Media Release
Mangaluru, Feb 19: Mount Carmel Central School on Tuesday, February 19, hosted the first ever ‘Tinker Fest’ as part of ATL activity with a lively 2-day agenda of workshops and competitions.
The inaugural function was held on the school grounds. It began with a warm greeting by the compare Mrs. Leena, followed by a prayer dance invoking the blessings of the Almighty on the event.
Principal Sr. Melissa welcomed the gathering. She welcomed and introduced the chief guest, Capt Ganesh Karnik, former MLC, Karnataka Legislative Council and guest of honour Johnson Tellis, assistant professor and head of Initiatives and Strategies, Sahyadri Hub for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Mangaluru. She welcomed the other dignitaries, administrator Sr Carissima AC, PTA vice president Ryan Lobo, Shaila, staff-in-charge of ATL and all the participants and accompanying staff of fifteen schools of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts.
A ‘ROBO 2.0’ marched forth with the ‘Golden Scroll’ to give a ceremonial inauguration and tech start to the Fest. The dignitaries unfurled the scroll, declaring the opening of the events to follow.
Students Aaron Rego of class VIII A, Shristi of class VI B and Joshua Nathan of class VII A provided an overview of the different events and competitions planned for the day.
Guest of honour, Johnson Tellis addressed the audience. He began by asking the audience if they had heard about the ‘Maker’s Lab’ and went on to explain that it was the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a huge 10 crore set up in USA, from which ATLs derive their structure. Johnson, a dynamic speaker, drove in the message that the main idea of ATL is to “Learn by doing/making.” His advice to the teachers was to ‘not teach’ but to give the students the tools and let them work it out themselves.
The chief guest, Capt Ganesh Karnik also propagated a similar message when he said that schools should provide a learning environment rather than teach them. “What do we do with a child who is inquisitive, innovative, creative?” he asked, and endorsed the fact that ATL is to make students think higher and make them nobler and find solutions to the nation’s problems. To the students, his advice was “Change your attitude, make learning a joyful experience.”
Neema expressed her gratitude on behalf of the school fully charged with waves of passion ignited with energy at the inaugural function.
The first session of the day was by Johnson Tellis, assistant professor, Sahyadri College of Engineering. The interactive session by his team was on project ideas and product designing with hands on activities.
A Quiz on science and technology was conducted for the 15 teams where in five teams were selected for finals. St Teresa’s Bendore bagged the first place, Carmel school Pandeshwar second place and Mount Carmel third place. The afternoon session was by Keerthi, professor from KPT and her team. The model exhibition by a group of students of KPT was innovative, which showcased practical applications in daily life which the students could easily relate to. The day was filled with fun filled learning experience.