Sathya Sai School of Canada

Mayor Rob Ford, Bob Rae join 6,000 Torontonians spreading values 10th Anniversary Walk for Values - “Serve And Inspire”! Toronto City Mayor Rob Ford and Interim leader of the Liberal Party of Canada Bob Rae joined a wave of 6,000 civic-minded citizens at Yonge-Dundas Square in Toronto to pledge that they will practice human values and would like to bring a change by building a “City of Character”. On Sunday, May 27, 2012, the students of Sathya Sai School, Toronto, who hosted this unique Walk for Values called upon fellow Torontonians to share their vision of a world where all are unified by human values which flow from the heart. Participants at the event pledged to practise a particular value in their daily life and hoped to “inspire” others to do the same. The great need of our time is to bring values and good character back into the world. The Walk for Values entered its 10th year and unlike the other major events, this is not a fund-raiser. There is no solicitation of pledges for money. It has attracted people from all communities and ages. Values have no borders. The day at Yonge-Dundas Square started by an inter-faith peace prayer and the five multi-faith leaders that addressed the gathering from the Muslim, Buddhist, Zoroastrian, Hindu, and Christian faiths, pledged to work towards bringing peace on Earth through dialogue among all religions. Every human being is endowed with these five main human values, which should be put into action to promote harmony and unity in the world. Speak Truth, follow the path of Righteousness and experience Peace. Share your Love happily with all and lead your life with Non-violence. Mayor Rob Ford presided over the ribbon cutting ceremony and congratulated everyone on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Walk, whose aim is to create a peaceful city by eliminating violence, drugs and crime through people committed to basic values. A letter of congratulations sent by Prime Minister Stephen Harper was read to the participants. Former Ontario Premier Bob Rae, currently Interim leader of the Liberal Party of Canada was the Chief Guest and he was joined by MP Jim Karygiannis, M.P.P. Bas Balkissoon representing the Ontario Government, Former MP Navdeep Bains, Sgt. Keith Bryan of Toronto Police Services, and the Consul General of Trinidad & Tobago Dr. Vidya Maharaj. All shared inspiring words of support for carrying the noble message of human values into the community. This year, three initiatives taken by the volunteers at the Sathya Sai School provided opportunities for everyone to put values into action and “Serve and Inspire” others:

A national Food Drive to raise over 10 tons of food – participants have been donating non-perishable food items before, during and after the Walk for Values in Toronto and across the nation as the Walk takes place at 8 major Cities in Canada.

As part of a national Blood Donation Drive to collect 216 pints of blood, a drive was held on May 5th at Sathya Sai School in partnership with Canadian Blood Services and registered as a Partner for Life with ID# SATH011728 “Liquid Love”.

A successful Bed Drive provided 108 beds for needy children in the Greater Toronto Area. Beds have been distributed through five agencies, including Covenant House, Sick Kids Hospital, the Furniture Bank, Toronto Police Services, and the First Nations.

Community Organizations offering selfless service in Toronto were also honoured at the Walk for Values. All these charitable initiatives during the year of its 10th anniversary have brought greater value to the Walk for Values. The 3 kilometer Walk for Values was fun-filled, with a parade of colourful floats, bands, and values songs, and people walking under the values banners of Truth, Right Conduct, Peace, Love and Non-violence. The program also had a cultural show, dragon dance, steel band, food stalls and carnival games for children. Each participant received a pack of lunch and water bottle. The Walk for Values, initiated by Toronto’s children of the Sathya Sai School in 2003, has become international, taking place in 8 other cities across Canada, 6 cities in Australia and 10 cities in the U.S., and has spread to New Zealand, Fiji, Hong Kong, Malaysia, India and South Africa, all helping to shine the light of goodness around the world. Thousands came who heard the call of the heart, wishing to bring positive values to our society. They joined the Walk with leaders from government, business, community organizations and public schools – all touched by the desire to celebrate the beauty of the human spirit and create a peaceful world.

The SSEHV program is an international value-based program structured around the five cross-cultural and inter-related values of truth, love, peace, right conduct and non-violence. The program is taught using five teaching components through a variety of adaptable methodologies. The five teaching components are: - Thought for the Day - Light Meditation - Group Singing & Music - Group Activities - Story Telling The methodologies include the direct, extra-curricular and integral methods. The direct method utilises all five teaching components through a number of specifically designed lesson plans, designed to be used directly in the classroom. The extra curricular method attempts to integrate the program into previously existing clubs, playground, sporting and after-school care activities. The integral method incorporates the five values into the whole curriculum and learning environment. The program is designed not as an attempt to dictate or impose values, but rather to provide the children with a frame of reference which they can use to inform their future decisions and behaviour.

Good evening Principal Dr. Revathi, teachers, students, parents, and aspiring applicants. My name is Saeejith Nair and I am an alumnus of the Sathya Sai School. I joined the school in Junior Kindergarten, and graduated from the school in 2010. I am currently in grade 8 and will be starting the TOPS program at Marc Garneau C.I. this coming September. The Sathya Sai School is very unique because it is based on the teachings of the Founder, Sri Sathya Sai Baba, mainly focusing on the quote, “The End Of Education Is Character”. This school promotes not only academic, but also character development. What sets it apart from other public or private schools is its added components to the Ontario curriculum. Meditation, yoga and SSEHV are important aspects of the Sathya Sai School. Every morning at our school, each class does meditation. By the end of the meditation, I always feel that things are clearer, I can focus more, and that I can understand better. A kindergarten student will be a totally changed individual by the time he graduates. As I have graduated and am now studying in a public school, I can really experience the difference between the two. Right from kindergarten, we learn considerably more than the standard Ontario curriculum. Also, we extend our learning to connections to the world around us. In every grade, one thing all of our teachers sought to accomplish was to improve our self-confidence by assigning projects that require us to present in front of the class and develop effective public speaking skills. Furthermore, our school aims to make us outstanding academic students. Starting from kindergarten, our teachers did mental math activities to improve our math skills and science experiments to invoke the curiosity inside us. In addition to that, our school also has a lot of competitions. For example; the science fair competition, the spelling bee competition, and a public speaking competition. I am sure that I became more confident and self-reliant due to these competitions and projects. When I moved into middle school, the transition was easy due to knowledge and various skills I received from here. The Sathya Sai School also hosts a lot of other activities. The walk for values, CHC, Children 4 Charity, Terry Fox run, CN Tower Climb, Earth Day Cleanup and the most fun sports day are some examples. For me, my fondest memory I have about this school is the wonderful environment. I think that the main reason for this is the friendly relationship between the teachers, students and volunteers. This is the foremost reason why the Sathya Sai School is like a second home to me. Just having character education in a school does not matter. That’s just the easy part. The difficult job is getting a suitable environment where the students can implement the values they learn. The serene environment inside the school is what makes it perfect for imparting a values education that is strongly supported by academic success. In each and every class, students get to express their ideas and increase their development through open discussions conducted by the teachers. These discussions sharpen the child’s mind and make it more inquisitive. All my years at the Sathya Sai School were quite memorable. I found that no matter which grade I was in, I always had a person I could look up to, a person who was always there for me; my class teacher. As we had different teachers every year, I found that we all got a little something from each of them. All those little “somethings” have turned pretty useful later on and mostly after leaving this school. I have also noticed that the teachers in this school work exceptionally hard to bring out the best in us. They keep pushing us till each student reaches their maximum level. They tell us never to give up, and help us overcome all of our challenges. Before I conclude, I would like to thank Dr. Revathi and all the teachers for giving me this opportunity tonight. I would once again like to say, the Sathya Sai School is truly a fantastic place for learning which aims to develop the students academically as well as with good character. Thank you very much for listening.

In the Fraser Institute’s Report Card on Ontario’s Elementary Schools 2011, the Sathya Sai School received the No. 1 ranking (tied with one other school) out of 2,733 Ontario schools. The Fraser Institute ranked schools based upon the EQAO standardized testing of Grades 3 and 6 which took place for school year 2009-2010. Schools which achieved scores of 10 out of 10 appeared in the top group of schools. Sathya Sai School has been listed in this group for the past four years, but this was the first year that it had been rated within this group, because a school has to have taken the EQAO tests for five years before receiving a rating… and in the 2011 Report, Sathya Sai School was rated No.1 in all of Ontario out of 2733 schools! We congratulate all our teachers and students across all grades for their hard work and success the past five years. REPORT CARD 2012 The Fraser Institute’s Report Card 2012 for Ontario elementary schools has not yet been released. However, in the Fall of 2011, the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) reported on the 2010-2011 Assessment exams in Reading, Writing and Mathematics for the primary and junior divisions. At Sathya Sai School, all students (100%) in Grade 3 and Grade 6 scored at or above the provincial standard in Reading, Writing and Mathematics. The results are depicted in the image graph. The Sathya Sai School uses EQAO data as only one of the sources of information to assess student achievement. The provincial testing results are considered alongside many other criteria. Nonetheless, the EQAO reports do provide tools which support Sathya Sai School’s striving for human excellence.

It was a proud moment for our school at the Fraser Institute'™s Awards for Excellence in Education Awards Ceremony & Dinner Celebration when Sathya Sai School was announced as the Winner of the Garfield Weston Award for Excellence in Language Arts and the 2nd Runner Up for the Imperial Oil Foundation Award for Excellence in Mathematics. The awards included Certificates, a Star Trophy, and monetary gifts. The Awards Ceremony and Dinner was held on Thursday, November 24, 2011 at the Westin Prince Toronto to honour school teams whose students have achieved ongoing success in three categories: Improvement in Academics, Excellence in Language Arts, and Excellence in Mathematics. Representing Sathya Sai School at the event were Mr. T.R. Pillay, Director, Canadian Institute of Sathya Sai Education and Founding Principal of Sathya Sai School; Principal Dr. Revathi Chennabathni; former grade 3 teachers Miss Tanushree Das and Mrs. Minoli Roshan; administrative assistant Ms. Edith Recht. The awards were received on behalf of the school by Dr. Revathi, Miss Das, and Mrs. Roshan. Fraser Institute'™s Mr. Peter Cowley, Director of School Performance Studies, delivered a welcome from the Institute: "We are gathered here tonight to honour all of you - teachers, administrators, and support staff - who have made an outstanding contribution to the education of the children you serve. You contribute your skills, your enthusiasm, your had work, and countless hours to this most important task and we applaud you for it. We applaud your dedication to excellence, your appetite for continuous improvement, and above all, your willingness to give so generously of yourselves for the sake of your students. "Your outstanding contribution is evidenced by the remarkable academic accomplishments of your students. Results at 2733 elementary schools were analyzed on three dimensions of academic performance. School teams present here tonight come from the top one percent of schools as determined by this analysis. Among these distinguished teams, the nine finalists enjoyed the highest level of success." The Awards and Winners are as follows: THE GARFIELD WESTON AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN LANGUAGE ARTS Finalists - Ecole Elementaire Catholique Sainte-Marguerite-Bourgeoys-Markham (Markham) - Kennedy Public School (Toronto) - Sathya Sai School of Toronto (Scarborough) Winner: Sathya Sai School of Toronto (Scarborough) THE IMPERIAL OIL FOUNDATION AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN MATHEMATICS Finalists Kennedy Public School (Toronto) Sathya Sai School of Toronto (Scarborough) Seneca Hill Public School (Toronto) 2nd Runner Up : Sathya Sai School of Toronto (Scarborough)