I went to National English School in Gopalapuram, Chennai/Madras from my kindergarten until my 6th grade. It was one of the best things that ever happened in my life. I remembered something in my 5th standard recently and I thought I would blog about it.
NES as it was known then was very rigorous with monthly exams to test learning and knowledge etc. I was an OK student in my class until my 4th grade. And 5th grade came. In my first monthly exam, I had failed in all my classes. That was not a good thing. My mom totally freaked out.
Mohana Chandrasekharan was the principal of the school and was a strong willed woman who ran the school very well. My mom came to school and check on me with the principal and the teachers. I got called in to the principal room which was not a good thing.
I go in and see my mom with all my teachers and the principal. The principal then asks me to open my notebooks and sure enough I don't have anything written down. She then asks one teacher each day to monitor me while I catch up with my notes and make sure that I was reading and studying what I was writing down after classes.
This went on for a month and every day a teacher would stay with me while I caught up after classes.
I was monitored for a couple of more months. The habit of taking down notes, reading and studying them helped and by end of the year in my annual/final exams, I was fifth in my class. From the bottom of the barrel to the top 5 in a class of 40 was nice indeed. I surprised a whole bunch of people with that.
That practice helped me throught my academic life from NES to CIT and to Texas A&M.
Thanks Mrs. Chandrasekharan.
Mahesh
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3 comments:
I was also shaped by the care and love of Principal Mrs. Mohana Chandrashekar and Vice Principal Mr. Charles Dhanaraj at National English School. I was pleased to see your post, and would agree wholeheartedly with your post. I completed the CBSE program in 1976, and thanks to the excellent academic training, managed to pass the IIT entrance exam. I now live in San Jose California.
Yes Mrs. Mohana Chandrasekharan was indeed a great Principal and very approachable too. She used to come up so many innovative ideas and she was strict when necessary and very kind all other times. She used to give us invaluable tips during our Morning assembly after the school prayer and team song.
Sriram
I also went to NES, started in 8th standard and completed 11th standard in 1976. Mrs. Mohana Chandrashekar is my mentor and idol. I enjoyed her interactions with me. She took a strong liking to me. It was an honor to have received my most formative education at her school, with Vice Principal Mr. Charles Dhanaraj as my English teacher. It was the rigorous training that prepared me for IIT Madras entrance exam which I passed with a high rank and my B.Tech degree there.
Since I was only the second batch of high school, we were only 7 students. The previous batch was only 3 students. There was a huge vested interest on the part of the school administration to get these two classes on a very high profile success and we got exceptional teaching. I remember both classes were combined into one, and as a result, my class finished all our course work one year ahead. This allowed us to revise and prepare very well for CBSE, and I completed the exams with four distinctions. The school made a big announcement at the next school day, honored me, and gave Rs. 400 award - Rs. 100 for each distinction. What is more, she mentions me as one of the best alums to following classes - which I came to know after meeting a few of the subsequent year students.
Myself and my family are eternally grateful for the amazing attention and education I got there. I now live in the Bay Area, and visit my school and teacher Mrs. Nirmala Doraiswamy in T. Nagar. I am also in touch with her sister, who is in the US in Kansas.
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