Posted by Arpita Shah, English Teacher, Middle School.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Get to Know the Classics!

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain

Heidi by Johanna Spyri

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

Peter Pan by Sir James Barrie

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne

Any other classic is also acceptable. Look for abridged versions that will be easier to read.

Challenge

Rooftop Astronomer:Story about Maria Mitchell by Stephanie Sammantino McPherson

The Cay by Theodore Taylor

Old Yeller by Fred Gipson

Hatchet by Gary Paulsen (any book by Gary Paulsen)

The View from Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg (Any books by him)

Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George

Little House on the Prarie, The Long Winter, or On the Banks of PlumCreek by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Lost in Red Hawk Woods by Megan Stine

Earthquake Terror by Peg Kehret

My Side of the Mountain or One Day in theTropical Rain Forest by Jean Craighead George

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

Frozen Fire by James Houston

Island of the Blue Dolphins, or Thunder Rolling in the Mountains by Scott O’Dell

The Tower Trick by Megan Stine

Rocks Tell Stories by Sidney Horenstein

Isabelle the Itch by Constance C. Greene

Slave Dancer by Paula Fox

The Double Life of Pocahontas by Jean Fritz

Snowshoe Trek to Otter River by David Budbill

Tornado by Betsy Byars

Sacajawea by Judith St. George

Journey to the Planets by Patricia Lauber

The Mystery of Mars by Sally Ride & Tam O’Shaughnessy

Bud Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis

The Watson’s Go to Birmingham by Richard Peck

Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiCamillo

Extra Challenge

Snow Treasure,  Marie McSwigan

Anna of Byzantium,  Tracy Barrett

A View from Saturday,  E.L. Konisburg

The Midwife’s Apprentice,  K. Cushman

Walk Two Moons,  Sharon Creech

Tangerine,  Edward Bloor

My Side of the Mountain,  Jean George

Tuck Everlasting,  Natalie Babbitt

Canyons by Gary Paulsen

The Last Warrior,  Suzanne Pierson Ellisen

Twenty One Balloons by William Pene du Bois

Super Challenge

Johnny Tremain,  Esther Forbes

Dicey’s Song, Cynthia Voigt

Devil’s Arithmetic, Jane Yolen

Freak the Mighty, Rodman Philbrick

True North, Kathryn Lasky

Shoeless Joe, W.P. Kinsella

The War of the Worlds, H.G. Wells

Where the Red Fern Grows, W. Rawls

Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Patterson (any books by Katherine Patterson)

Sign of the Chrysanthemum, Katherine Paterson and Peter Landa

Feel free to choose other books from any of the authors listed. You may also find other international and Indian authors you like. Happy Reading!

Posted by Rishi & Mugunthan, Middle School

Trees were walking day and night at the Isha Yoga Centre, between 19th February and 24th February, as the workers transplanted them from betel nut grove at the Isha Home School, as part of beautification of the new Chamundi cottages.

The trees were dug out along with the roots and the soil that held them. They were then placed on the tractor with the help of a crane. The tractors took the trees to the Chamundi cottages, where they were planted on areas marked for them.

The workers worked day and night transplanting 36 trees a day. Each tractor took six trees a day, one by one. Around 30 workers worked on the project during the day, and 15 workers at night. The cost worked out to be Rs.1200 approximately per tree.

When asked about the survival rate of the trees, Swami Achalapathy, the coordinator of the project, said, “90% of the trees will survive. The soil will be a bit different, but they will adapt.”

From an adult to a child, whoever looked at the trees on the move, a smile escaped their lips.

Posted by Sanjana, Middle School

The Middle School students of Section A are about to experience something they have never experienced before! They are going to perform a play, based on a story they’ve built on their own. This is a part of their yearly project, but to them, it’s more than that. It’s real!

The drama teachers are very keen on making this happen. Mr.Sanjeev Singh, also called as Jivi anna, shared “This is a one time opportunity for the kids!”

Although the students are acting really well, one obstacle prevents them from achieving their goal. “These kids are still struggling to memorize their lines!” said Swami Ekapada, head of the Drama department.

The crew and the cast have been working very hard towards their goal. Jivi anna said, “I’m really starting to believe their acting, but only at certain moments in the play. I’m starting to believe there’s a chance to put on this play. To be honest, before the last class we had, on the 16th of March, I didn’t think that there was a chance of making this play a big hit!”

The crew is getting ready to do the ‘Italian Run’ set piece arrangement process.

After the performance Sivanesh the assistant director and stage manager of the play shared “It was a wonderful experience working with Jivi anna and Swami Ekapada. I enjoyed being the assistant director of this wonderful play.”Another student, the actress Shreya.M, shared “I loved acting in this play, as the class had built the story, compiling all of our wonderful ideas, as well as taking out unnecessary ones. This play was a totally new experience for us!”

Posted by Rushabh, Middle School

The Manoranjitha United won against the Mandara Virans by 1 goal, in the football match held on 20th March, 2010, in the Isha Home School grounds.

The match was close and was concluded into a penalty round. At the end the score was 4-3. Rushabh scored two goals, Sivanesh and Varun Mathur scored one goal each from the Manoranjitha side. Naren and Guru scored one goal each on the Mandara side.

Unfortunately, a Manoranjitha player, Umesh, scored a self goal, giving a hard time for his team to equal the scores.

“It was a very close match. I got a bit nervous in the first half because we had only one goal scored and the opponent had two goals. But the second half was very good because we got some good advice from our coach, Mr.John, and we scored one more goal making the scores equal. Then in the penalty round we won. But if we had Ananth playing with us, we would have finished the match without a penalty round.” said Varun Mathur.

Posted by Pooja & Varun Sidharth, Middle School

A stunning Kalari performance by the senior school students was showcased at the Spandha Hall pavilion in the presence of Sadhguru and the residents of ashram on the 26th of February, 2010. They exhibited different forms in Kalaripayattu to entertain the audience and to show what they had learnt.

The students who performed had put in a lot of effort. They had practiced for ten days to get things right. “I felt that the high jumps were hard for me and I didn’t get it initially, but I still tried hard and finally got it.” said Siddharth, one of the participants. Another student, Prem, told us how he felt stepping on stage, he said, “I felt nervous and confident at the same time.”

One of the people who contributed the most for this magnificient performance was Mr.Sumesh, the Kalaripayattu teacher who had worked hard to put up this show.

The Spandha Hall pavilion was decorated very well with lamps and fire stands for the performance. The performance was followed by a guest dinner.

Posted by Mihir Lal and Shreyaas, Middle School

The class of section A was introduced to model UNEP as part of their Environmental Education project by their teacher, Mr. Toinu Elizah Reeves. They were divided into ten different groups, representing ten different countries. Each group consisted of two to three members.

The first debate, as part of UNEP, took place on March 20th 2010. The topic of the debate was whether genetically modified food was good for the society or not. Some of the groups were very enthusiastic about this debate, but many of the groups were still very confused as to whether they should support GM food or not.

In an interview with Mr.Toinu, he said, “I had participated in model UNEP in school from 9th to 12th Standard. I had a very empowering experience. That is why I wanted to introduce it here.” He also said, “It allows one to understand more dimensions than he or she can get from a text book and / or a discussion.

In an interview with one of the students, Sivanesh, he said, “I really like model UNEP since it is very organised and our teacher shows us how UNEP actually is. I learnt how to gather and present points through this exercise.”

Posted by Aurvind and Keran C E, Middle School

Gaiety filled the faces of the seniors of IHS as they shifted into their fabulous new residence Krishna Kamalam, on 28^th February 2010, to experience the facility.

The excited seniors had packed their trunks two days before and had eagerly been waiting to move into the new house. They felt great to stay in their new residence. Varun S., a senior student had this to share, “This place is a very good area to live in. The positive point is that we have a very big house and the negative point is that we have a house parent!”

All Seniors agreed that they have a lot of fun doing whatever they want to do. Rohit, a 10th Standard student said, “We study, sleep, play and enjoy.” Akilesh, a senior student added, “We have many problems such as power cuts, water and noise problems.”

All the inmates unanimously agreed that although they have problems, it did not affect how much they love the new house.”

Posted by Nickendra Manikandan, Middle School

27/3/10, 5:10pm: The Middle and Senior school boys of Isha Home School participated in a football tournament held on the school’s sport field. The match was another way for the football players to practice as well as see each other’s skills.

The Winners

The Senior boys won with a two goal lead, with the final score being 5-3. Both teams played well and stayed focused until the very end. “Though the Senior boys were larger and more burly, the Middle School boys didn’t give up and put up a really good fight,” said Snehaa.

Behind the Scenes

John anna coached the Middle school and Kai anna, the Senior school boys. They provided strategies and support for the players. “Without them, we wouldn’t be as confident in our skills as we are now,” Guru said, one of the football players on the Middle School team.

When Did they Catch Fire?

The game picked up in the second half with the Seniors scoring three goals and the Middle School scoring two goals.

The football players on each side were excited and ready for the challenge of playing each other. They wanted the entire school to come see them play.

Posted by Yogeeswari & Keerthana, Middle School

A mass tree transplantation project has been on at Isha Yoga Center, Coimbatore since the last week of February. It was initiated by the founder, Sadhguru. This mass tree transplantation project was started for several reasons. On the site where the trees were uprooted, the new houses for Middle School of Isha Home School are being constructed. The trees which were uprooted are being transplanted near the Chamundi Cottages, a new residential apartment building, and at other places in Isha Yoga Center.

In this project, approximately 150 trees are being transplanted. The person in charge of this project is Swami Nischala. The aim of this project is to avoid killing trees. The disadvantages of this project are that not many trees will survive and the biodiversity in that area may be partially lost. 50 percent of the trees that were transplanted may survive. If the roots of the trees weren’t cut or damaged, there is a possibility that the trees would survive and live to beautify the areas in which they are planted.

Most people think transplantation is definitely better than cutting trees down. Sukanya says, “There are better places to build houses, but if there isn’t, then, it is much better to transplant than to cut and throw away.”. One of the students Prashant says, “Transplanting may cause some problem to the tree, but we may not be aware it”. Samia akka a teacher at Isha Home School says, “It is a very good idea. There are places where you need more trees. One thing that everyone is definitely concerned about is a loss of biodiversity in that place”.

Posted by Sashwatha & Aishwarya Subbaiah, Middle School

Set amidst the beautiful Velliangiri mountains, lying nestled at its foothills of the Nilgiris, are the newly constructed Chamundi cottages. These cottages are the recently built residential apartments in the Isha Yoga Center, Coimbatore. The cottages will be officially inaugurated on the 1^st of April 2010.

The building is shaped like a rectangle. There are many beetle nut trees inside and outside the block. The building consists of three floors. Each floor has fifty five rooms. There are totally 165 rooms. Each room has a bathroom and a bedroom.

The blocks have been built for the residents of Isha Yoga Center and teachers and faculty of Isha Home School. “Since many people attend the programmes the existing cottages are full and booked for almost the entire year, so there is a need to accommodate more people. The residents in the current blocks will move to the new Chamundi cottages, evacuating the space for program participants,” says the coordinator of the cottage stay area.

People expressed their opinions about the new cottages. Varun a student says, “I like the colour of the building. It looks fascinating with trees.” Prashanth said, “Even though it doesn’t look like a five star hotel, it is functional and provides all the necessary facilities.”