In memoriam: Mrs. Parameshwari Sharma
It is with great sadness that we convey news of the passing of Mrs. Parameshwari Sharma, the founding First Lady of ISW. She was the wife of ISW Founder Mr. Shyam Sharma and mother of past president Mr. Pradeep Sharma. She was in a nursing home in Maryland for the last few years. She celebrated her 86th birthday in July.
May her soul rest in peace and may the bereaved family find a measure of solace at this difficult time.
The Funeral and Cremation will take place on Tuesday August 25th. More details and a message from Pradeep Sharma to the ISW community are on our website.
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India Center Update
In normal times, we would have had a ceremony to celebrate the structure going up and for donors to memorialize their support by signing the columns. The COVID restrictions had us carefully schedule donors in small groups to sign the columns at the India Center.
It is not too late to become a donor - we still have a big hill to climb to meet our fundraising goals. Would you like to get your name on the ISW India Center and support our community center vision for future generations? Contact president@iswonline.org
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ISW Ganeshotsav Sohla
August 30th, 2020 2:00 to 5:00 pm
Venue: Virtual (Zoom and Live Streaming on ISW Facebook page)
This year's "Ganeshotsav Sohla" will be a virtual event. We will be live streaming the Ganesh Pooja and Aarti followed by cultural performances. This year’s cultural program theme is Retro to Metro & will feature performances by our local artists. Stay tuned on Facebook updates and for surprise special appearances! Hope to see you all on 30th!!
Ganapati Bappa Morya!!
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ISW Hoists Indian Flag around local towns
Together with partner organizations, IAGB and BVIS, ISW participated with officials in the city of Worcester and towns of of Shrewsbury and Grafton to hoist the Indian National flag to celebrate India's 74 years of independence. Thanks to our community members who joined local officials in honoring the occasion and streaming the events live on Facebook. Check out the videos here. Worcester, Shrewsbury
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India Day Recap Videos
The response to the ISW India Day online as well to the special eSandesh India Day edition was tremendous. An added benefit of the virtual format was to allow us to save the event for posterity. For those who could not attend or watch all the scintillating performances and engaging panel discussions, you can review the India Day summary here with links to videos of the specific segments. Enjoy! |
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ISW Scholarships
Congratulations to the 2020 Award Recipients!
Academic Excellence
Danush Chelladurai
Divya Raghunathan
Accomplishment in Community Service
Yashvardhan Chauhan
Tanvi Manjrekar
ISW would like to acknowledge the following sponsors for 2020:
Dr. & Mrs. Sahdev & Carolyn Passey
Mr. & Mrs. Raj & Shiamin Melville
Mr. & Mrs. Shaikh & Lucky Hoque
Mr. & Mrs. Rajiv & Preeti Dayal
Mr. & Mrs. Shri & Renuka Garg
Mr. & Mrs. Subramaniam Aiylam & Rashmi Pitre
Mr. Balki Chandrakasan & Mrs. Kavitha Balakrishnan
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ISW CULTURAL & LANGUAGE SCHOOL NEWS |
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ISW Cultural and Language School would like to thank the volunteer teachers for adapting to the online instruction since March 2020, and to the parents for helping us continue our mission of teaching languages.
We are happy to announce that Registration is open for ISW Cultural & Language School Sept 2020-May 2021. Due to the impact of Covid-19 pandemic which has affected all of us, we will also be modifying our plans for the upcoming academic year. We will split the year into two semesters with the first semester starting Sept 26th and the second semester will commence on Jan 24th with fees paid separately for each semester. The first semester will be conducted online. In December, we will review the situation and survey our parents and teachers before deciding on the format for the second semester.
Important dates for the school are:
Online Open House on September 20th, 2020 attended by parents, teachers and students
Online First Semester School starts on September 26th, 2020 Early signup by September 12, will get free textbooks.
Online or in person (TBD) Second Semester School starts on January 24th, 2021 Second set of fees due.
Annual Day Program on May 23, 2021 attended by teachers, students and families
Ruchi Chauhan 508-439-7607 Shiamin Melville 508-353-4316
Contact: School@iswonline.org
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ISW Tutoring Match Program - NEW OFFERING!
ISW Cultural and Language School is launching a new online Students & Tutor match program to help parents by providing one on one online tutoring for their kids with help from IYG members. Tutored topics will include Math, Science, English, History, Public School taught Foreign Languages, and Life skills like Time Management. Student tutors will get volunteer hour credit for sessions conducted. Sessions will be based on student-teacher availability. To monitor online safety, the initial pilot program will only be open to ISW members and IYG members. Sessions begin September 2020.
If you have a student who is interested in being a volunteer teacher or if you are looking for help with your child’s online homework or course work, please send an email to tutoring@iswonline.org.
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Hindi 4 Students Interviews
by Sonia Gera
ISW Culture and Language School Hindi 4 students conducted interviews in Hindi with their family members or teachers. They worked hard on planning questions, conducting, and recording interviews. Enjoy!!
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Cultural and Language School Summer Classes
ISW Masti Mazaa Online Summer wrapped up last week. Here is a perspective from a student teacher who helped launch this idea.
"Hello! My name is Mansi Gera and I am a rising senior at Westborough High School. For the past couple of months, I have been conducting ISW Masti Mazaa classes as a student-teacher. As ISW Culture and Language School transitioned to virtual learning, I assisted in Hindi class and really liked the use of a digital platform to stay connected with the students during the pandemic. I spoke to Shiamin aunty and Ruchi aunty, the co-directors of the school, about conducting online classes to keep kids busy and entertained during the quarantine times. When they approved of it, I did not realize that it would grow into something this big. I would like to thank them for expanding it by involving more student-teachers and offering so many classes.
During the first session, I played some fun games and did activities like Kahoot.it, Quizlet Live, Draw.io, and charades. In the summer session, I have been teaching two Beginner level Hindi classes. I taught basic conversational Hindi skills like greeting others, introducing oneself, and vocabulary words for fruits, body parts, colors, and numbers to kids, ranging from 5 to 9 years in age, This program has allowed me to not only learn how to lead a class but has also given me an excellent opportunity to contribute to society during the pandemic."
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Community Spotlight – Pushpa Joshi
By Ria Deshpande
Pushpa Joshi, a resident of Hopkinton MA, has been involved with ISW for over 50 years. Throughout the years, she has experienced ISW blossoming from a small, dedicated group of people to the awesome community center it is today. Now as a member of Humrahee, she retells her fascinating experiences during the early days of ISW and the wisdom she has to share with the next generation. Click here to read about her experiences. |
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The Shopping Cart
by Pravin Trivedi
A poignant story of young immigrants and their first interactions in America. It will tug at your heartstrings!
“What do you want?” she barked over the din of the store, the announcements on the P.A. and a long line of shoppers waiting their turn.
“Excuse me please, may I borrow this shopping cart?” said the little voice.
She had trouble understanding him, and even more trouble understanding the request.
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Online certifications to jazz up your resume
By Nivedita Hegdekar, Intern @STEMPeers,
Freelance writer for American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
With the proliferation of courses available online and the current Covid restrictions making even more content available virtually, this is a great time to refresh your resume and add some pizzazz with appropriate certifications, courses and online credentials. Check out this article for some ideas on online offerings and tips on how best to manage your time while juggling your job responsibilities. Read the rest of the article on our website here! |
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Contact Information
India Society of Worcester
Mailing Address: PO Box 136, Shrewsbury, MA 01545
Answering Machine: 508-842-9795
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