It’s Ashley, Olivia, and Sofia reporting after our first day at GPS, after a long journey and minimal sleep. We are happy to say we have arrived at the guest house in Chettipalayam, and finished our first day at GPS. 

We started the day with a school wide assembly, welcoming us. The LKGs (JKs) performed a dance for us, and we also got to listen to the appreciations for both students and teachers’ accomplishments. 

We then got to tour the entire campus, where we were swept away by how beautiful the school was, including some of the smaller details. Most notably the art room which was covered by murals that were painted by the art teacher and students, the reflected messages written in Tamil that spelled out “thank you” on the courtyard walls, and the complex computer science work in the computer room. 

There was a lot of anticipation leading up to meeting our classes. A lot of us were nervous about making good first impressions, and ensuring the kids liked us, but those feelings disappeared when we were greeted with open arms. While our experiences were different from LKG all the way to grade 8, we all agreed that the warmth and kindness that the kids showed was truly what made our first day so special. Some of us got to participate in Karate with our classes, others played soccer-baseball, and we even experienced Tamil class. 

Some things that surprised us included the openness about marks. In a lot of our classes, the teacher would announce each student’s grade out loud in front of the entire class. We were also surprised by the behaviour of the students, who had immense respect for their teachers and all of the other school staff. Lastly, we were shocked by the man in the canteen (where we eat lunch), who had a whistle, in order to keep the students from getting too rowdy while they ate. 

We also noticed some similarities! The puzzles used in the JK classrooms were some of the same as the puzzles that York junior school students remember using in Toronto. A grade 4 class read Llama Llama Red Pajama, a familiar book to many. The grade 8s were learning macroeconomic concepts that we had seen in our own DP courses! 

Overall, our first day at GPS was an amazing success. We are so grateful to finally be here, and have learned so much from the students already. Their kindness is unmatched, and they have really helped us settle in. We are so excited for you to hear more about our experience! 

Thanks for reading!

Ashley, Sofia, Olivia