 4th August 2023. Vocational education given to students to prepare that students to gainfully be employed or self- employed with requisite skills. Sunil Baldawa sir who donated all the vocational training set up to our Centre on the memory of his late mother Sou. Shakuntala Purushottam Baldawa as her first punyatithi.It shows his interest towards students who can succeed in their life. Which is also a big responsibility towards social work. We are very thankful to his support and help.

His family members and relatives attended the function. And they also visited our V-Excel Centre. Sunita Vaidya mam explained about teaching methods and about therapy, and how it brings change in children. Also she said that after getting trained or education from our Centre children are got admission in normal school. On this day we started our new Vocational training Centre. Students are trained to become independent, gain self- confidence by putting their talents to use and earning an income.

Independence Day - 15-Aug-2023

Freedom in the mind,

Faith in the words

Pride in our soul

Let’s salute our nation on this auspicious day

Independence Day was celebrated with great enthusiasm and respect at our V-Excel Centre the school decorated with flags made by children and green white, saffron balloons. The students and teachers came in white colour dress. Ceremoney started at 8.30 morning on 15th August 2023 with crowed of staff students and parents. Our Chief guest Dr. Sanjay Deshpande Urologist unfurled the tri Colour Flag and all in unison sang the National anthem and expressed the joy of our freedom.

Our chief guest addressed some words about our Centre and also on independence Day. Our students Avadhut gave speech on freedom fighters some other students gave dance performances on petriotic songs. One of our students Kshitij sang a petriotic song. At the end sweets were distributed to students indeed it was day of joy, love and respect to our country.

Naagpanchami - 16-Aug-2023

Naag Panchami celebrated in our V-Excel Centre on 16th August 2023.This festival is about the worship of Naag Devata, women kept fast and gave milk to Naag Devata they do pooja of Naag. Girls put mehndi on their hands and play merrily on the swing and also play fugadi. Our students went on with snake making activity and kite making activities to complete their involvement with the celebration. Early ancient people believed that Naag(snakes) are worshiped as Devata. People go to snakes pits and offer milk to them and they pray. The Motto of celebration of festival we should love all animals and make students aware of culture and festivals.

Information about monthly scholarship for a disabled person - 23-Aug-2023

There was a meeting on 26th August 2023. Municipal corporation officers Basavaraj and Biradar sir visited our V-Excel entre. We welcomed them with respect and felicitated the bouquet as a token of love. Biradar sir gave information about what documents are required for this application of monthly scholarship for disabled persons said Adhar card, Ration card, UDID card and joint account lastly disabled certificate these are necessary documents. Basavraj sir explained how to apply online for this scholarship he given demo on computer and share the link that parents can apply easily online. Some parents asked queries and they answered all questions shared information about the Disability certificate will get in civil hospital and more.

Both officers explained to parents why this scholarship is important and how it helps in further studies and in future also. They made Aware about this monthly scholarship and said that utilize this for their children. Also requested to give this information to your near and dear once, and spread it as much as possible. So the main motto of this meeting is to make sure parents take benefit of this monthly scholarship for their disabled children .They made Aware about this monthly scholarship and said that utilize this for their children. Also requested to give this information to your near and dear once, and spread it as much as possible. So the main motto of this meeting is to make sure parents take benefit of this monthly scholarship for their disabled children.

Celebration of Raksha Bandhan - 29-Aug-2023

Schools are the most baised places to learn about different cultures and Tradition and practice them. We celebrated raksha bandhan on 29th August 2023. Raksha bandhan is celebrated in day of poornima which comes in august the name of raksha bandhan suggest the bond of protection. On this auspicious day brothers make a promise to their sisters to protect them from all harms and troubles and the sisters pray to God to protect their brother from all evil.

Rakhi making activity was conducted in all classe students made their own rakhi’s using material like thread, beads, and decorative items. Girls tie Rakhi to boys and boys gifted them sweets. This celebration created a cultural atmosphere and all students participated very enthusiasmly.

Abhyasa Kendra, Srirangam

We are happy to inform you all, that our Vocational Unit Trainee Ms. Saiyuvashree D. is placed in Eswari Cool Drinks Shop, Thiruvanaikoil, Tiruchirappalli.

Her Condition: Intellectual Disability

Trainee Saiyuvasree has learned the skills required for the following vocational training in this academic year (2022 - 2023).

Functional academic skills are Exchange of 50 rupee notes, Using punctuation and capitalization while writing a paragraph, Learning traffic signal and rules, Writing leave letter, Exchange of 100 rupee note, Understanding sentences, Professional skills, Follow up in a specific situation, Increasing the speed of work, Ability to understand a task and complete it, Performs assigned tasks without disturbing others.

Professional skills are Use a sewing machine to sew pillowcases and bags, Making greeting cards, Produces Ilavadam, Posting of bills, Maintaining material inventory, Preparation of sambar and rasam powder (end to end process)

Craft work are Preparation of white powder to design Rangoli, Painting the lights.

Trainee Saiyuvasree participates in vocational training class with great interest. Engaged and self-motivated in kitchen activities (powder preparation, leaf vadam preparation and baking). She is now ready to be emloyed according to her abilities.

From Outreach Remedial Center, Pollachi

August 15,2023 was indeed a proud moment for all of us @ OutReach, we celebrated our 77th Independence day with our guest of honour Smt. Valliammal, SubInspector of TamilNadu Police, All women's Police Station, Mahalingapuram, Pollachi.

Many thanks to our faculty who took lot of efforts to train and our students, who participated in the Tamil and English speech on freedom fighter's and cultural activities like dance and drama.

Inspite of their challenges, they performed well... and have proved that they are differently abled!

Embracing differences!

Building a strong and a neuro inclusive society!!

Jai Hind!!!

From Ananda Karuna Vidyalalyam, Ambattur

Greetings from Ananda Karuna Vidyalayam!

July 28th to 31st: Students and teachers had the opportunity to visit Thiruvaiyaru and do the guru Pooja at Saint Thiyagaraj Sannathi and singing songs with the music teacher Mrs. Hari Priya Ramesh.

August 1st Speech therapy started for students

August 7th Orange Day Celebration

August 15th Independence celebrated with a flag hosting followed by cultural programmes by our students in the presence of chief guest Mr. Senthil Krishnan Senior Managing Director & Global head, Al, Accenture.

August 17th Sports Meet organised by Special Children Sports Academy @Perambur Railway stadium students won medals and certificates.

August 21st Students entertained the grandparents with variety of programmes and games were conducted for Patt’s and Thatha’s on the occasion of International Senior Citizens Day

August 22nd Executives from Infosys visited the school and lunch was provided to students by the KYM yoga instructor

August 26th Students participated in the sports competition organised by Rotary Club of United Chennai at STADS. 30 Students were participated

Youth Empowerment Services

From Gayathri Suryanarayanan's Desk

Key highlights for the month of August-2023

• Vocational training, Counselling and Therapy activities

• Silambam and Yoga training

• Visit by Alphabet school students

• Independence Day celebrations

• Enable India Specialisterne Project

• Chocolate order for Hexaware

• Onam celebrations

• Admissions

Vocational training, Counselling and Therapy activities

Vocational training has been going on according to the schedule. Trainees show a lot of interest in small assignments and that helps us while working on orders. Day schedule is also being followed properly so that no trainee is idle. This works on channelizing their energy in a productive manner. Trainees who are in the training group are also actively and willingly participating in all the activities.

Counselling sessions are happening quite regularly. Group sessions for both male and female trainees happened to address a few key behavioral issues. Trainees were forth coming is sharing their viewpoints. Individual counselling sessions were also held. A few parents were also met for review and counselling.

Therapy sessions are happening regularly. Therapist Mr. Vasanth has also been observing vocational training and helping the trainers with suggestions and tips to make sure the endurance and efficiency of the trainees improve along the way.

Volunteer visits have been happening and on 4 August, we had a pottery session for our trainees organised by the Take A Step volunteer group.

Farm visits are happening, and trainees are enjoying the same.

Silambam, Archery and Yoga training

Silambam and Fitness trainer Mr. Kumar has been coming every Wednesday and Friday. Fitness program happens on Wednesdays and it focusses on brain gym activities, body flexibility, rhythm and movement and meditation. On Fridays, Silambam practice sessions happen. 10 trainees who are part of Silambam learn both the footwork and hand movements.

We see great progress in the yoga sessions. Flexibility and focus have improved tremendously, and trainees are easily able to follow instructions. The meditation with appropriate mudras also helps them calm down and get ready for the day.

Archery practice is going on. On 13 August, we had a review session with the archery trainer Mr. Balakrishnan. The progress of each trainee was reviewed and focus area points were also discussed. Progress sheet was prepared and added to their IPP.

Visit by students from Alphabet school

On 16 August 15 students along with 2 staff members from Alphabet school visited YES centre. This was part of their community outreach program. Students took a tour of YES, interacted with the trainees and later we also had Q&A session for them. They clarified their doubts regarding special needs and asked a few questions about V-Excel. They showed keen interest in being more inclusive and even raising funds for this cause. They were gifted with chocolates made by our trainees.

Independence Day celebrations

As always, YES celebrated Independence Day along with the other vocational centre at Adyar. From YES, trainees performed a dance, a skit and choir singing. They were all neatly dressed in white and happily pinned our national flag. The flag was hoisted by former YES trainee Sujai Balasubramanian, who is currently interning at Novotel, Chamiers road. It was a moment of pride and great happiness for the whole of YES team.

Enable India Specialisterne Project

As part of placement activities, we are working on a tie up with the Bengaluru based NGO, Enable India and we are part of their project, Specialisterne. Through this project, individuals with special needs will be given job readiness training for 8 weeks (about 2 months) followed by a possible internship for 6 months. Candidates were invited from outside of V-Excel and interviews were conducted in YES. Totally 12 candidates were shorlisted including 4 from V-Excel. This training will commence tentatively from the second week of September

Chocolate order for Hexaware

The order for 500 packets of chocolates with 12 pieces in each packet, was successfully completed and delivered to our CSR partner, Hexaware technologies. Each packet also had a tag with the logo of V-Excel and the cause it is associated with. 9 trainees were actively involved in this production along with 3 staff members. Trainees were involved right from making the chocolates, wrapping process, packing, printing the tags and attaching the tags.

Onam celebrations

Onam was celebrated on 28 August with a beautiful Kathakali pookolam. Pookolam was made by our trainer Divya with the help of all the trainees and a few trainers. It had come out beautifully.

Participation in the sale for Grundfos employees at Four Points by Sheraton

YES participates in the stall on the Family Day event organised by Grundfos at Four Points by Sheraton. All the products from YES were exhibited and we got good reviews and revenue from this sale.

Birthday celebrations

Trainees Akshaya, Vaisha, Vidya, Skanda celebrated their birthdays in their way and style.

Admissions

We had 6 enquiries, 3 consultations and 1 admission in the month of August.