Staff Enrichment Programme by CASK

A Staff Enrichment Programme was organised by the school management in collaboration with the Catholic Association of South Canara (CASK) on 17th March, 2022. The day began with the lighting of the lamp through a symbolic gesture to empower and celebrate all the strong women around the world. Principal Sr Melissa welcomed and introduced the resource persons Mrs Patsy Lobo, Dr Derrick Lobo and Mr Vincent Charles.

Mrs Patsy Lobo addressed the teachers, highlighting the power they hold to shape their student’s life. Mr Vincent Charles, the president of CASK, in his speech, called the attention of the audience to the various outreach programmes conducted by CASK.

Further, Mrs Patsy Lobo introduced the first speaker of the day, Ms Vidya Shenoy. Ms Vidya emphasized on the role of a Teacher and brought out the basic requisites of communication i.e., conscious eye contact and a smile, gestures and postures, voice modulation and authenticity of content which in turn promote and pave way for better communication with the students. Allowing the teachers to regulate and share their energies and experiences, the session was an amalgamation of various activities.

Setting tone to the next session, Mrs Patsy Lobo introduced the next speaker Dr Laveena Narronha, founder of Ave Maria who elucidated on the theme “Educators as gatekeepers.” Dr Laveena defined mental health and asserted the need to know how to handle emotions of the students and adults. She also confirmed the various sources of stress in a student’s life. Placing the seed of concern, she described the symptoms of anxiety and the growing suicide rate in our country. The teachers were advised to address the sensitive issues of anxiety and depression in a student’s life with kindness and empathy.

The third session by Dr Derrick Lobo, ignited the purpose of education and its system in our country. Highlighting the Bharat Ratna awarded to the teachers and educationists of India, he identified the features of a good teacher and suggested that the teachers must lead by encouraging, motivating and identifying the abilities of their students. He also focused on the holistic learning approaches of NEP 2020 and validated the seven soft skills essential in a teacher’s life.

Mr Archie Menezes, in his session on personal financial planning substantiated numerous methods on changing the equation of income and saving. He chalked out the importance of planning our expenditure carefully and advised the teachers to budget their income, invest in savings and also to plan for their retirement.

The last session by Mr Manoj Fernandez, demonstrated the horrors of Cyber Crime. Acquainting the audience with anecdotes, facts and figures of different incidents, he examined the various cases of cyber crime. He also proposed several precautionary measures that can be employed to protect oneself from Cyber crime.

Concluding the session with a special touch, Mrs Patsy Lobo creatively presented a sash inscribed with a note of love and appreciation to all the teachers. Additionally, the teachers were awarded a memento, acknowledging their dedication towards teaching. Teacher Reshma proposed the vote of thanks bowing in gratitude to the management for organizing the enrichment programme. She also placed on record, her heartfelt gratitude towards CASK for inspiring us in many ways and opening our minds to the nuances of teaching and shaping lives of our students.