The Banyan

14th February 2019

11 E Class Newsletter
SPORTS

New Council Sworn in at GWH SCHOOL

On the 14th of January, 2019, our office and were then given the Arpit Bhate
School held its Investiture badges and sashes respective to Alekhya Bhat
Ceremony for the academic session their posts. Flags were handed to
Soham Mishra
2019-2020. The Ceremony was each of the captains - a glorious
Sannivas Reddy
held to usher in the newly elected sight. SPORTS
council members and to swear
them into their respective offices. After a concluding speech by the Reshma Ramesh
The Principal of Greenwood High, school’s Principal, the ceremony Jahnavi Keerthi
Mr. Aloysius D’Mello, and the IB came to an end with a huge round Aakanksh Bhat
Diploma Coordinator, Ms. Poonam of applause, followed by our Urvish Ramaiya
Dahiya, presided over the event. school song and the National
Anthem resonating in the
The ceremony was held on a auditorium.
Monday morning and was
commenced with the lighting of the The Investiture ceremony signifies RUBY
lamp by our principal. Following the reliance and confidence that
the school bequeaths in the newly
2019 Ayush Shrivastava
this were the students’ pledges to
hold the school motto in high
esteem. Speeches were made by
invested office bearers. Donning
the mantle of accountability, they
Student Ashish Priyadarshi
Ritu Havaldar
Pranay Periwal, the School Captain
of the academic session 2018-2019,
pledge to bestow their duties to the
best of their abilities. The newly Council -
elected council exited the stage not
and by Arpit Bhate, the newly
elected School Captain. The entire only as students but also as Greenwood
student council took their oath of representatives of the student body
and the school itself. High IB EMERALD
Kashish Arora – Topaz House Captain and Netflix Addict Sadhika Rao
Ankith Ratakonda

Inside View SCAN.

TOPAZ
Mansi Kaushik

Kashish Arora
READ. Akhil Vajjhala

Survey 2
REPEAT. Sushant Guha
This is a nex-gen SAPPHIRE
Interviews 3-4 newsletter. For
behind the ShrutiSrikumar
Shruti Srikumar
The Speeches 5 scenes, exclusive Adarsh Srinivasan
Adarsh Srinivasan
Point Of View 6 articles and
more, scan the
Pranav Dawar
Sports 7-8 QR codes with a
phone.
Chillax! 9-10
 Survey
2

Greenwood Votes!
11 E conducted a survey to figure out what actually got the students to vote for their leaders.
And the results are not what you would expect…

A common misconception among the students is that popularity is what determines a candidate’s spot in
the student council, and that students always vote for their friends. Our team conducted a survey to find
out what the real reason behind each student’s vote was.

For school captain, the data in the
graph below shows that 50% of
voters voted for the candidate that
they felt were the best fit for the
post, rather than voting for friends,
which 26% of people did. The third
most common reason, with 18%,
was that they were moved by the
candidate’s speech.
In the case of house captain votes,
the reasons were more diverse.
Although “best fit for post” still led,
this category was also significantly
influenced by campaign posters,
speeches, and peer pressure. As you
can see, 21% voted for their friends,
and 35% who voted for who they
thought was best for the role.
The public opinion
Our survey also had an optional
feedback section which received
many interesting responses. The
feedback showed that majority of
the students were satisfied with the
entire premise of the elections.
However, there were several
candidates from this year who
expressed their concerns about the
election being too unforgiving to
unpopular or new students.
Other students felt that the
candidates should have been
shortlisted as there were too many
people running for each category.
Many people believed that
undeserving candidates got to run
for elections and that the grade
boundary to run should have been
higher. Several people have also
expressed their concerns about
council members not doing what
was promised in their speech. One
student wrote, “There are some
[candidates] whose personality in
real life does not match their speech
or post at all and them being elected
was kind of a shame...but hopefully
they do a good job. Also, I believe
the teachers should choose the
candidates, not themselves. That
makes it fairer as they know the
reputation and sincerity of each
student.”
Overall though, students were
happy with the newly elected
members of the student council.
Kshitij G & Hima R -
Hardworking Peers and Besties

5%

Like it?
Love it?
Let us know!
Friend of mine

Old & New
Interviewed by: Soham M- Food is his
culture.
In conversation with Pranay Periwal,
former School Captain.
What was the greatest
achievement/highlight of your student
council stint?
Pranay: I think the greatest highlight of our
student council, as well as our batch was the
Ignite Cultural Fest. That was a big part of our
final year, as it was the first inter school large-
scale event that the school had organised - the
first of its kind.
Do you have any regrets about your time of
leadership?
Pranay: I wish we managed our time better. Not
coming for the PTMs afterwards also, cause after
a point we just stopped coming.
Any advice for Arpit, who is the current
School Captain?
Pranay: At the end of it, the work pressure will
pile up, because IB is one thing by itself and
student council work also becomes tedious. So,
the best advice would be to handle the work
efficiently and manage your time. I know that
sounds really cliché, but I wish I did that.
The council needs to understand that the school
stands by them - how much work they do is
important, and just holding the badge or putting it
up on your chest and then putting it in your
college application is not what makes a
man/woman.
My advice to the student council is to take their
position seriously and work for the betterment of
the school. And as head of school, I will always
support you in all that you do.
Mr. Aloysious D’mello, Principal
Interviews
3
In conversation with Arpit Bhate - the new
School Captain.
What do you hope to achieve with the help of
the student council for the student body and the
teachers?
Arpit: Firstly, what I hope to achieve is to increase
student interaction with the student council, for
example, a few days ago Alekhya and I went to
Poonam ma’am and asked for suggestion boxes to be
placed outside the staff rooms so that the student body
can have greater interaction. Then I want to
accomplish a few tasks I have in mind, for example,
making house points public so that it increases the
camaraderie between houses or accomplishing waste
segregation in some form, or holding a sports fest and
several other events.
So, what would you have done differently than
Pranay, if you were School Captain then?
Arpit: So, what would I have done differently? I know
he did a great job but what I would’ve done differently
is maybe for events such as Ignite I would’ve started to
plan for it sometime before. There are obviously
difficulties with doing that, but that’s just something I
would have taken a look at, then simultaneously I
would have improved interaction between the council
and the student body, because as a member of the
student body last year I couldn’t really tell what the
council was doing whenever they were doing it, so
although they were doing a ton of work I had no idea
about it and that may feel like they were doing
nothing.
Do you have any other ways of increasing the
interactions between the student body and the
student council?
Arpit: I think the entire student council decided that an
Instagram page should be made for the school but I
don’t know if that’s a practically feasible idea but that’s
one possibility. Another idea we had was a weekly
school newspaper, where we can showcase what the
school is going to do as well as have a current affairs
topic.
Interviewed by Anusri V – [PLACEHOLDER]
 Interviews
4

Council’s Counsellor
Interviewed by Kavini D. - Anime Artist
Soham M. - Food is his Culture
Ayush S. - Comic Book Lover
In conversation with Ms Gunjal, Student
Council manager, on this year’s elections
How many years have you been teaching at
Greenwood High? the school can permit and allow, and within an
academic learning environment, they can do whatever
I have been teaching here for 5 years.
they want, after running it by the authorities.
This is your first year working with the
There are many schools in Bangalore where the
student council. How would you describe
the experience? student council is directly elected by the
teachers - teachers choose who the student
It was a learning experience, in fact. There was a council members should be. So, what is the
lot of planning that was to be done, before the importance of conducting elections in our
events actually happened. There were three school?
levels - one was the speech day, where students
were to give speeches. The second one was See, while teachers will be able to comment on the
arranging the elections and how it would go behavioral and academical aspect of the student, both
about, and the third was the investiture of which are very important points, and I would also
ceremony - a celebration for the new student like these aspects to be additional to what we do in
council. So, doing this for the first time, it was a school. However, definitely the student council has to
learning experience, in terms of getting to know work with the student body and for the student body,
how to arrange things, how to organise, who to
and therefore, if they are elected by the student body,
reach out to, what will come after what and the
the likelihood of the student body listening to,
timing of it all and the entire logistics of
whatever things are needed. It also included following, working with and opening up to the student
engaging with the students and roping in the council increases tenfold. So that is why I like the
previous student council to get the work done, so election process.
everything went on smoothly since everybody
was very cooperative. I enjoyed it.
What do you think the student council is
about? Do they have any power in the real
sense? To what extent can they make The elections were well conducted and the process went
changes? smoothly. Good results were achieved from the elections
Such a subjective question, because what I think and I hope the new student council can work toward the
of power and what the student council thinks of betterment of the school and not forget about their own
power may be different. According to me, the studies as well!
student council holds a lot of power, if they know Mr. Vivek, IGCSE Coordinator
how to use it, and if they know what that power
means. So power not just in the sense of pulling
out people or adding to your CAS portfolio or
arranging events, but in the sense of bringing
discipline within the school - people should look
at you and start correcting themselves in
behavioural and uniform aspects. The student
council members are role models - once you
become that, that is your power - to be able to
lead people in an unspoken way and then
implement and verbally tell them. So that is the
kind of power I think of it as, and it will depend
upon what the individual students think of it as.
“he is powerful now with a badge, what does that
mean for him “.Within the boundaries of what
 The speeches

A Winner’s Speech 5

What sets a captivating speech and a
monotonous, dull one apart? Figure out the
do’s and don’ts of delivering a speech during
the election season…
Whether you are running for school captain or
president, persuading people for their precious
votes is a part of the journey to success. On the first
day after the winter break, Greenwood High gave
the candidates running for this year’s student
council a chance to leave their mark behind. While
some were able to, not all candidates were lucky
enough to be remembered by their audience. To
make your speech worth remembering (for good!),
here are some important tips you must remember
while giving your speech:
For starters, your speech should not be more than 2
minutes long as you do not want to put your
audience to sleep. Your speech should be a balanced
combination of comedy and seriousness.
The speech should be comical as you want to catch
the attention of your audience but at the same time
it should be serious as you want the audience to
consider you as a candidate in the
election and not as someone who takes this
position lightly.
Remember, they are looking for a bold and
confident leader, not a comedian!
Your speech should connect with your audience
to spread the message of “no student left behind”,
that is, your ideas, plans and ambition should not
go unfulfilled. By connecting with your audience,
you have a better chance of getting more votes as
you are perceived as a thoughtful leader in the
eyes of the audience. It shows that you are
motivated towards improving their experience of
their school lives.
But lastly remember to breathe and relax.
Messing up a speech may not be the best
situation to be in but it is also not the sole
deciding factor for who gets the sought over
position in the council. So, stay calm and radiate
a bright and confident yet approachable energy
with your audience and make them one with you.
Avi K - New addition but a charmed
treasure

~Elections are an opportunity to students to understand the responsibilities and accountability. It is not about a
position or title, because that’s not what I believe leadership is about.
~You understand it and then make other people understand.
~I believe that anyone who is elected is elected as a representative and not an officer.
~Problems are solved better when people get to choose things on their own. Sense of
accountability and responsibility is more when people get the choice
~When you’re put under a spotlight, you have to be very careful. When you’re enjoying that
glory, you need to be careful. Things travel very fast.

Ms Poonam Dahiya, IB Coordinator

1/5 StuCo
Four of the council members from this year are from
our English class of 11-E. We asked them to describe
their feelings in a word…

Ayush Srivastava- Optimistic

Soham Mishra- Hopeful

Kashish Arora- Familia

Reshma Ramesh- Charged Up!

We’re all ears!

Scan Me!
 Sports

Another Win for GWH 6

It was a sunny morning in DPS on most intense match we played in that

November 13, 2018. We, the Greenwood
High football team, huddled up on the
side-lines, eager to win the tournament.
We had played terribly in the previous
tournament and got knocked out in the
first match. We had to win this.
We lined up for the first match and the
whistle blew. Five minutes into the game,
we scored our first goal, giving us the lead.
The opponents did not back down from
this and banged in another goal,
equalizing the score. The intensity of the
game increased, but Dhruv took the game
away by scoring two continuous goals for
our team and making us win our first
game.
The QUARTER FINALS: on 16th
November, we played against Kendriya
Vidyalaya. We were very confident for this
game as we had won the last time we
played them. We played this game with a
lot of confidence, and beat them 5-1.
The SEMI FINALS: on 22 November 2018,
our semi-final match was against St. Johns
Composite PU College. This was the
tournament.
Their team played really well and gave us
good competition for a place in the finals.
During the match, both teams missed
several chances to take the lead, which
made the game go to penalties. We had
just scored a penalty when the opposition
player stepped up for the penalty and
rocketed the ball over the crossbar. Our
team won the match and all of us ran onto
the pitch with the coach to celebrate.
THE FINALS: On the 25 November 2018
we played against St Joseph's PU College.
It was a very close match. The first goal
was scored very early by the opposition,
giving them the lead. After many offside
runs in the tournament, Sahit scored a
goal which equalized the score. The
opposition did not give up and scored
another, giving them the lead before
halftime. In the second half, we pulled up
our socks and scored two fantastic goals
which won us the match and presented us
with the title “Champions of Bangalore”.
Vedant A – Football aficionado and a
tailtwister

Greenwood High IG/IB celebrated their 4th Annual Sports Day on the 15th of December 2018.
Annual Sports Day 2018-19

Read on to recollect the vigour and charm of the day…

Practice makes perfect

The days leading up to this event were full of practice. The house captains and council members made their
houses practice the march-past rigorously to achieve perfect coordination. Chanting “Left-Right-Left,”
enthusiasm and vigour emanated from the houses. Students also practiced various dances and displays.
The day arrives
House captains gave last minute words of advice; the competitive spirit was in the air. The special guests at
the event were our principal, Mr Aloysius D'Mello, the ICSE campus coordinator, Ms. Elizabeth, and the
Bannerghatta campus principal, Mr. Louis Dias. They were escorted to their stand by the school captain. As,
the parents began to arrive, the students marched past, with each house carefully maintaining their
coordination. The school band, headed by Band Major Radith Prabhu, provided a steady march beat. The
March Past was judged by a select panel to determine the winner.
The main event
The meet began with the lighting of the cauldron by the torch bearers. There were various athletic events,
with participants ranging from lower classes to grades 11- 12. As the points accumulated, so did the
celebrations and the chanting of house slogans. The teachers also joined the students in these events. From
photo finishes to last minute comebacks, the event had it all and kept the parents and spectators on their
toes. The dances and displays that took place in between races were full of zeal. The event was concluded by
the distribution of prizes to the winning houses, followed by the singing of the school song and the National
Anthem. The event was concluded by the distribution of prizes to the various winning houses and finally the
singing of the school song and the National Anthem. Ruby emerged as the overall winner for the annual
sports meet.
This was the end of another wonderful sports meet and everyone anticipates the many more sports meets to
come!

Mukund I – Bookworm and Quirky Observer


A Taste of the Competition
The struggles and anxiety our candidates for this year’s elections faced has been beautifully described
by Reshma in her path to being Sports captain.
Winter break symbolizes the one
time in the year where eleventh
graders can effectively ‘hibernate’
and take a well-deserved break from
all the stress IB has to offer. This
winter break, however, was the exact
opposite for me. With student
council elections taking place the
week school reopened, it was bye-
bye to excessive hours of watching
Netflix and hello to late nights
drafting my speech, coming up with
slogans and designing my campaign
posters.
Writing my speech wasn’t hard, I
knew what I wanted to say and
which points to include. It only took
some minor changes until the final
piece was ready. What was hard was
thinking of ways my campaign could
connect with the student body,
whether they’d think I’m too serious
or too nonchalant. The highlight of
recent years campaigns is to make
memes with your face on it, a funny
and effective way of grabbing
people’s attention. However, as this
trend has been followed by the
previous batches, all the popular
The elections which took place
needed to take place because it
is a democratic process in which
you elect your student council for
the next year. What I found a
little odd was that many of the
candidates opted for empathy
and sympathy to get votes, and
it probably didn’t occur to them
that they were negating
themselves.
Mr. Aloysius D’Mello, Principal
memes would now be seen as cliché.
I resorted to making collages of
myself with contrasting photos; a
photo of me playing basketball and
sneezing were next to each other in
one of my posters.
The day school reopened was speech
day, and I remember waking up with
butterflies- not only in my stomach-
but shooting through every artery in
my body.
As I went through the course of
getting ready, I whispered my
speech to myself like a record on
repeat. Breakfast didn’t seem like a
priority that morning; thoughts of
me forgetting my speech on stage
clouded my appetite.
The student body was seated outside
in the amphitheatre,
absentmindedly listening to the
speeches. To say I was nervous
before they called my name was an
understatement, but right before
walking on stage, those nerves
sprouted into saplings of joy,
confidence and excitement. I had
prepared for this. I was ready for
Point of View
7
this. It was over almost as soon as it
began. Euphoria permeated the air
and I remember being filled with
contentment while talking on that
stage. I walked off with my head held
high and a smile on my face.
The next phase was campaigning, we
had been told that our posters could
go up right after our speeches.
Getting the prime spots for your
posters is key to a successful
campaign. It went on for about three
days, after which voting took place
and results were announced. I
remember butterflies filling my
stomach in anticipation as my
teacher announced the final list.
Words can’t express how elated and
thankful I am for being elected
Sports Captain, knowing that my
hard work on the field paid off. This
class cabinet is filled with motivated,
inspiring individuals who are
committed to enhancing the
community of Greenwood High and
improving the school life of the
student body.
Reshma R – Athletic writer
 Sports
8

New “kid” on the block

In conversation with Mr. Manova, HOD of the Sports Department on the new sports block being
constructed.
What do you think about the new sports complex and when do you think it is going to be
completed?

It will be ready by the next academic year and it will have around 4 badminton courts and 3-4 tables of table
tennis, we have one shooting range of around 25m range and we are trying for another indoor basketball court

Do you think having these sports facilities will elevate the level of sports played at greenwood
high?

Of course it’s going to get elevated. It depends on how you get organized and then do the things.

Do you think this will allow more students to get active and more involved in the sporting
community?

Yes, it will.

Interviewed by Reshma R – Athletic Writer

Abhishek G – Teddy Bear

GWH
Like them or not, exams make up a considerable portion of your time in school. And it’s
mostly not something pleasant. The fear of the unknown should naturally cause you stress,
but fret not! Here are some tips that can help you do well for your exams whether it be
formatives, UTs or Summative:

Review your Syllabus Get plenty of rest the night

Make a timetable well in before
advance listing the dates of Make sure to sleep for at least
your exams. Then, schedule a 8 hours. Late-night cramming
series of study sessions can take a toll on your health
according to the workload. and marks.

Make studying a habit Adjust your study

Keeping time aside to study on
a regular basis will help
cement the concepts you have
learned that day. Set goals to
make sure you’re studying
effectively. It helps prevent
sudden shocks in surprise
tests.
Pay attention in class
Most of your work is done
when you are attentive in class.
One way to pay attention is to
sit at the front of the class. The
more you learn now, the less
you will need to study in the
future.
Location is the new key to
success!
Keep anything that distracts
you away from where you are
studying, such as social media.
Also, avoid studying too late
into the night and when you
are tired.
Review previous tests,
worksheets and past
papers
This will help fill in holes in
your learning and increase
your chances of doing well in
the exams. Also, they usually
mimic what the pattern will be
likely be on the test!
techniques to fit the
subject
It is important to study
appropriately for the specific
subject. For example, while a
subject like Mathematics
requires more practice, a
subject such as literature will
require more analytical skills
and memorization.
Now go and get that grade that
you’ve always dreamt of!
Aditya W – Politics Lover
 Chillax
9

CROSSWORD

Stuck?
Scan Me!

DOWN ACROSS
1- Grades 8-12 3- How do you put your vote in the box?
2- Remove from a voting list 6- Unethical winning

4- The right to vote 9- Winners

5- The organizing committee of Indian elections 10- Government shutdown reason

7- Choosing your leaders 11- Platform to make false promises

12- A way of forming the parliament
8- Aims and aspirations

1. How many Student Council Positions are there?

2. How many Head of Departments does our school have?
3. How many days is our winter break?
4. How many years has Greenwood High been doing the IB curriculum?
5. What is the maximum number of IGCSE subjects a student can take?
6. How many classrooms does the Greenwood High international campus have?
7. How many students take IB as of 2019?
8. How many sections are there in all of high school?
9. What is the type of tree present in the Greenwood High Logo?
10. Which house has the most points currently?

India is home to more than 800 million eligible voters, which

makes it the world’s largest democracy. In order to
FUN accommodate an electorate of that size, the government holds
elections over the course of several weeks. The general
FACT! elections in 2014, in which Indians voted for the 543 members
of parliament, took place on nine separate days over five
weeks.
 Chillax

POLITICALLY inCORRECT 10

Fret not,
Scan now!

Pseu-doku
GWH Campaign(er)

Supervisor- Ms. Priya V. Chief Editor- Anagha V. Editorial Team -Kshitij G. Dhruv J. Soham M. (Cultural Sec.)
Visual editors- Dhruv J. Aarushi G. Ayush S. (Ruby House C.) Kavini D. Siddartha D. Mehul T. Abhishek G. Surveys
and interviews- Soham M. (Cultural Sec.) Kshitij G. Anusri V. Hima R. Contributors- Kashish A. (Topaz House C.)
Kshitij G. Avi K. Mukund I. Reshma R. (Sports C.) Vedant A. Aditya W. Cartoonist- Ayush S. (Ruby House C.)