Campus news

Graduation ceremony at Maple Leaf International School

On October 5, Maple Leaf International School arranged its graduation ceremony at the Russian Cultural Center auditorium. The event is held each year to honor the outgoing A level graduates of the school and this time was no exception. The event comprised of an eventful cultural segment followed by the distribution of crests and certificates among the graduates.

The ceremony is usually arranged and organised by the present body of students from class XI who, in honor of the graduating class, puts in the whole effort every year. The year to follow, these students in turn will have their ceremony arranged by the next body of class XI students. It should be mentioned that the school authority has been providing for the expenses of these events for years each time. There is no out-source finance involved and entire disbursement is covered by the school.

At the inauguration of the ceremony there was a welcome-speech by one of the students from class XI, followed by a recitation from the Holy Quran. The cultural segment started with a chorus song performed by the students of A level (class XI) which was next followed in by two solo songs. The great song originally from Manna Dey, "Coffee House er shey adda" took the crowd with nostalgic amazement and a good cheer was created among the current and ex-students and the teachers. There was a dance section afterwards where students from class VI and VII. Next number performed was the famous "Ore Nil Doriya" in the captivating voice of Jubaiyer from class XI.

However, the real attraction of the cultural extravaganza was none other than a comic drama/ skit written and performed by the graduates. The hilarious script of the drama and the exceptional acting ability of the amateur performers enthralled and well-entertained the audience. This was followed in by a chorus son "Seasons in the sun", while all the girls dressed up exceptionally in Sarees and the boys in traditional dresses stood in rows to do the song.

Next came the award giving segment, where the principal Mrs. Zeba Ali graced the occasion as the chief guest. Crests and awards/ certificates were given out to a total number of 50 graduates. During this segment Fariah Mahjabeen, Fahad Chowdhury, Farhana Momin and Ninette A Adhikari, who had scored 3 or more A-grades in advanced level exams were presented with gold medals from the authority, Mrs. Zeba Ali. The whole ceremony came to an end with a thanking speech from Fariah Mahjabeen.

By Ridwan A Kabir

Real-life Rising Star

What's the best way to get a guy's attention? Start talking about cars. That's right. Whether they're 17 or 71, most guys are fascinated by cars and everything that makes these wheeled wonders tick. How many teens, however, can actually boast of cars that they built themselves?

Meet Dipro Kaiser Choudhury. A student of Mastermind, this bright young man built his own go-kart right from scratch.

"I've always been interested in cars. I had many toy motorcars and remote-control vehicles, including those that needed to be assembled before you could use them. I loved taking them apart and seeing how they worked," he tells us. "Even as a kid, I'd frequent places like Dholaikhal and Nawabpur, and observe the mechanics as they went about fixing cars. That's where I learnt about the mechanism of cars."

After several years of begging his parents for permission, he was finally allowed to try his hand at building his own go-kart. Using the money that he'd been saving up since age nine, Dipro set to work, collecting his materials from places like Dholaikhal, Nawabpur, and Thatari Bazaar. He worked during school vacations, in his free time, often at night, so as not to disturb anyone.

Using an old engine of a front-wheel car, he put it behind his motorized vehicle and created a two-seater with a rear-wheel drive. Consequently, all the control mechanisms had to be re-modeled in order to fit the cart, and to work. "The tricky part was to make everything work together. I had to make certain modifications to the suspension and brake system to solve the problem."

This ambitious venture took a total of seven months. Initially, Dipro had made a model over four months, but it wasn't to his liking. He took up the project again a year later, and completed it to his satisfaction in three months. "The second time was easier, because I knew what I was dealing with, and I'd learned from my mistakes."

Right now, all that remains is the body of the car. Dipro has worked out the shape he wants to put on the chassis, but he's still saving up to get the money needed to do that. Given his determination, you can be sure he's going to complete it very soon.

"I was lucky in that I received a lot of support from my family, especially my father. It gave me a real sense of achievement to see my project nearing completion."

Our real-life Rising Star wants to study Mechanical Engineering, and dreams of designing exclusive cars in the near future. Here's wishing him all the best!

By Sabrina F Ahmad

Study Buddies

TOEFL Tips Part 2

I'd like to start off this session of Study Buddies by reminding you that the tips I've got to offer are just some hints on how to make your learning more efficient; there are no substitutes for good reading habits.
If the information I gleaned from the web-sites is correct, then the TOEFL is only offered as in the Computer Based Test (CBT) format. In that case, the structure you can expect is:

CBT Structure and Scoring
Section Questions Duration (in min)
Listening 30/49 15/25
Structure 20 15
Reading 44 70
Writing 1 essay 30

The questions are actually pretty easy for people who have had basic high school grammar. If you have some time on your hand, all you need to do is to pick up a TOEFL guidebook (Nilkhet is FULL of these), one that comes with an audio CD, and try some practice tests. It's honestly as simple as that. Just keep the following pointers in mind:

Make sure you have all your pertinent identification papers and a ballpoint pen with you when you go to the testing centre.

Get comfortable in your seat. You won't be allowed to leave it for a long time. Also, make sure you've been to the washroom before you sit down for the test. You might regret it later if you haven't.

Listen properly during the Listening section. Look at all 4 choices before answering.

The first 15 Questions of each section are the most important.

Most people will find the Reading section the easiest, but be careful and avoid making silly mistakes.

Make sure you've had a good night's sleep the night before, and a cup of coffee before you go to the testing centre. The Listening section, combined with the air-conditioning setting and the cosy seats have been known to induce sleep.

For the Listening section, practise from the TOEFL CD from ETS. That is best material available and follows the test format, which makes you comfortable with what you see on the screen on test day.

Answer all questions in each section. There is a negative marking system for unanswered questions. So during the last (in case you lack time) 2 minutes, just guess the answers all remaining questions. Trust your instincts and sound out the sentences in your head.

There is a facility to send your TOEFL score absolutely free to four universities so be prepared with a list of Universities and colleges you want to send your report to!
Well, that's all the advice I have to give. Best of luck!

By Sabrina F Ahmad

To do

Things to do

Ramadan is just around the corner and we have all started to create noise pollution in ways more than one. There's the category that can't wait to fast and squeal at the thought of losing weight without having to go on a diet (although some say that one actually gains weight in the month of Ramadan!). And then there's the group that moans at the thought of waking up in the misery hours before sunrise. There are those who lecture for hours on the importance of fasting and finally, the category that creates the worst uproar are the hypocrites that talk about fasting but really with all the closed curtains in every restaurant, chances of finding out the truth are limited if not impossible.

Nevertheless, the Holy month of Ramadan does change your entire diet routine and it is very important to balance your nutrition. With studies& sports during the day and extra oily kantaki (that you can't resist after starving for 14 hours) for Iftar it is likely that things will go wrong in your tummy. So this month plan your dietary carefully.

Drink plenty of water (remember 2 litres of water is a must)

Carbohydrates provide most of the energy so rice, bread and potatoes should be here to stay.

Try to avoid too much fried food or junk food. When taking in such heavy meals in one go on an empty stomach, many people are found complaining about both gastric and duodenal ulcers.

Fruits, veggies and lots of milk are the only means of healthy skin so always keep those in mind.

Finally never forget to treat yourself with sweets and chocolates once in a while.

Many people say that this is the month when the level of stomach illness is quite high but according to Dr. Muhammad Karim Beebani, Ramadan is the only period in which our gastrointestinal system takes good rest for the first time in the whole year. Apart from the three main meals, we tend to pour in a few extra something into our stomach every other hour. None of us think that the food which we have already sent in before is being digested by the stomach and right when it has reached half way, we dump some more boluses only to disrupt the digestive work up previously completed. So on this Ramadan stay healthier by giving your tummy a good rest after sunrise and welcome a variety of fine eatables after sunset.

By Shayera Moula

AKS has a special tradition of Switch day when students of grade 12 turn into teachers for a day while teachers become students. As usual, the Head boy Nabil and Head girl Reefat inherited the post of Principal and Vice-Principal as per rules. The morning assembly was somewhat different under the new Principal, Vice-Principal and some handsome and beautiful male and female tutors but rain interrupted spoiling the fun. The day was a noisy one with the new teachers taking charge of classes. The grade 12 students well didn't make much of a teacher to tell the truth with most of the classes being free class but the students enjoyed the day by gossiping with their new teachers. However, the students did understand how awful it would be if everyday were a Switch Day and how hard it is to teach. For everyone it was a nice experience in the Switch Day and everyone had smiles in their faces going home as the in-charge Principal announced the next day as holiday because of transport problems.

By Nayeem Islam