Media Release

Dubai, May 1: Three children hailing from Mangalore were awarded the UAE’s most prestigious Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for Most Distinguished Students. This award recognises the country’s top students for their contribution in academic and co-scholastic activities.

Brent Adrial Dsouza, Sparsha Shetty and Rithika Shetty were the 3 Mangaloean children declaredas winners in the category of Distinguished Students.The winners were picked by a judging panel of 56 people and were awarded in Dubai World Trade Centre on April 22.They were honoured by His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum , the Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Finance Minister of UAE,who is also the patron of the award.

Brent Adrial D’Souza, a grade 4 child of The Kindergarten Starters, Dubai has been an all-rounder excelling in both the curricular and extra-curriclar activities. He is truly a multi-talented child.He has worked as a child missionary to achieve this highly acclaimed award.

Brent is an active member of Environmental Group and have contributed immensly towards it with sincere efforts. His hobbies are collecting recyclables in an effort to keep a cleaner world. He also practices badminton regularly . He loves to dance and has taken part in several stage performances.

Brent was declared as the ‘PYMer of the Year, 2014’ for his contribution in the Protect Your Mom Campaign. In fact, as a young ambassodor , he holds the record of being the youngest child at the age of 7 years to carry the message of breast cancer awareness from UAE to India. He has knocked the door of every neighbour urging them to carry self-examination of breast every month.He has worked for the betterment of the society helping the less fortunates, yet the blessed ones.

Art is his passion. He has won several accolades at the local, inter-school and national levels.Brent aspires to become an artist when he grows up. Through his art he wants to convey the message ‘ Save our Mother Earth from destruction, protect the underwater sea-life and prevent global warming .’

Brent has made his family,teachers ,school,community and the nation proud. This award has motivated him to work harder to achieve his goals even while facing challenges. Winning this award has given him a platform to reach his unlimited ambitions.

SparshaShetty studying in Grade 4 of Indian High School Dubai has won the prestigious Sheikh Hamdan Award in the category of "Distinguished Student of the year 2014-2015'

Sparsha has been a Super Reader at her school since the age of 5. She is now recognized as a Vivacious Reader by IHS. In addition to reading she also has great interest in creative writing. Sparsha loves to write about Environment Protection and her articles have been published in several magazines. She is also a Spell-B talent. She has always been a great athlete at school. Has won several medals for athletics and her favorite sport so far is Badminton. In which she has been the school champion in her league for 2014.

Sparsha's special talent is dance. She has been actively learning classical dance since the age of 7 and has performed and won at various shows in UAE. Painting is a passion which is very close to her heart. And she has won multiple prizes and recognitions for her sketching and painting skills. She has also been part of organizations like Emirates Environment group and Green Hope where she has participated in several projects for UAE's environment protection and conservation of energy and nature.

Last but not the least Sparsha has been outstanding achiever in her academics at IHS. She has always topped her class and always shows great respect and joy for learning. Sparsha aspires to be a doctor when she grows up and hopes she gets to be part of the generation that finds a permanent cure for Cancer.

Sparsha says "My dedication, determination and thrive to achieve success have lead me to excel and win this prestigious award. Setting up certain goal and organizing your life to achieve them are key factors in life. The prestigious HH Sheikh Hamdan award is a highest point of excellence in one’s student life. It is a milestone and helps you to excel not only academically but also in extracurricular activities. It redefines the excellence by making you a responsible citizen not only in the school but also towards the social causes. It has taught me to dream big and how to make it a reality".

Born on May 27, 2004, Rithika Rajapala Shetty - the first daughter of Rajapala Shetty and Rajeshree Shetty – is a Grade VI student of Delhi Private School, Dubai.

Apart from aggregating over 95% in academics, she has won several awards in various national and international competitions.

Rithika’s interests include reading, dancing, swimming, skating, karate, basketball, mathematics and nature. She is a very talented dancer and has participated in and won several competitions within UAE.

She is an active member of ‘Emirates Environmental Group’ and ‘Green Hope UAE’. She is also a UAE and Environment Ambassador in student’s council of her school. She has volunteered in several charity events with Green hope UAE.She hasalso written many articles on various issues.

She aspires to be a Pediatrician while working towards education and welfare of the economically distressed children.

Rithika hopes to utilize this platform in spreading the virtues of saving energy and respecting the nature for providing a healthy, safe and green earth to the future generation.