Inventure Academy's counselling facility helps students beat exam stress- DNA

Inventure Academy's student wins the South Zone Sub Junior Golf meet

Challenges excite students of Inventure Academy and I am no exception. I was eagerly waiting for the South Zone Junior / Sub Junior Open Golf Tour, held at Trivandrum Golf Club, Kawdiar held from December 17th to 19th 2010.

The trip was great and the experience enriching as the golf course was very tricky and challenging. The icing on the cake was my win in Cat B (U- 15) and Cat A-B (U-18). While I stood 1st South Zone Sub Junior category, I secured 2nd Runners up position in South Zone Junior category.

My scores were as follows:

HOLE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 OUT 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 IN TOTAL

PAR 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 36 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 36 72
DAY 1 5 6 5 4 4 6 5 4 5 44 5 5 5 4 4 7 5 3 7 45 89
DAY 2 3 4 6 6 5 7 6 4 6 47 7 6 5 6 4 7 6 5 5 51 98

I am thankful to be a part of Inventure Academy and the sports teachers who train us year round and keep us fit.

Ahaan Bharadwaj
Grade 8B

High School Muse-ical with 200 students!

A high school musical with two hundred adolescents??? What were we getting ourselves into!!?? Well for starters dollops of enthusiasm, heaps of energy and an outpouring of ideas (much contrary to what we expected)! Through this process we have encouraged the children to experiment, encouraged them to enjoy and tonight, we encourage them to excel!

If this production started out as a blank canvas, the painting you will see on stage today has been plotted, painted and perfected by each child bringing their own special colour to it. And to make sure not a single stroke was out of place, they have been ably and patiently guided by their extremely talented teachers. But what's an artist without a patron? The management of the school has painstakingly provided time, space and the required resources to ensure that this painting will have a special place on the wall and we hope in your hearts!

This journey, has been a truly Magically one!
Deepthi Shetty & Arati Sunawala

Countdown to Inventure Academy's Muse-ical Magic has begun!!

`It was a display of amazing goals and excellent defence'- Under 13 Girls' Soccer Team

For months we had prepared for this event! Ever since the beginning of the school year in fact! I am not a very sporty person but after all that FIFA fever and because of my own will, I started to play more and more soccer. Finally a girl’s team was formed, with all my friends included:

1. Maya- Captain and mid-defense

2. Keya- Striker

3. Koodrut – striker

4. Sahana- defense

5. Tanya- defense

6. Neeti- substitute

7. Roshni- substitute

8. Anusha-Substitute

9. Drithi- Goalkeeper

We worked hard, learning many new techniques and practicing continuously. Everyone on the team was bent on winning and put all their effort and energy into doing their best. In the Dassera holidays, most of the girls came and sacrificed three days of holidays for intense practice! We dribbled around cones, practiced heading the ball, passed the ball to our team mates while running, penalties and much more! Throughout practice we thoroughly enjoyed playing felt ready for any challenges.

On the day of the match everyone was filled with mixed feelings of nervousness and excitement. As I got off at Greenwood High, I could feel Goosebumps and uneasiness run inside me. Lucky for us, there weren’t too many girl teams and if we won at least one match, we would manage to reach the semi finals.

The first match was against Vidyashilp Academy and they looked scary, but one shouldn’t judge a person on how they look but how they play. We tried our best and that’s all that mattered. Unfortunately or efforts weren’t as good as they could have been and we lost the first match 2-nil. Everyone thought about it and we decided that it was our first match as a team and we could have done better. We felt even more nervous because we had to win this match or it would be our ticket out of the tournament. The next day we came back, even more determined to really fight it out. We practiced through the entire breakfast time doing some passing. As once again we came onto the field, the smell of the grass and confidence in the air, we played much harder and with all our might.

Keya got a throw in and with her position close to the opponent’s goal; she knew that this was our ultimate chance to score! Keya threw the ball with all her might to Sahana. With the opposite teams players approaching fast, Sahana passed to Roshni who quickly kicked the ball … and it was a GOAL! The opponents’ goalkeeper looked surprised and didn’t seem to have been guarding the goal when Roshni kicked the ball in. Everyone screamed in delight. For the rest of the match, we all moved back to defend. The other team, DPS east never made a goal and we made it to the semi-finals!!!

We played the semi-finals against Greenwood High, the host school who did prove very formidable, but nothing we couldn’t deal with. A kick from Sahana proved that we were going to make it to the finals after all, giving us the goal we needed! The other team though had some fast players though and their captain played very well. Everyone was really excited but we all felt very pressurized because the finals were the next day. On the finals everyone played truly with their hearts. We played against none other than Vidyashilp, the team that had beaten us earlier. Nothing would get away with our victory and all of us played very rough.

Some memorable moves throughout all the matches were:-

1. Maya’s hard and high kicks along with her ace defense

2. Tanya blocking all the hard corners and her well timed kicks

3. Sahana’s amazing goal and excellent defense

4. Koodrut’s quick dribbling and reflex

5. Keya’s rapid passing and well angled throw ins

6. Roshni’s stupefying goal and fast feet

7. Neeti’s great defense and helping to block the opponents from scoring

8. Drithi’s awesome saves and clearing of the ball

9. I enjoyed playing defense and I tried my hardest to block the strikers and goal kicks

The opponents had very good defense and they had a petite but agile player who proved very difficult for us. There were two girls we cleared the ball every time we approached their goal. We did manage a few times though, to almost score a goal but their goal keeper was very good and well-trained, proving quite difficult. We played the entire match, without either side managing the throttle a goal inside the net. The penalties were the deciding result of the entire match.

We lost the match 2-nil because of the penalties as the opponent goalkeeper blocked very well (we tried pretty hard though). Everybody was upset but we knew that it was not a bad match we had played and that there is no shame in losing at penalties. It proved how well we had played during the rest of the match! We also appreciated it when Vidyashilp clapped for us and cheered telling us that we had played very well.

The awards ceremony took a while and when everyone had received their small trophies with a golden boot and ball inside the cup, we cheered with joy! We also got a silver bowl trophy because we placed second placed in the girl’s tournament! Everyone held it, smiles lighting up the faces of all, happy they had contributed towards this! I would like to thank my fellow teammates and our coach, Freddy Sir for coaching us so well! Getting this far is quite an achievement to us and the best part is seeing that we added to the vast collection of trophies Inventure already has!

Anusha 7B with Keya and Dhrithi

Inventure Academy makes a mark in `The Vistas 2010'

It was an inter school literary competition where the tussle was between 400 students who represented around 18 schools from across Bangalore. Needless to say Inventure Academy students made us proud again by succeeding in making a mark.

The Vistas 2010, an annual event organized by Innisfree House School, had the best of schools from Bangalore participating in their fest starting July 7th and spread over three days.

The events were aimed at tapping and encouraging the talent in nine to twelve year olds in areas like debate, creative writing and quiz.

Following were declared winners for the respective events:

Dhruv Bhatia - Second in Hindi Elocution (Jr)
Anishwar Sen- Third in Hindi Elocution (Sr)
Pratik Bhargava-Third in Hindi Debate (Jr)
Ankur Kela -Third in English Debate (Sr)
Samhita Ramji, Tarang Shah and Sohum Shenoy (team)-Fourth in Quiz (Jr).

Here’s three cheers not only for the students who officially won but also to those who enthusiastically participated without bothering much about the results.

Inventure Academy makes Best Film at BICFF

Inventure Academy won the award for the ‘Best Film’ under the Children’s produced film category of Bangalore International Children’s Film Festival (BICFF) 2010 on Thursday.

The competition titled `Make a film in 48 hours’ was organized by Ryan International School, Kundalahali and was open for around 20 schools in the city. The topic for the film revolved around Action for Green- with an aim of younger generation understanding the emission of green house gases, the main cause for global warming and there were 17 films which competed for the award.

Parthiv Shah and Akshay Bhamidipati who represented Inventure Academy, made a short documentary on `Life with Oxygen Masks’. `` There were four topics to choose from and we chose this as it seemed most challenging to us,” says Parthiv, a student of Grade 8 of Inventure Academy, who is all smiles after hearing the news.

The film is around 5 minute long and begins with showing life in 2020 where kids are leading a life with oxygen masks. In the flashback, we are shown the damage that vehicular pollution and industrial waste has already done to our environment.

``Message of our movie was to stop wasting more time in bringing about the `Change’ we so often talk about, and instead mobilize each other to working towards green world. Or else we have to be ready for our future generations to survive only with help of oxygen masks,’’ states Akshay, also a student of Grade 8 at Inventure Academy.

Inventure Academy, Head of School, Nooraine Fazal, says, ``I am delighted that the Inventurers took the opportunity provided by the Bangalore International Children Film Festival to develop and showcase their learning as movie makers and environmentalists.’’

``The win, is of course icing on the cake! Where our students had no specific preparation for the event, Inventure Academy in partnership with our parent body provides a very nurturing environment for students to identify, and develop their talents, and pursue excellence in their chosen fields,’’ she adds.

Click to view the movie- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SI9g78dZdTk

INVENTURING- A unique foundation program at Inventure Academy

A new academic session at Inventure Academy does not start with books, uniforms or in classrooms but with Inventuring - a unique foundation program aimed at cementing bonds between teachers and students, making new students comfortable and setting the key note for expectations at Inventure Academy.

Students engage in projects – both single and in groups – and experience first hand, the creative process, thinking-out- of- the- box and being active participants in a team. The hidden agenda is helping students realize their inner potential, making them believe in themselves, understanding ways of true learning and respecting interdependence.

“It is because there is no `One Way’ to get the best out of the children,’’ states Inventure Academy Head of Kindergarten and Primary, Shaheen Shafi, who has been the architect and part of this tradition of Inventuring since inception.

Designed on Howard Gardener’s theory of Multiple Intelligences and Inventure’s core values , the 2010-11 ‘Inventuring’ started with a daily schedule of students participating in four broad categories- Outdoor, Classroom Projects, Choice Time and Golden Time.

During Inventuring, each day started with an outdoor activity, like dance or sports, to kick-start mental and physical agility and facilitating team bonding. This was followed with classroom projects based on exploring Multiple Intelligences (MI) of students.

The classroom projects on multiple intelligences had larger themes like Colors Of Our World, Creative Sparks, Think-a thon under which students were tasks specific to their grades.

In Colors of Our World, students of grade 1 and 2 created pictures using cardboard shapes, grade 3 and 4 created a family using balloons, wool, paint, fabric and cotton. Grades 5 and 6 students created a chandelier using empty bottles, straws and paper cups. Grade 7 and 8 painted their groups to create a “people sculpture” based on a few topics/themes, and grades 9 and 10 had to create an installation based on the topic of the cityscape using the fabrics & card board.

Similarly under creative sparks, each class was divided into groups of five students who made an advertisement either on washing powder, shampoo, dog food, energy drink, tooth-paste and sell it in the most convincing manner to their peers and teachers!

Think-a-thon was equally fun as students in primary section were either asked to make a toy using plastic glasses and straws, make a card game and define its rules and demonstrate how to play, make a 3-D model of a house from a given floor plan.

``The activities of project, were designed to judge their logical thinking, functionality, creativity, variety, co-ordination, rhythm and stage presentation,’’ adds Shaheen.

``It was amazing to see the creative ideas in students and their conviction in presenting it as the best,’’ exclaims Ekta Bhasin a teacher of grade 5B.While students from smaller grades designed telephone, bells, bouncing balls and juice set for Barbie by using only five plastic glasses and straws, the higher grades students designed different phases of a space ship prior to its launch.

Classroom projects were then followed by Choice Time which would give students a choice of activity from options like sketching, climbing wall, mosaic art, gardening or cooking. The aim of having a Choice Time as part of Inventuring is to nurture individuality and give students an opportunity to explore different choices before zeroing in on what they are best at.

The Inventuring day wrapped up with Golden Time- an integral part of learning, where students’ reflected on their day’s learning and sharing related experiences.

`` My project on choosing natural elements to create music during Wild Wide World has changed my view towards my surrounding. I realized that even a few pebbles in a plastic bottle can create a beautiful beat,’’ says new student Aishwarya Hirve, grade 4 summarizing her understanding facilitated by Golden Time.

Curtains came down on Inventuring with a Sleepover for grades 3 and above during which students along with teachers stayed back in school for a night, a once-in-a year event. ``It was sports, bonfire, music, dance and good food on offer. Most of the arrangements were made by our school and it was only fun and activity for us,’’ says Tarang Shah of grade 5 B.

Students and teachers went around the campus, collected wood for the bonfire, and danced around on music, played games. ``While some used mattress provided by school, others got their sleeping bags and chatted till late in the night.

``This is what the aim of Inventuring is, to notice one child amongst many and to look at the world through his eyes,’’ summarizes Shaheen.

OBAMA OPENS DOORS OF CHANGE

On an icy January 20th,2009, Barack Hussein Obama took the presidential oath with his wife Michelle over the very same bible that Abraham Lincoln swore over.Over a thousand people thronged along Pennsylvania Avenue, wrapped in numerous jackets, sweat shirts and shawls to protect themselves from the biting, frigid temperatures.

While traveling to watch the inauguration, you could stop and purchase many Obama souvenirs. You could buy imitation Obama million dollar bills, Obama champagne, a comical Obama bobble head and even an authentic Obama periscope for peering over the heads of the crowd. Ninety percent of the people present at the inauguration ceremony were estimated to have to have purchased on Obama, at least one of a thousand assorted paraphernalia.

Obama and his wife Michelle, left their residence,Blair House at 8.47 am in a Cadillac – CTS I4 , stretch limousine for the White House.
The Obamas, along with their kids Sasha and Malia, met the outgoing Bush family at their doorstep. The outgoing and incoming presidential families then had a refreshing mug of White House coffee before departing together in two limousines.

Among the bigwigs present were Senator John McCain, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton along with her husband and former President Bill Clinton. Also present were George.W. Bush, father of the outgoing President.

While being sworn in, crowds were shivering and enduring sub-zero temperatures to see the forty-fourth president sworn in. President Obam, having taken oath , delivered a victory oration commemorating John McCain as a valiant opponent candidate.Obama laid down some of his intended policies that he would implement as president. He used powerful, far-reaching language to describe how he would combat terror.

Among the crowd were elederly veterans of World War 2. These people were of ex-members of the Tuskegee airmen, one of the most death defying, valiant air squadrons that ever existed. Obama quoted that his father, if he was still alive, would look back to 60 years where he was prohibited to drink from a white peoples drinking fountain.On January 20th,2009, Barack Obama, his son, was the forty-fourth President of USA..

-Tristan
Grade 8

Do you need a perfect username??

A few of my methods to find the perfect username for you.

Have you ever struggled with a good username? Thought about it hours and hours and still couldn’t find a good username to suit you and your personality? Or have you found one but it’s already being used? Well, probably these tips will end that struggle. This is going to be mainly about how to get a username. I’m on multiple websites that require an account, and have found pretty good usernames for each. If you can’t get one, try out these tips-

Let it match your personality

One of the most important things to remember. You would always want a username matching your personality, and what you are. Making up a random username that makes no sense to you and simply sounds weird in your mind won’t help. When you think of personality, think of adjectives. You could be happy, sad, angry, grumpy, tall, short, fat, thin, round, talkative, wierd, depressed etc. As my username says IamKrazy, it simply says I’m crazy! It’s a simple username, and you can do the same thing as well. For example, Iamhappy, 2sad4ever, reallygrumpy etc.

A username matching your personality could probably be the easiest way to get a good username.

Short and sweet can be the solution

No need to go for something long. As a matter of fact, short usernames help as well. Personality can come into play here as well. When I say short and sweet, it could be your own name, or a word that you use frequently.
A mix of random words that you know well
Always works. If your username is too long, instead of thinking of a new one, shorten the letters into a little thing. For example, if you want the name iamthebestintheworld you can simply take the first letter of every word and make it look like iatbitw, something that nobody else will realize, and most probably will not be taken. It will be your little secret. My email is ssfbb45, and all the letters are short for something.

A word that sounds cool

If there’s one particular favorite word you have, use it! It will sound cool to you, to your friends, and you’ll get a good username. For example, my username for this one account is virus02647, and virus is my favorite word. It gives me and my friends a good feeling.
It can be your own name
If you can’t find anything, put your full name there. As simple as that.

Add some numbers!

If you’ve got a good username, and it’s already taken, just add a few numbers that you can memorize. In my class everybody has a particular number. One of my friends has 361, other has 1023, and as for me, mine is 02647. I’ll remember that for the rest of ,my life. If you add numbers, most probably the word won’t be taken.
Those are all the tips I can think of, they will surely help you get a good username in the end.

Rohan Desai
Grade 8

Anybody having difficulty with squares and square roots? Your guide awaits.

I don’t particularly enjoy people going against me when I show off, but I have to say I am an absolute topper in my math class. Algebra, easy. Geometry, easy. Fractions, easy. Basic arithmetic, easiest. That’s why today I’m going to help with solving squares of numbers, and this a very easy method. Atleast it’s more easier than multiplying a number with the same number.
Now I myself only know the squares of numbers upto 25 by heart, and I’m only 13 years old. I’m not going to show off and simply dictate it. I’m going to give my method.

Here’s the tip
• Square of 1- 1
• Square of 2- 4
• Square of 3- 9
• Square of 4- 16
• Square of 5- 25
• Square of 6- 36

Take all these numbers into hand, and try to find a pattern. If you can’t find any, here’s a hint: subtraction. Look at the difference of 4 and 1. It’s 3. For 4 and 9? It’s 5. And for 9 and 16, it’s 7. Now, the differences are 3, 5 and 7. If you continue you will get 9, 11, 13, 15 and so on.
Got the tip? It is simply adding two more to the square from the previous square. If you didn’t understand what I just said, here’s how it goes-
Suppose you want the square root of 11. Simply use the method to get it to the square of 10, which is 100. That is, square of 1 plus 3 to get the square of 2, square of 2 plus the previous odd number used+ 2, which is 5, to get 9, which is the square root of 3. This method you can use till however long you please.
Now let’s get back to the sum we want to solve. The square of 11. By following the method, get it to the square of 10, which is 100. Difference between square of 10 and 9, 100-81 which is 19. Now you have the number 19. Add two to that, to get 21. Then you add that number to 100 and you’ll get the square of 11, exactly 121.
Pretty neat isn’t it?

Rohan Desai,
Grade 8

A New Adventure

A long story I had to write as an assignment when I was nine, turned out pretty good. Enjoy!!
It was about to be winter vacation, when our English teacher assigned a two thousand word narrative composition, entitled ‘A new adventure.’
When I heard it was about writing, I took out a pen and paper and got to work as soon as I got home. On the first day I was finished with half the story and it was of good length. I finished the work in less than 4 days, and the rest of the days I simply edited it. I’m going to be sharing it with the internet today. Note that I was only nine and it is nowhere near what I can do now. Just saying =P. Might be pretty long, but I put hours work into this, and I hope you like it. Here it is-
A New Adventure
Once long time ago, there lived a crony old man and a boy, in the middle of a jungle. The old man’s name was Norman Faraway. The boy’s name was James Faraway, and he was eight years old. Norman was a usual man with, unusual abilities. You see, Norman was a wizard, and James was his grandson. James was a lonely boy, because his only companion was his grandfather. James wanted to see the outside world; he wanted to have adventures in the outside world. His grandfather had forbidden James to ever set foot outside his jungle. Norman instead would create magical little boys so that James would have playmates. One night while trying to go to sleep, James saw a falling star. He quickly made a wish, to be in the outside world. This is a story of James and his grand adventure.
As soon as a wish was made, James felt himself slowly disappear and reappear in the outside world near the local streets of Chicago. James thought he was dreaming for a moment. He thought things like this don’t happen in real life, but he forgot that he lived in a magical house, in the middle of the jungle. When he touched the outside wall of a store, he realized he wasn’t actually dreaming. James loved it! He looked around and saw shoe shops, Donut shops, clothes shops, grocery stores, big trees, small trees, houses, roads with cars being driven, etc. He even enjoyed the smell of diesel!
He started crossing the street, but he didn’t know he should look both ways before crossing the street. He almost got run over by a car, and as the car drove by, the driver started screaming at him. James shook his head, because he didn’t know why the driver yelled at him. He was passing the Donut Shop, and the smell of fresh donuts, made James realize that he was hungry. He went in the donut shop and helped himself to a donut and started walking out the shop. The shop owner caught up to him and asked James for money, for the donut. James didn’t know what money was, and of course, didn’t have any thing called money. The shop owner told him if James didn’t have any money, James should work for him for the rest of the day and eat as many donuts as he wanted. James thought it was a wonderful idea and agreed to work for the shop owner.
Meanwhile, back in the jungle, Norman was getting worried. He didn’t know where James had gone in the outside world. Norman knew that James didn’t know anything about the outside world. He took out his magic mirror and asked the mirror to show him what James was doing. The mirror showed James surrounded by people and eating donuts very fast.
The shop owner finds out that James hasn’t been serving the customers and has just been eating donuts. The shop owner becomes very angry and fires James. James is shocked and he keeps thinking what did I do wrong? The manager told me that if I worked for him I could eat as many donuts as my heart could desire. Sadly he turned to leave the store with his head turned down. As he was walking out the donut shop James decided to go to the shoe shop.
When he reached the shoe store James was astonished! He had never seen so many shoes in his entire life! So he started to try all the shoes he could find. But he really didn’t like any of them. He even tried on a pair of girls’ pink Barbie shoes. Everyone in the shoe store was staring at him and a few were even doing small giggles. James was confused. Why is everyone staring at me? What did I do wrong? James was feeling a bit tired. He went out of the shoe store and decided to sleep. So he went to somebody’s house and went up the stairs. The father of the house asked.” What are you doing? Why are you going up the stairs of my house?!”
James ignored him and climbed up the stairs and went into the bedroom. He went to sleep in the mother’s big fluffy bed. James felt uncomfortable so he decided to sleep in the fathers’ bed. His bed was big and firm, just how James likes it. The father went into the bedroom. His eyes popped out when he saw that a stranger was sleeping in his bed! The father fainted immediately. James woke up a couple of hours later.
Meanwhile, in the middle of the forest Norman was very worried. He was wondering how James was. What if he had gotten kidnapped? He took out his ‘child sensing device’ and typed in James Faraway. He found out his location and how he was doing. He instantly took his magic wand and vanished into thin air. He reappeared in Nashville, in a place far away from where James was. None of his devices had any use now to find James. So there was only one way to find James… he had to look for him on foot.
James was getting a bit bored of the outside world. One of the reasons was, he was very lonely. James started searching for his grandfather. A few minutes later he realized that he was the only one. He had remembered that it was a wish that allowed him to get here. James was starting to feel sad. He was missing his grandfather. James left the house and started wandering on a busy street. He looked around. When he turned to his right he saw a tornado coming towards him. James started running, but it didn’t help at all. The tornado sucked James up and James went flying. He landed in the middle of a desert.” Where am I?” James asked to himself. He was stranded in the middle of a desert!
Norman had been looking for James everywhere. He thought about using his child sensing device. He tried and the response from the child sensing device made Norman faint immediately.
James was very hungry. He was also very scared. He looked around. He saw nothing except for desert plants like cactus and prickly pear. James saw an object coming towards him at great speed. It looked like an animal, but he had never seen an animal of that sort. As it came closer James saw that it was a human riding on a camel. James shouted,” Help, help!”
The camel came towards James and stopped at his feet. James starting talking to the man. He had white skin with curly brown hair and wore sunglasses. He had three piercings in each of his ears and was very tall. His name was Wallace. James had asked if Wallace could help him get out of the desert. Wallace nodded. James climbed onto the camel and they started off with a smile.
Norman had been looking for James everywhere. He called his black dragon called Razor. The dragon wasn’t that tall but was strong enough to fly to the Sahara Desert without any rest. Norman climbed onto the dragon and took off all full speed.
Meanwhile, James and Wallace were feeling tired. They had already traveled one hundred miles. James was wondering, is my grandfather coming here to rescue me and bring me back home? Wallace started asking James questions like, where do you live? What are your hobbies? Do you like your home? James was daydreaming. He decided to go to sleep. But he would be uncomfortable. He started thinking; there are all these animals like snakes and scorpions living down there. What if I fell off while sleeping and got eaten alive? He decided to stay awake.
Norman was about three thousand feet high. He was looking for a desert. He was right next to the Atlantic Ocean when he heard a BOOM! He went back to see what was going on and guess what he saw…
A three headed snake that was black with yellow polka dots, about forty feet tall was invading a town! The snake was chewing on a building. Norman had to do something about this. He took out his wand and chanted a few words in a secret ancient language. Then he said abra- kadabra- alakazam and then… the snake started floating in mid air and smash! The snake went flying across the sky. Norman was getting a bit weary and exhausted. He decided to stop at a city nearby. Norman went to the store and bought a few things like food and water. Norman looked at his watch. He had wasted two whole hours, saving the town from the forty feet tall snake. He called Razor and climbed onto him in a hurry and took of to find James. They took off and soon were on top of the Atlantic Ocean.
James had become very tired. He asked Wallace if they could stop for a few minutes and have a snack but Wallace replied with a frown. He had not had any food with him so they would just have to starve. Half their journey was over and they were both very tired, were starving, and were burning up. They decided to stop near a small lake and filled their stomachs with as much water as they could drink. The camel, who was also very tired, ate a few desert plants.
Norman was having a rough time. It had been almost a week since James had made that wish. Norman looked ahead. He saw a few buildings as they came closer and soon landed in the city. It was a city near the Sahara Desert. It looked much different than the United States. Norman thought that one of these people would know where James is, since this city was next to the Sahara Desert.
James and Wallace had no food to eat. Wallace saw a city ahead said to James,” wait here with the camel, I’ll go to that city and buy food.”
James was confused. What does he mean by “buy”? He was okay with waiting with the camel for about half an hour. Wallace started heading toward the city.
Norman took out a picture of James and started showing it to people. Hundred percent of the people responded by shaking their heads. Then as Norman was about to turn SMASH! Norman bumped into… Wallace. Norman got up and said sorry. Then he moved on. Then Norman realized,” Wait!” he said to Wallace. Wallace stopped in his tracks and turned around.” Have you seen this boy anywhere?” Norman said showing him a picture of James,” he is my grandson and I have been looking for him for days.”
Wallace’s mouth dropped open. Then suddenly he went crazy. He started jumping around and said,” I know him! I met him in the desert a few days ago! He has been with me all this time! I just came here to buy food for us! Follow me! I’ll take you to your grandson!”
Norman was feeling a lot happier now. He followed Wallace all that way. It was about ten miles from the desert. James was getting worried.” Where did Wallace go? He said it would just be half an hour! First it was grandpa, now it’s Wallace!”
James started to hear footsteps. James walked toward the sound. He saw two objects coming towards him. He could hear voices now,” James, James!” he heard. James gazed ahead of him into the distance. He noticed the first person. It was Wallace! James started running toward Wallace. He still couldn’t identify the second human running toward him! As they got closer James saw reading glasses, gray hair, checked shirt, it’s, it’s,” Grandpa!” James ran and hugged his grandfather. Then all three of them James, Wallace and Norman gathered and had a talk. Then Norman and James waved goodbye to Wallace and climbed onto Razor. Then Razor took off at full speed into the vast distance.

Rohan Desai
Grade 8 IGCSE

The Grammy’s-For the Inventure Music Buffs.........

The Grammy’s. The most exciting Award Show of 2010! We were even more excited since there were New artists who joined the Music Industry.
Beyonce won a total of six awards breaking the record for most wins by a female artist in one night. Artists such as Colbie Caillat, Eminem, Kanye West, Lady GaGa, Maxwell, A.R Rahman, Rihanna and Jason Mraz won two awards.
Taylor Swift won four, while Black eyed Peas, Jay-Z and Kings of Leon won three.
Taylor Swift’s ‘Fearless’ was awarded Album of the year.All in all watching the Grammy's was a lot of fun.

Sanjali Menon &Sumreen Sandhu,
Grade 8
Media Pod

Grade 8-Students Portfolio

Bhagvad Gita- Verbattle Debate Speech


Good day. My name is Tristan Stamets and I represent Inventure Academy. I will be debating the topic the “Bhagvad Gita is for Old People.” I shall speak against this motion.

Humanity is blessed with a few great books and stories, passed along through generations because of their eternal values. The Bhagwad Gita is one of these gifts of ancient and time-tested wisdom. It is the jewel of the great epic the Mahabharata.

The Gita’s core message lies in the conversation between Lord Krishna and the Pandava prince Arjun. Arjun hesitates to fulfill his duty as a warrior on the eve of the great battle of Kurukshetra between the Pandava and Kaurava clans. He says he would rather not fight than gain victory at the expense of causing mass bloodshed. Lord Krishna counsels him: Just perform your duty, without lusting for victory or agonizing about defeat.

This story is old, to be sure. But its wisdom and relevance is not confined simply to old people. Rather, the wisdom of the Bhagwad Gita is relevant to everyone. Truth, justice, honor, duty – the values discussed in the Gita still matter as ideals in our society today.

We gain valuable insight into our Indian heritage by reading how Krishna taught Arjun. His golden words can be an aid in everyone’s journey to success. Arjun may represent a doubtful and harrowed youth, struggling to live life, and Krishna may be a kind but firm mentor, who instructs him on how to be a good and righteous person.

Modern India still values the ideals of the Gita. In our legal courts, people take an oath to tell the truth with their right hand placed on a copy of the Bhagvad Gita.

If our political leaders actually followed the lessons of the Gita, by walking on the path of duty, India would be a model of good governance.



Arjun’s struggle to find his place and purpose in the world is an inspiration to all of us today. The Gita can offer us guidance in our individual journeys. This is especially relevant for young people, who face many choices in this fast-paced age of globalization.

Didn’t the Nike shoe company re-state the message of the Gita when it came up with its trendy slogan: “Just Do It!”? Does this message sound like it is outdated, or only fit for old people?

The Gita’s message is universal and timeless. It is relevant for both old and young. It is relevant to everyone in the world, in any country, in any era.

Tristan Stamets,
Grade 8

Moonwalking into History

Michael Jackson’s death shook the world. But it probably afflicted the Michael Jackson of India the most.

Prabhu Deva, inappropriately called “Benny Lava” after his English adaptation of one of his hit songs on the Internet.

Prabhu Deva must be one of his most devoted fans, he quotes:

“Michael Jackson is one of the biggest reasons for me to be the dancer that I am today. He inspired me like nobody else and I am shocked by his death.”

“People here do refer to me as the Michael Jackson of India, but I don’t know how to react to it. It doesn’t matter anymore given that he is dead now.
I still recall the time I got to spend with him when I met him in Mumbai. It happened, thanks to the efforts of Anupam Kher. We couldn’t talk much, nor did I get to perform on stage with him.
Yet, it is one of the most memorable days of my life”

I believe that for all his status problems, he was the world’s biggest prodigy for wannabes.

Tristan Stamets
Grade 8
Media POD