Award Orientation Session at the Navrachna International School (NISV), Vadodara

Youth Engaging Society or YES is the way to go for fostering youth involvement in our country. The YES movement allows schools in different parts of the country to open their walls to the community around them. This allows integration of youth energy from the society through participation in the Award Programme. NISV joined as a YES Centre earlier last year and Principal- Theo D'Souza believes that young people today should be given an education that allows them to grow into all rounders and the Award Programme successfully encapsulates this.

The recent IAYP Orientation Programme held at the YES Centre NISV witnessed phenomenal adult volunteer participation from 11 schools in addition to a few young leaders attending the day long workshop. From the Prayer dance by Awardees to inaugurate the workshop, their presentation of IAYP at NISV to the variety entertainment and Award Ceremony towards the end captured some of the different initiatives undertaken by the students and the community at NISV to engage their young people.

YES Coordinator- Ashvin Patel has been the driving force of the Award in the school. The innovative service projects like the Saving Energy through the introduction of CFLs at surrounding villages, the Zoo Project and the Tree Project are just a few examples of how young leaders at NISV are engaging themselves in the community around the. His welcome address highlighted the vision of the Award Programme correctly.

The pre-lunch orientation session conducted by Sandeep Dutt enthused the Adult Coordinators to become better involved in their respective schools, existing Award Units and otherwise. Adult mentors are the core of a successful Award Programme and the orientation session addressed the many ways they can easily share their enthusiasm with their younger mentees.