CHENNAI: Around 2,200 students and 200 teachers from 44 city schools converged in St John's Public School (SJPS) for the inter-school cultural competition recently.
Rangoli fest 2014 provided an opportunity and platform for students to stage their talent. They competed in 13 skill-based competitions.
Classes 1, 2 and 3 participated in recitation, origami, grain art and fancy dress competitions.
Classes 4, 5 and 6 participated in Fetch- A word quiz, Expressoz (story writing), Step-Up (choreography) and blow painting.
Classes 7, 8 and 9 competed in Spin-2 Tune (group dance), Sing-Off (group singing), Strokez (object drawing), Artistix (T-shirt designing) and Gesturez and Movez (mime).
Dr R Kishore Kumar, convener of the fest, said that today's students needed different opportunities to express and test their multiple intelligences. Students should be encouraged and trained in their skill areas by both teachers and parents. He said that the fest was not just a cultural platform but an event that provided the scope to test the students’ scholastic knowledge, co-scholastic skills and extra-curricular talents.
All 44 schools were presented with a participation memento trophy and all 2,200 students were presented with participation certificates. Almost all the schools won some prize or the other but the dominant ones were Sun Shine School (Velachery), Velammal Group of Schools, BVM Global, St John's Matriculation Higher Secondary School and Pon Vidhyashram.
Based on the final tally Velammal Vidhyashram won the overall trophy and St John's Matriculation Higher Secondary School (Mandavelli) bagged the runner-up trophy.
Mohiniyattam exponent Gopika Varma inaugurated the two-day Rangoli fest by lighting the lamp. In her inaugural address she urged the students to pursue and explore the field of art that interested them.