Bulletin Board

A centenary is an important landmark in the history of any institution. The month of February,2001 ushered in an air of festivity and excitement at CJM, Dehradun. The first of February,2001 marked the beginning of the centenary year for the school. It was, indeed a joyous occasion for each member of the CJM family. The students and staff alike put in hours of gruelling practices in preparation for the event. The programme for the day began with The Thanksgiving Eucharistic Sacrifice, presided over by His Lordship Rt Rev. Patrick Nair, the Bishop of Meerut. This included the graceful entrance procession dance performed by CJM girls gave an auspicious start to the occasion.

Sr. Janet presenting Conventia to Governor of Uttaranchal

The next event was the inauguration of the centenary gate by the Chief Guest - His Excellency Shri S S Barnala , the Governor of Uttaranchal. The highlight of the day’s programme was the play - ‘ Violets in the Valley ‘ , performed by the students.

The play, directed by the Ananya theatre group, was based on the life of the Mother Foundress, St. Claudine Thevenet. It chronicled the events of her life with the traumatic French Revolution as the background. The execution of Claudine’s two brothers in the war turned out to be turning point in her life.

Armed with extraordinary fortitude, this young girl led her family through those turbulent times and henceforth decided to dedicate her life to the service of God and her fellowmen.

The play was interspersed with melodious hymns sung by the school choir, trained under the able guidance of the school music teacher Mr. C. Roy. All in all, it proved to be an inspiring and delightful treat to the senses.

The day’s celebrations were brought to an end by the Governor’s speech and the vote of thanks by the Principal, Sr. Janet. The inaugural function of the Centenary was indeed a memorable event for everyone present.

The Guest of Honour : Ex-Lt. Governor of Delhi Mr. H.L.Kapoor

As part of its centenary celebrations this year, CJM, Dehradun organized a Centenary Run on 10th April 2001. The main purpose of the run was to generate funds for the Centenary Outreach Programme, and each member of the CJM family participated in the event with great gusto and enthusiasm.

The Guest of Honour for the occasion was Ex-Lt. Governor of Delhi Mr. H.L.Kapoor, who enthused and inspired the students with his inaugural speech. The run was then flagged off and the first group of students led off. The run route ran from the Convent Road Gate, along Rajpur Road, Eucalyptus Road and back again through the new Centenary Gate on EC road. The roads were lined with students and the faculty, jogging along in their multi-hued Centenary T-shirts. Their enthusiasm and school spirit was evident in their flushed faces and radiant smiles.

Centenary Run

The first five rankers in each category were awarded prizes ,. but as the Guest of Honour aptly remarked, it wasn’t the victory alone but also and more importantly, the high degree of sportsmanship and the intense school spirit in each participant that carried the day.

CJM Extravaganza

On 22nd April 2001,CJM organized the Centenary fete –‘Extravaganza’ which was inaugurated by General Bakshi. Sure enough the event stood true to its name, for it was indeed an extravaganza of sights and sounds. Colorful stalls of every conceivable kind adorned the campus, giving it a festive look. The atmosphere was one of sheer fun and frolic, and an air of general excitement prevailed. There were lip-smacking eats, thrilling games and joy rides, topped with foot-tapping music. Besides being a splendid treat for the young and old alike, the fun fare was one with a noble cause — the proceeds of it will be used for the upliftment of a village adopted by CJM as part of its Centenary Outreach Programme.

The students and faculty of CJM had put in days of hectic preparation for the fete, and to say that it was a “thumping success” would be an understatement !

CJM Extravaganza

As part of the ongoing Centenary celebrations Convent of Jesus and Mary, Dehra Dun, organised a three days’ Inter- School Fest called ‘CHIMES-2001’.This celebration was from 16 to 18 August,2001.The ‘fest’ was aimed at providing a platform for students from various schools of the town to come together and work in an atmosphere of shared enthusiasm. As such, a number of activities were scheduled for these three days.

The ‘fest’ was inaugurated on 16 Aug,2001 by the Hon’ble Minister of state for Education, Shri. Teerath Singh Rawat. The activities on the opening day comprised of One-Act Plays in English, Psychomania, the elimination rounds of the Math and Science Olympiads and On-The-Spot Software development Programme.

Unfortunately, the activities scheduled for the second day, 17 August 2001, had to be rescheduled because of a ‘bandh’ declared in the city. However these activities were successfully carried out on the third and final day of the ‘fest,’ despite the tight squeeze. The final day’s activities included Choreography, Commezestival and the final rounds of the Math and Science Olympiads. C J M students’ dance, depicting clouds and rain followed by sunshine was immensely applauded.

The response to CHIMES 2001 was overwhelming with 16 schools of Dehra Dun participating. The award giving ceremony was presided over by Shri N. Ravi Shankar, Education Secretary, Govt. of Uttaranchal . Mrs N.Ravishankar gave away the prizes. The overall C J M Centenary Trophy was won by C J M Dehra Dun but as host school and thus not being eligible for it, the trophy was given to the runners-up, Brightlands School, Dehra Dun. C J M, Dehra Dun’s Inter School Venture was a remarkable success .It engendered a visible spirit of healthy competitiveness through beautiful partnership and oneness.

Teaching is the only profession that is rewarded with a special day dedicated to it and C.J.M. Dehradun is a school where loving efforts are made by the management and students to make the day full of joy for the teachers.

The teachers felt their spirits soar as they stepped into the staff room because it had been beautifully decorated with appreciative thoughts expressed on posters. After a prayer service they witnessed a variety entertainment program which was entirely the efforts of students affectionately motivated by the principal Sr. Janet. The teachers cherished the smiles, greetings and flowers that they received in plenty.

Teacher’s Day

The day concluded with fun, games and lunch arranged by the school and with very unique gifts too ! There were gold pendants for the ladies and gold rings for the gentlemen staff members with “C.J.M. Dehra Dun 100 Years” engraved on them to mark the School Centenary this year. Truly memories of this Teachers Day will be etched in gold.

It was indeed a proud day in the history of CJM, Dehra Dun , when the curtains were brought down, in the form of a fantastic Finale, on a year of celebration to mark a hundred glorious years of service through education. The programme was conducted on two separate days 22 and 23 October 2001. The Chief Guest for the 22nd Oct 2001 was Shri Mudhukar Gupta, Chief Secretary to the Govt. of Uttaranchal On 23rd Oct 2001 the Chief Guest was Shri Nityanand Swami, Hon’ble Chief minister of Uttaranchal. Dr.Vandana Shiva, noted environmentalist and eco-feminist, was the special guest of honour.

The programme began with the lighting of a 100 diyas to commemorate CJM’s 100 Years in the service of education. Following this was a beautiful welcome dance - “Nivedan”. The stage show ‘A Hundred Not Out’, chronicling CJM’s 100 years of education, proved to be a very enthralling experience for the audience. The script for this was prepared by Mrs.C.Mukherjee a member of the school faculty. The entire CJM staff assisted with the stage direction. A choreography item on ‘Clouds and Rains’ was greatly appreciated by the audience. It was stage-managed by Mrs. B. Roy, the dance teacher of the school. The songs were beautifully sung and were composed and put to music by Mrs. K.Kathpalia, the music teacher of the school.

The Govt. of India in recognising the services the school had put in through a Hundred Glorious Years of education by the staff and the CJM Sisters released a First Day Cover on this occasion. This was a landmark achievement for the school. In the Annual Report read by the principal Sr. Jannet, she recounted the various achievements of the school. Apart from excellent results in academics, Monal Mukherjee last year and Ankita Khanna of class XII this year, brought distinctive laurels to the school by scoring All-India 3rd position in the Essay Writing Competition organized by the Council in the memory of Mr. Albert Barrow.

The principal explained how CJM emphasizes on the growth of human and moral values in its students, so that they grow as assets for the nation. The Guest of Honour, Dr. Vandana Shiva gave away the prizes and scholarships. The Centenary programme concluded with the entire CJM family, guests and ex-students singing the School Anthem, followed by the National Anthem.

Dr. Vandana Shiva
(Noted environmentalist, eco-feminist & ex-student of CJM, Dehra Dun)

Recognizing the rich and diverse plant and animal life of the state of Uttaranchal and the effort required to conserve this, Dr. Vandana Shiva conducted a one-day workshop on Bio-diversity for her Alma Mater on October 24, 2001 at ‘Navdanya’. Students and staff from 10 different schools of Dehra Dun participated in the workshop.

Sister Janet , the school principal , spearheaded this activity and was very impressed by the range of rich diversity of our region, explained by Dr. Shiva. Lunch and snacks were provided at ‘Navdanya’. The fare was appropriately rich and a produce of ‘Navdanya’.

The Students were also made aware of the importance of preserving the richness of the soil and developing in themselves healthy eating habits.