Showing posts with label Arabia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Arabia. Show all posts

Thursday, May 9, 2013

School grades!

The kids at Karunya Mane just got their final grades for the school year (2012-2013, which ended in March). Here are a few highlights.

Adarsh, who had to repeat lower kindergarten, received all As and A+s this year and he'll be going to upper kindergarten this coming year (June 2013 to March 2014). Yay!


Surya did very well again in his elite English-based school, St. Francis. He ended up in 4th place in his 3rd grade class!

Surya (left) with his little brother Darshan
Shilpa, our girl who came to Karunya Mane at age six with no schooling, got an A+ average for the second year in a row!

Shilpa
Latha continues to struggle in school. She was allowed to pass 4th grade even though her scores did not merit the promotion because Indian law forbids schools from failing children, regardless of how badly they perform in school. We are currently searching for a teacher who can homeschool Latha for this coming school year. If you know an interested teacher candidate, please let us know.

Latha and her little sister Jyothi
Divya and Vijayalakshmi did very well this year, their first year in English medium (5th grade), with overall average grades of A. We thought they did well considering going from a Kannada-based curriculum to an English-based curriculum is like going from a French- to an English-based curriculum.

 
Divya and Vijayalakshmi

Next year, Pooja and Prema will skip a grade and go from 5th to 7th grade because they are older than their peers in class (they missed several years of school when they lived on the street and in the slum). They both did well in 5th grade, averaging A grades, and understand they have to work extra hard next year.

Arabia did very well in 4th grade, scoring A+s and As throughout the year, and will be going to 6th grade this coming year. Go Arabia!


Our oldest girl, Asha, passed 12th grade and will be starting her bachelor's degree this June. She's in the process of applying to colleges in Mysore -- stay tuned for more!

Asha
Harish, our 10th grader, also passed the nationwide 10th grade exam, and will start PUC 1 (11th grade) in late May. Harish, who lived on the streets before coming to Karunya Mane, went from 1st grade to 10th grade in five years. He started his education far behind his age and has worked hard during the past six years to graduate 10th grade this year.

Harish (left) with Manikanta, who passed 9th grade, and Sreenivasa, who passed 11th grade.
Our kids averaged an A grade, and they are all continuing their studies over the summer vacation with daily two-hour tutoring at Karunya Mane. The kids work hard at their schoolwork and really want an education. Let's wish all of our kids another excellent school year!

If you'd like to make a donation to help us cover our kids' school expenses, please do so at Donate Now! Expenses for one year of schooling are approximately US$92. Thanks for your continued support!

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Girls and karate

The girls had a karate test on the 24th of February, and did just great! Check out the photos from the event --

Manjula getting her orange belt; she started karate lessons at KM in 2010.
The girls (Arabia, Netra, Mamatha, Shweta, and Renuka) who got yellow belts. 
The KM girl's gang!
Pooja, promoted to a maroon belt.
Break time: Shwetha, Vijayalakshmi, Suma, Divya. 
Prema (front), the most advanced with a brown belt.
Shwetha, Renuka, and Vijayalakshmi going from white to yellow belts.
We are very proud that the girls enjoy their twice-weekly karate lessons and are learning the value of self-defense, particularly in India where violence against females is a major issue faced by women of all socio-economic classes.

Go girls!

If you're interested in supporting our girls with karate lessons, their lessons cost approximately Rs.800 or US$16 per week. Thank you!

Saturday, December 8, 2012

KM Boy and Girl of the Month - September, October, and November 2012


The boys and girls of the month at KM for September, October, and November are:

September - Shanti and Prajwal
October - Arabia and Razak
November - Arabia (two-time winner!) and Venkatesh

As their prize, Shanti, Prajwal, and Razak got to go to Anath's wedding in early November. Ananth is a good friend of our kids and arranges for them to go to summer camps every summer vacation. The three kids enjoyed their outing in Mysore, saw a fabulously glamorous wedding ceremony, and had a really yummy lunch! Arabia was unable to attend because she had a prior engagement working with the other 4th graders on an conversational English learning project with some friends from Chicago.

Razak, Prajwal, and Shanti (right) and Kruthi and Anath (bride and groom)

Little Venkatesh at the front of the line
Little Venkatesh has been with us now for almost a year, and he's attending St. Francis school in pre-KG. He grew up on the street with his grandma and we took him in at KM when he turned three years of age. He's very well behaved and quite healthy and strong, and loves to write on his little slate with chalk. Here he is waiting in line (first little boy in his blue uniform) to be taken to school in the morning.