Get expressive with a display board

Anitha Bennett

It’s school time again, with lists and pamphlets and reminders that clutter your space. Nothing is handier than a personalised bulletin board to put it all up.

You will need:

• Corrugated cardboard/ Thick cardboard
• Fabric
• Thick chart paper
• Broad satin ribbon for the border
• Decorative stuff

How to do it:

1. Cut a piece of corrugated cardboard in the size you want, and cut the fabric three inches longer than the card-board.
2. Stretch the fabric tightly across the card-board and glue it at the back.
3. Allow time for drying. Then stick satin ribbon along the outer edges to create a frame. Decorate the frame with sequins, glitter glue or coloured paper.
4. Cut out alphabets that spell your name from the chart paper. Paint or decorate each alphabet and stick your name on the top of the bulletin board.
5. Now tie a rope, or cloth tape at the back and hang up your board. Or use double-sided tape to fix it to the wall or a wardrobe door.

Handy hints

If sticking is messy, pin the fabric neatly to the cardboard.
Make one for your classroom and gift it to your teacher on the first day of school! 

Day for others

Quality education: It’s free!

For over a 100 years, Olcott Memorial High School (OMHS) in Chennai has been giving free education to the poor. The school is run by the Theosophical Society, Chennai which maintains a low public profile.

“The students are children of domestic workers, casual labour, hawkers, municipal employees, flower-sellers and artisanal fishermen. They grow up mostly by themselves and are street smart. What they lack is social confidence,” says Lakshmi, former principal of OMHS.

Learning to read, calculate and pass exams is just a minor element in the learning process for students of this school. OMHS provides free textbooks, uniforms and a nourishing mid-day meal for children.

Examinations are a secondary objective. “42 percent drop out after class X. But they are self-assured kids with a positive outlook. Of the 58 percent that go on to class XII, 70 percent enroll for undergraduate education,” says Lakshmi.

It’s a rare piece of India in OMHS. Pity there are not enough such schools.