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Strides Newsletter - January 2025 - Issue 223

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!

Trip to Trivandrum

EI-VRC staff went for an experiential trip to Trivandrum, where we visited Different Art Centre-an initiative by the famous magician - Mr. Gopinath Muthukad. Different Art centre educates and empowers specially abled children with various disabilities and expands the focus of training from concentrating on magic to art forms such as music , dance, drama , cinema making , painting and skills in various musical instruments. The center has developed around 200 differently abled children by showcasing their talents. It was a wonderful experience for the team to spend an entire day in the center.

ReWire Teachers Conference:

Ms. Lavanya Ashok, Co Ordinator of the Early Intervention and the Remedial Unit of V-Excel was one of the panelists for the ReWire Teacher Conference - Shaastra 2025 on the topic Creating inclusive classrooms - Practical strategies for empowering neurodivergent children in classrooms" conducted at IIT Madras on 5th January 2025. There were three other Panelists - a Principal, a Pscychologist / special educator and Coordinator and mentor of the Autism Training Academy. It was moderated by the Assistant Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, NIMHANS.

The discussion was based on inclusitivity of children with special needs - various strategies, the simplification and modification of curriculum and exams, shadow teacher need, orientation for parents, empowering teachers etc. It was a very informative and thought provoking session.

Kaleidoscope Learning Centre

From Shashikala Subramaniam's Desk

A Day of Community Building

Pongal, the harvest festival in Tamilnadu is usually celebrated very traditionally within the the school premises in KLC. This year, the teachers came up with an idea of celebrating it with community outside the boundaries of school. We had a family of one of our teachers Tamizhselvi, who graciously and generously offered to host the whole student fraternity and the staff on 10th January, a Friday on their farm on the outskirts of Chennai to celebrate Pongal traditionally.

So, we set out - 35 students and 24 staff, in the morning on a big bus and the School Van, to Mambakkam. The family had prepared their home and its surroundings to suit the comfort of our students, a welcome drink of lemon juice with jaggery, space to set up the pongal pot on a woodfire, materials needed for the poojai, hot vegetable biriyani with brinjal curry, continuous supply of water and the weather cool and cloudy.

They took care of each need of the students gladly. Once the Pongal was made, it was served hot to all of us. They provided bullock carts to take everyone on a short trip around the fields. The students enjoyed the day in the welcoming space and also the long ride on the bus to and from. We all reached school in the evening after a wonderful day. The family who hosted us were touched by the way the students carried themselves and offered us an invitation to come back any time we wanted to use their home in future.

It was truly a day to build bridges and bonds with the community, a step to make them aware and appreciate that they were children first beyond their disabilities.

Learning is ongoing for the teachers

The teachers at KLC take any opportunity given to them to enhance their understanding of the child and ways to work with them, to maximise the healing process for the students.

Avapanam Annual Conference 2025 – The Contemplative Journey of an Educator, between 3rd and 5th of January at Vidyasagar was attended by 4 of our teachers – Latha. Kavitha, Priya and Avila. They found this conference informative and helpful, and it reiterated some of the practices that were being done in school. Hariprasath, one of our students inaugurated the conference with his dance with Lakshmi Sudhakaran, which was well appreciated.

In-house learning is also a part of educating the teachers in KLC. Nitya, one of our teachers and an IRA student, held a session for the teachers on a Friday afternoon, where she explained the content of the Lecture 9, of The Study of Man, where imitation played an important role between ages 0 – 7 , Loving authority between ages 7 – 14 and Judgement between ages 14 – 21 in a child's life.

Lakshmi Sudhakaran, our senior therapy consultant, too worked with the teachers in bringing to their attention the Proprioceptive system and its related signs and how behaviours are indicative of sensory needs of the child, with simple easy examples.

Tarang for the month:

TWO IN ONE, performances by Suchitra and Rishipriya on vocals, with Advaith and Visswesh accompanying them was a wonderful Tarang music program this month. The highlight of the day was the felicitation of the artist by Meshach, one of our students, who finds it difficult to walk long distances. He carried himself well, slowly and steadily and climbed the steps to the stage with Monesh, our therapist, to felicitate the artist. He was encouraged by his peers, friends and teachers. It was a heartwarming moment for all of us at KLC.

Transition Planning for success

The Disha parents group meeting on 18th January, at Sharada, saw the interaction of parents whose children had set out into the world, and the parents whose children were in the process of setting out. Questions, worries, fears, were heard and discussed, suggestions made and received. Counseling of parents and students to reach a new understanding of how to go about it, stood out as the most important need of the hour. Many parents from KLC participated in this meeting and found it very informative and useful.

New Ventures – new learnings

At Nagpur on 29th – 31st January, in the Green Skilling Program, of Craftizen, training for the Trainers, production of Eco – friendly, craft-based livelihoods for adults with intellectual disability and under privileged women was held. Nitya from Chennai and Suvarna from Nashik, V-Excel participated. They will bring these learnings to their colleagues for a better future for the trainees who can work on the products.

Participation – a show of talent:

Javate 2025, special cultural, an inter – school competition for the special students is being held on 8th February, at lady Andal School, Harrington Road, Chennai. This is an annual event and KLC has been participating in it for the last few years. We have a contingent of 18 students participating this year, in various categories like art competition, singing, dancing, talent show, etc., practice for which has been happening.

The Golden Fruit

It is that time of the year when the seeds (Story) for the new Annual Day from KLC are sown by the students, developed by the director and it comes to form slowly scene by scene, character by character with the help of the other students and teachers and staff. Pon Harish, Aaqila and Akshayanathan are the co-authors of this play.

The next 2 months will be filled with the preparations for the D-Day which is April 5th, Saturday. Requesting all of you as friends and well-wishers of V-Excel and KLC to keep your calendars free to watch the play. Watch this space for more developments.

Satellite Centers

From Jayanthi Vishwanath at Nashik

Vocational Unit trainees visit Traffic Education Park for Road Safety Awareness - 9th January, 2025

On January 9, 2025, trainees from the Vocational Training Centre visited the Traffic Education Park, Nashik, for a road safety awareness session. Facilitated by Mr. R. G. Mane, the visit aimed to familiarize them with essential traffic rules.

Miss Shilpa, a senior trainer, conducted an interactive PowerPoint session, explaining safety measures like using helmets, seat belts, and avoiding mobile phones while driving. The trainees explored the park's traffic signals, road signs, and crossings, gaining hands-on learning experiences.

Videos and real-life demonstrations further reinforced the importance of zebra crossings, footpaths, and subways. The session concluded with a distribution of biscuits and group pictures, making it both an educational and enjoyable experience.

District-Level Sports Competition - 16th and 17th January, 2025

V-Excel Students shine at District-Level Sports Competition

V-Excel students have made us proud with their outstanding performance at the district-level sports competition for children with special needs, held on the 16th and 17th of January. Our talented athletes secured 19 medals, including 9 Gold, 4 Silver, and 6 Bronze in various categories such as intellectual disability and multiple disability.

They showcased remarkable skills and determination in events like the 100m and 50m running race, 25m and 50m fast walk, shot put, bucket ball throw, spot jump, and swimming.

Their achievement is a witness to their hard work, perseverance, and the unwavering support of their teachers and sports coach.

Republic Day Celebrations at Shri Agrasen Maharaj Bhavan - 26th January, 2025

All the centres of V-Excel, Nashik came together to celebrate Republic Day at Shri Agrasen Maharaj Bhavan. This seemed to be a good opportunity for our students to showcase their talent to the General Community. The event featured group songs by students from VLC, VTU, and BLA, inspiring speeches by Pratyush Bodke, Anushka Sonje, and Jay Jethwa, and a Casio performance by Anish Nemade.

A special highlight was BLA's street play on constitutional awareness, performed by all the students. The event was graced by Chief Guest Gautam Nag (Director of Indian Valves Pvt ltd.,) and Maheshji Agrawal (President of Agrawal Samaj), who appreciated the students' performances and the teachers' hard work and perseverance.

Winners of the National-level Rangotsav competition and District-level sports competition were honoured with certificates and medals. The celebration concluded with a South Indian breakfast and fruit distribution arranged by the Agrawal Samaj, making it a memorable and enriching event for all.

Visiting the families of Special children - 4th Jan to 27th Jan-2025

Visiting the homes of special children by the counsellor and educator allows them to establish trust and build stronger relationships with the family of the child in a comfortable environment. This rapport can lead to better communication between the teacher and the parent. It gives an insight on the beliefs and/or behaviour of children and caregivers or others in the caregiving environment, and to provide parenting skills. Moreover, it helps in fostering a sense of support for the family, and promoting the child's overall development by addressing needs within their familiar surroundings. This year our counsellor Mrs. Pradnya Apte, accompanied by the respective student's class teacher visited the homes of 19 different children of the special school. They encountered some unique experiences in some unexpected environment. Master Sarang travels to our school with his mom daily by Public transport, bus, from a village called Niphad, which is about 60km away from Nashik. When our team visited his home, they were surprised to see Sarang tending the cows in his farm and lighting the biogas stove. He was surprised to see his teacher and later welcomed them with a happy smile.

Craft training workshop at Nagpur - 29th to 31st January-2025

Craftizen Foundation conducted a 3-day eco-friendly craft training for trainers from 11 schools, covering flower processing, wax and paper products and diya painting at Nagpur. Our senior Special Educator Ms. Suvarna Kannadkar from V-Excel Nashik participated in the workshop and obtained the skills required to promote sustainable vocational training. The workshop concluded with a certificate distribution ceremony, empowering trainers with eco-friendly craft techniques.

Sarang Kambale Doing Activity at home

From Therapy & Learning Centre, Pandharpur

Sports Day - 31-Jan-2025

V-Excel Pandharpur held Sports Day at their center. On Sports Day they had games like lemon spoon, ball pick up and throw, balance walk, musical chair, candle blowing, cover and uncover the bottle . All the center kids took part. They enjoyed a lot and played well. We announced the winner and first runner up.

Solapur

Disha, District Coordinator visit - 16-January-2025

Solapur District of Disha project. Pawar Sir, the Disha, District Coordinator visited on 16th January to V-Excel Centre. He observed classes conducted by teachers according to curriculum according to the time table and how students were doing in the class. After visiting classes he conducted a meeting with teachers, gave suggestions to them about the lesson plan, discussed how we could improve and suggested to follow the manuals.

Visit of representative Premji Foundation - 20-January-2025

The representative of Azim Premji Foundation, Alina madam visited the V-Excel Centre on 20th January. She first visited our vocational training Centre, observed all classes and met students. She also interacted with the teacher.

Later she observed occupational therapy in the therapy room. She visited the school where their classes were going on. She interacted with teachers and asked for experience and information about students. She also attended one-on-one sessions of early intervention students.

Parent training Program - 25th January

A training program started on 25th January. This was ABA (applied behavior analysis). This training would be conducted over a minimum of 10 days. This was conducted by one of our teacher Ms. Ashwini Andhare. She explained the strategies of behavior modification of children, how to handle a child with ADHD, gives information about sensory issues, how should parents accept the situation and work on it. This training is very useful and will benefit parents when they are feeling helpless, are unable to understand what is happening to their children, and to handle their children. Parents attended the sessions and took advantage of the training program.

Celebration of Republic Day - 26th January

Republic Day is celebrated with much enthusiasm and energy at schools to teach students about the importance of patriotism. The aim behind the celebration is to instill a sense of pride and unity in students. The day is celebrated to commemorate the day when the Constitution of Independent India came into effect.

On 26th January morning 8 o clock, flag hoisting was conducted at the V-Excel Centre. All students and teachers saluted the flag and sang the National Anthem. One of our students sang a patriotic song, teachers conducted some activities like coloring the flag, a craft to make the flag.

From Anandam Special School, Ambattur

Greetings from Anandam Special School!

January 2

School started off for the III term. Students were gifted with water bottles and other necessities.

January 5

In the ‘Senior Citizen Support Forum Members' Family Meet, Grandma's performed dance. Our students who won the1st prize in the state level culturals performed a patriotic song.

January 6 & 7

The parents' teachers meeting was organized on 6th & 7th of January to get the feedback from the parents about their wards improvement.

January 11

Pongal celebration was organized by Rain Drops. Students, teachers, grandma & grandpa's from Anandam special school participated in the celebration at VGP Golden Beach.

January 13

The Pongal Celebration was organized with many activities at Anandam Special School. Parents' rangoli competition was conducted and they were gifted 1st, 2nd & 3rd prizes by the management. Children performed traditional dances, silambam and other cultural performances.

January 17

Teachers meeting organized to discuss about the next plan of action for the III term. Smt. Sumati Santhanam, our correspondent, gave her valuable suggestions and guidelines.

January 20

Birthday celebration was organized for the students & the staff for the month of October, November, December 2024, and January 2025. Cake was distributed to the students.

January 22

Entrepreneurship Awareness Program was organized for our parents by the management for job opportunities. Officials from MSME visited and briefed about the various vocational training programs available for the parents as well as students, which would help them for their future occupation.

January 22, 23 & 24

Some of our students participated in various events organized by MDA in the inter schools' competitions. They won accolades in the category of Music-solo & group, art from waste, Dance solo & group and recitation.

January 26

Republic Day was celebrated with the chief guest Mr. Mohammed Ali from Kavery Textiles, one of donors. Various songs, dances, drill, dumbbells and silambam were performed by the students of our school. The chief guest and our Trustee were given “God of honor by the school band”. Grandma's performed dance on patriotic songs.

Erode

• New Year celebrations

On this New Year eve, we conducted some fun games and dance for our school children. Our vocational students prepared greeting cards for all the students and staff. Warmly wished each other to have a great year ahead.

• Pongal celebrations

On 10th Jan 2025, as a part of the Pongal celebrations, we decorated our school with thoranam, kolam and flowers. Our students gave a cultural treat by performing group dance, villu pattu assisted by our staff and our traditional kummi dance. We made our students make molapparai (an age old custom of making sprouts using whole grains) and it was indeed a treat to see the green sprouts grown so well. The students danced (kummi) around the bunch of sprouts as a traditional tribute to farmers. We distributed sweet pongal and sugarcane to students, staff and parents also.

• Republic day celebrations

The celebrations started on 25.01.25 by remembering our great leaders and the constitutional laws (speech given by our teachers - each on one topic). Students wore National flags and performed dance for a patriotic song. One of our Vocational students gave a speech regarding National leaders and also described about the states of India.

• Train journey

On 22nd Jan 2025, we started our school tour with a one day trip in train to Karur, Thanthonimalai temple and Pasupatheeshwarar temple. Children with their parents and staff enjoyed the train travel. The students sang bhajans in the temple, the public also participated and all enjoyed. We provided lunch and snacks to all. We all with our children and parents thoroughly enjoyed the train journey and reached back safely.

From Outreach Remedial Center, Pollachi

Faculty Development program

Faculty Development Program was conducted by Mrs. Maya Suresh, Principal Vydehi Special School, Bangalore, for the remedial staff to improve their teaching styles as per the learning styles of students. The session focused on effective strategies for addressing the diverse learning needs of students, with practical insights on improving student engagement and understanding. Key areas such as differentiated instruction, active learning methodologies, and classroom management were covered. The program aimed at empowering the remedial staff to deliver better support to students and create a more inclusive learning environment.

Parent-Teachers Meeting

A Parent-Teacher Meeting was conducted under the guidance of Mr. Bala, Founder, Out Reach Educational and Charitable Trust, to discuss the academic progress of the remedial students who were scheduled to write their exams in the upcoming months. The meeting provided an opportunity for teachers to share insights into the students' performance, highlighting both strengths and areas that require further attention. Teachers and parents collaborated on strategies to ensure students receive the necessary support and guidance for effective exam preparation.The session emphasized the importance of continued engagement and focused efforts in the months leading up to the exams.

Pongal Celeberation 2025

We celebrated the Pongal festival with great enthusiasm and joy. The event featured various competitions, including Kolam/Rangoli for staff and traditional games like Pallanguzhi and Dayakattam for students. Students and staff also decorated Pongal pots, adding a creative touch to the celebrations. To sweeten the occasion, Pongal sweets were distributed to everyone, and the festivities concluded with a lively Kummipatu and a vibrant dance performance by both staff and students. The event was a wonderful display of tradition, community spirit, and fun.

NGM College – Internship Program

Students from Department of Social Work, NGM College visited our special school as a part of their field work to observe our students and learn about the different educational practices. During their visit, they interacted with the students and teachers and observed the individualized support program for students. The students of Social Work also expressed their appreciation for the efforts made in fostering an inclusive environment. The visit ended with a small discussion of their experiences and insights. This visit has helped promote awareness and understanding of special education needs among the future Rehabilitation Professionals.

OUTREACH SPECIAL SCHOOL Honored with Community Rehabilitation Award for Empowering Persons with Disabilities

We are deeply honored to announce that OUTREACH SPECIAL SCHOOL, Pollachi, has been awarded the prestigious Community Rehabilitation Award in the category of Organizations Empowering Persons with Disabilities. This recognition, presented by Dr. Shymala Naveenatha Krishnan, Chairman of Pollachi Municipality, acknowledges our dedicated work in supporting individuals with disabilities through direct intervention and Government school adoption programs since 2017. This award motivated us to continue pushing boundaries and striving towards our vision. We dedicate this achievement to our patrons, the V-Excel Educational Trust, Chennai and educators, parents, students, trustees, donors, staff, and all our well-wishers who have been part of this journey. It is a privilege for Mr. Bala, Founder, OutReach Educational and Charitable Trust, to accept this award on their behalf.

Abhyasa Kendra, Srirangam

Pongal Celebrations

Pongal is also celebrated as a thanksgiving festival for various Hindu deities. The festival of Pongal is held in Tamilnadu, particularly by the farming community as it marks the end of the harvesting season. The festivities begin with 'Bhogi' and the first day is considered to be a prelude to the celebrations that follow. 'Bhogi' is observed as a thanksgiving occasion to Lord 'Indra', the God of Heavens. The next day is the 'Pongal' day, which is celebrated to pay respects to 'Surya', the Sun God. It is the day of a new beginning and makes people go for joyful celebrations. As a mark of respect to the cattle, the farmer's best friends, the third day of the Pongal festival is celebrated as 'Maattu Pongal'. 'Kaanum Pongal' marks the end of the four-day celebrations.

We also celebrated Pongal in our center by involving all the students.

The Pongal celebrations started with our traditional Pongal song.

It was very heartening to see all the students eagerly taking part for the Pongal celebrations and did their best.

The Students and staff celebrated Pongal on January 13, 2025. Smartly dressed in colorful ethnic wear, performed many enthralling songs and dances. As part of the celebration, 'Chakara Pongal' was prepared in clay pots and distributed to the Parents, Students, Teachers, and Support Staff. The entire campus wore a festive look with colorful Rangoli, decorated Pongal pots, sugarcanes, and other decorations enhancing the festival spirit. The celebration began with a Prayer, followed by a message, which reminded the children about the importance of the harvest festival.

This celebration served as a platform to showcase the hidden talents of the students. Students exhibited Silambam, dance performances and the other children rejoiced and encouraged them.

Tirunelveli

Pongal Celebrations in our center

We celebrated Pongal festival on 13.01.2025. Parents and children actively participated and extended their support .The highlight of the function was the games that we organized for the parents and children. We have planned to make them narrate the celebration and also depict it through their drawings.

Introduction to farming

Our students have great liking for farming and growing plants. So, we decided to teach them the process of germination, sowing ,plant care, fertilization and also the collection of the produce from the plants. To begin with, we started with the germination of chilli seeds. We sowed the seeds, and asked the children to water them regularly and observe for the sprouting. Then we separated the saplings and made the children observe the growth and how the flowers turn into chillies. The children were so interested that they were waiting to pluck the chillies and distribute them to the staff. We have a few trees in our backyard that our students take care. We are planning to bring in more activiites related to this that will help in conservation of nature.

Bhagavan Ramana Center for Specially-Abled Children, Tiruvannamalai

Benefits of swimming for people with disabilities

• On the 7th of Jan 2024, a center for special needs children was started at Sri Ramana Maharishi Ashram in Tiruvannamalai, with the assistance of the V-Excel Educational Trust.

• In the first month, we started with two children. Soon, more consultations and admissions followed and currently, we cater to seven students.

• All the training activities conducted at this center are modified and presented to the students in an easy manner suitable for them.

• Every month, we organize activities related to festivals and customary outings for the students, and engage them in activities they enjoy at the training center (for example: nature walks, park visits, market trips, Kandhrashram cow shed)

• Activities such as Krishna Jayanti, Vinayagar Chaturthi, Deepa festival, Pongal, Diwali, New Year, and birthday celebrations are conducted at the training center for the students.

• Every month, with the support of V-Excel Educational Trust and Dr. Nitya Anand , we ensure that new activities, essential materials, and documents are maintained.

• Last month, we met the parents to discuss the progress of their children and also recorded parents' feedback in writing . It was heartening to see the positive comments of parents.

• At this training center, we are continuously working to improve and have introduced new activities that will help in their independent living skills.

• We all believe that we will soon be able to grow this center further.

V-Excel—SAF Special School, Kolapakkam

Greetings from V-Excel—SAF Special School, Kolapakkam!

We are happy to inform you that we have started our extended sessions for our children in Super Auto Forge, Kolapakkam.

Pongal celebrations: We celebrated Pongal festival in our center by engaging the kids in arts and crafts related to the Pongal festival; we also decorated our center with crafts related to the festival. Children came in traditional wear on the day of celebration. We educated our children about the harvest festival and the importance of our traditional values. They also learned all about the ingredients required to make sweet Pongal. We prayed to the Sun god, and the kids enjoyed the songs that we sang related to the festival. We were happy that Mr. Abuthahir and Mrs. Sumathy from SAF joined us for the Pongal celebration and exchanged sweets with our children.

Republic Day celebrations: As a part of Republic Day, we taught our children about our national symbols and our tricolor flag. Art works were done by them, and we sang “Kodi Paattu” and the national anthem.

Vocational Training Unit

From Charumathi Sriram's Desk

Last month of the year ‘December' 2024 which is always a fun-filled month with celebrations. World Disability Day, Christmas, New Year Eve and overnight stay at centre, a forerunner to our Annual Trip .

December Bazaar On World Disability Day, 3rd Dec 2024 @ Sharada, V-Excel

VTU was part of the December Bazaar where we were given the juice counter and product stall. Trainees were assigned in both the stalls with the teachers. We prepared soup, herbal juice and buttermilk in the morning and sold at the counter. Trainees had good social skills by interacting with the customers who visited our stall. Overall, we had a good response full day.

NGO Conference At Grundfos On 3rd Dec 2024 At Thoraipakkam

Charu and Usha attended the CSR NGO conference in commemoration of World Disability Day 2024 at Grundfos premises organised by Grundfos India Pvt. Ltd our CSR partner. They had panel discussion of differently abled and neuro diverse from various organisation and their experiences were shared. They recognised the V-Excel team along with other NGO's.

Overnight stay – on 6th dec 2024 @ Sreyes, VTU a trail blazer for annual trip

As our annual trip had to be planned during academic year, we always have a trial overnight stay locally. This year we had planned for 10 new trainees for an overnight stay at our center which is familiar for them to adapt. This project is done every year before we plan for the annual trip. Basically, to observe the trainees' ADL's and other possible challenges which would help us to identify any issue before including them for the annual trip.

This year we had selected 10 trainees who attended the usual day at VTU on 6th Dec 2024. They stayed in the center that night. Next day, on 7th morning, they had their morning routine and continued in the training center. On 6th evening they were taken to the award function, by Margazhi Mattram, at BVB, where our Founder Director Dr. Vasudha Prakash, received the prestigious award for her contribution to the community. Trainees and teachers had delicious dinner at Mylai Karpagamabal mess at Mylapore. Trainees who were fussy in eating enjoyed and were able to ask for more items. They slept at the center where all arrangements were made and next day had breakfast and delicious lunch. For most of them it was a first time experience leaving their parents and staying outside with new friends and environment.

* Usha, Charu and Mani coordinated regarding the Annual Trip to OOTY in the month of Feb 2025. They selected trainees based on the report by the teachers during the overnight stay.

* Charu was assigned by Usha to prepare progress report of each trainee. A template was created and Charu started working on the report with the help of IPP.

Christmas And New Year Celebration At VTU On 30th Dec 2024

VTU celebrated Christmas and New Year eve this year in a very different way. We invited Mr. Aditya Kamakshinadha, Music Therapist who came and had an amazing interactive session various variety of percussion like Djembe, Maracas, Congos, Tamborine, Cajon, Timpani and many more. He was able to understand our trainees and made them create natural sounds using their hands. He also spoke about communication through music. Each trainee was made to use the instruments following his body gestures and hand. This increased listening skill and maintained eye contact to follow the rhythm.

Vocational activities/functional academics/therapy/counselling

Vocational activities

Tailoring:

• Tailoring unit team stitched bags and patterns for the December Bazaar. Trainees cut the materials using templates.

Craft:

• Trainees made paper rolls and created pen stand and calendar for gifting all management and unit heads in the new year.

Functional academics/therapy and counselling sessions:

• Uma had group sessions on Christmas and New Year celebrations

Therapy and counselling:

• Vasanth had his group and individual sessions

• Jayadevi met parents for this term and individual sessions for trainees and trainers

Youth Empowerment Services

From Gayathri Suryanarayanan's Desk

Key highlights for the month of January 2025

• Participation in the Margazhi Matram inaugural function at the Auroville, Pondicherry.

• Participation in COSTAA Conference 2025

• Pongal celebration

• Disha meeting

• Choir performance

• Preparation for the NGO conference

Participation in the Margazhi Matram Inaugural function at Auroville, Pondicherry

On 04 January, 7 trainees from YES (Chennai) and 2 staff members participated in a beautiful choir performance led by Dr. Sudha Raja and Sargam Choir at the Sri Aurobindo Auditorium in Auroville last evening as part of their Margazhi festival celebrations! Trainees were given medals and certificates as a token of appreciation.

Participation in COSTAA Conference 2025

Dr. Sudha Raja of Sargam Choir gave an inspiring lecture-demonstration on "Choir Pedagogy and Accessibility" at COSTAA Conference 2025 at IIT Madras Research Park, Chennai. She spoke about the therapeutic aspects of music and her involvement in training individuals with special needs. Ms. Gayathri Suryanarayanan of V-Excel also shared the inspiring journey of trainees in the inclusive choir.

Pongal celebration

YES team celebrated Pongal festival on 13 January in a grand manner. The whole place was decked up with flowers and rangoli. The small Vinayagar temple in the premises was renovated the previous week by the YES team. Trainees and trainers joined hands in painting and decorating the walls, cleaning up the sanctum sanatorium, and cleaning up the surrounding place. On 13 January, the celebration started with a small puja in that temple. Fun activities started with a kolam competition for the male trainers who teamed up with a few trainees to show their talent. This was followed by so many interesting fun games, both indoor and outdoor. Celebrations for that day ended with native dances like kummi and kolattam.

Disha Meeting

On 18 January, Disha forum meeting was organised at V-Excel's head office. The topic chosen was The Next Chapter – Transition planning for Success. The concept of the transition process was widely discussed, and parents expressed their feelings and emotions openly. YES parents, both existing and parents of placed trainees attended the meeting to share their views, experience and to support the forum. Parents of placed trainees shared a few vital strategies that helped them overcome their challenges with respect to taking their son/daughter to the next level in life and this gave a lot of hope to the other parents. This meeting was organised by the YES team, led by the coordinator.

Choir performance

Six trainees along with one trainer from YES participated in the choir performance as part of the inclusive Sargam choir led by Ms. Sudha Raja, at the Anna Centenary Library, Chennai. This was organised by the American Consulate to mark the Martyr's Day.

Preparation for the NGO conference

YES, team came together to get things for the NGO conference, Voices Unseen. The conference was planned for 01 February 2025. About 175 registration kits, 25 gift hampers, and 175 conference badges were designed and made in YES. Each registration kit included a Wiro bound notebook, thank you card, feedback form, federation form, a pen and the agenda. All these items were packed and delivered at the venue on time.