The Value of an Hour by John Assaraf- AlphaMax's Message for 16th Day of Christmas.

For the last seven years I have given the following essay by John Assaraf to my  GAC students so that they can reflect on the value of time and how they use it.
As we head to the end of the year and we think about what we have achieved I think it is  useful to read this.
This is our post for the 16th Day of Christmas.
Milton Drepaul
AlphaMax Academy

Selina from Nativity Play 2013

When I was 21 years-old, a gentleman asked me what I thought the value of an hour was. I honestly did not know how to answer the question. He went on to teach me one of the most valuable lessons I have ever learned.

He suggested that the value of an hour was priceless. This confused me some, so this is what he said to me.

“If you invest one hour each day in understanding yourself and your environment better, you will accumulate nine 40-hour weeks over the course of a year!”

Yikes! As you can imagine I was blown away when he put it to me that way.

Nine 40-hour weeks? This seemed impossible until I did the math. 365 days, times one hour each is…yup, nine 40-hour weeks!

He went on to ask me how good I could get at something if I did it all day, every day for just over 2 months. Well, you already know the answer to that.

I thought I could be awesome!

He went on to tell me that over the course of just five years, I would have invested the equivalent of 1,825 hours of focus on whatever I desired to accomplish my life.

Imagine for a minute, how good you can become at anything that you did one hour a day for the next year. How fit could you get? How much more in love would you get and give? How much more money could you earn?

Let me suggest that one hour is a small price to pay in comparison to the payoff. Just one hour a day may be the razor’s edge you need to really get the results you want in your life.

For me, the decision was easy. I have been studying human potential and the mind for over 20 years. Each time I think I’m getting a good handle on it, I am gently reminded of how much there is to observe and learn.

Is getting what you want worth an hour a day? I certainly hope so.

I still manage to set aside my hour to read motivational stories or listen to inspirational people. They are the fuel for my mind and it keeps me learning and yearning for more.

Please adopt an hour a day for yourself! Pick one area of your life that you want to improve and commit the next 90 days to that one thing.

I assure you that the results you achieve will be well worth the decision! And remember…you can’t take out of life more than you put in.

John

Renzo Tjon A Joe--riding forward to greater success.

AlphaMax Academy sends out advent greeting for the 15 December

Last year our talented swimmer Renzo Tjon A Joe ( ranked number 7 in the world in the 50m) gave a sterling performance as Herod in the school's unique version of the Nativity .

Renzo has moved from success to success. He became a professional swimmer for Auburn ( one of the leading teams in the US); he won silver and bronze .

Renzo Riding in the Desert 2014

Renzo as Herod

medals in the Carifta, Central American and Caribbean Games and the recent Doha World Junior Championships.

He continues to  break the national records in his events.

Here is Renzo--riding a camel in the Sahara desert.
We salute him and his achievements. This year we remember fondly your powerful acting performance which earned you a standing ovation.

Nativity Play 2013

"I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

AlphaMax Academy GAC class do Interviews

On December the 5^th 2014, eight members of the GAC class did a mock university admissions interview.  This activity, part of our GAC Level one courses, assessed our ability to be interviewed by university admission officers.  

This interview assignment was part of the GAC003 course, Study Skills for Independent Learning, assessment event 2.  The interview was to be least 10 minutes long, and was conducted in English by four interviewers.  Our interviewers   on Friday were: Mr. Taylor, Director of Studies and our 003 Facilitator, Mr. Drepaul, Director of the AlphaMax Academy GAC Program and Facilitator for our 001, 002 and 006 courses, Mr. Marshall, facilitator for 005 course and Reaan Kersenhout AlphaMax and GAC graduate

Mr. Marshall, Mr. Taylor, Mr.DRepaul 7 Ms. Kersenhout

Before the assessment, the students had to research their university course options, reflect on their study and learning skills, prepare a CV and Personal Statement, and rehearse effective interview skills. 

Friday was the first time the 2015 class were formally dressed for an assignment. We all tried to project images as earnest, successful students who were worthy of being accepted by the best universities.

AlphaMax 2015 GAC class

During the interview, students were asked to give reasons for choosing a particular university. They also talked about themselves and evaluated their own study skills and strategies. They also fielded questions on their time management, and the courses in which they wished to enroll.

            The students found this a very useful and rewarding experience.

Michelle Chow

Michelle Chow, Class of 2015 GAC and AlphaMax Academy

AlphaMax Students visit SAB

On Thu. 27th November the Chemistry classes went to Suriname Alcoholic Beverages (SAB), where alcohol for consumption and medical purposes is produced.

They were accompanied by  Chemistry teachers Atma Jagbandhan and Rick Seepersaud.

This field trip gave students an opportunity to see the practical uses of chemistry in society.

"This field trip was interesting and I learned a lot from it," Sven Lemmers, member of Chemistry class and an AlphaMax senior ( Graduating class of 2015).

Pictures: On the right the tour guide. We were all wearing helmets for safety and at some places also hair nets). At the end of the tour the group was served with non alcoholic refreshments .

Atma Jagbandhan

n

Startling Facts about US College life

n 2005, Psychology Today published an article entitled “The Perils of Higher Ed.” The statement beneath the title reads, “College life can be downright detrimental. Sleep deprivation, a bad diet, and binge drinking can lead you to memory loss, alcoholism, and even Alzheimer’s.”

Students walking to class

Here are some of the things we learn from the article:

80% of undergraduates and medical students at Stanford University qualified as sleep-deprived, according to a survey conducted there—and sleep plays a crucial role in learning and memory.

50% of students eat too much fat, and 70-80% eat too much saturated fat, according to a survey at Tufts University—and, as the article states, “They may literally be eating themselves stupid. Researchers have known since the late 1980s that bad eating habits contribute to the kind of cognitive decline found in diseases like Alzheimer’s.”

44% of today’s college students drink enough to be classified as binge drinkers, according to a nationwide survey of 10,000 students done at Harvard University — and we now know that even limited overindulgence with alcohol can produce long-term negative effects on the brain.

According to the National Mental Health Association, even one night of heavy drinking can impair your ability to think well for up to 30 days.

A USA Today article comments, “All this news makes you wonder how anyone’s ever managed to get an education.”

And the article doesn’t mention stress, anxiety, and depression:

More than 29% of college freshmen reported often feeling overwhelmed by school, and emotional health is at a record low, according to a UCLA study.

Nearly 45% of women and 36% of men reported feeling so depressed it was difficult to function, according to a National College Health Assessment.

Meditation for Anxiety

Depression and Anxiety among college students

College is supposed to be about learning. We know the factors that impair learning—stress, loss of sleep, alcohol, poor diet. Ironically, these are just the things that characterize the culture on many college campuses.

New GAC class starts

GAC 2015 has started at the AlphaMax Academy. Eight students are in the class,

Opening of Cosmic Heart Fountain at AlphaMax Academy

They are: Michelle Chow,Angelique Doorson, Chayenne Flohr,Jamiel Habieb,Joy Jones,Daniel Kolf,Alain Soekhlal and Tianshu Zhang.

Five students are in the science stream , two in Humanities and one in business.In the group , one student  wants to study architecture, two medicines, two psychology, one business, one acting.

The GAC course is in three modules. Level one runs from September 8 to November 14;level 2 from November 17 to February 20th and level 3 from February 23rd to May 22nd.

AlphaMax Academy began offering the Global Assessment Course- the world's most recognized university preparation program for students with English as a second language-i since 2007. This is the seventh group.

Alphamax students have performed at the highest level in this program and Reann Kersenhout of the 2014 group won an award for achieving a GPA of 4.0.

Child IT specialist.

Five-year-old passes Microsoft exam http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-30054140

The power of hemp

http://expandedconsciousness.com/2014/05/14/top-5-most-innovative-uses-for-hemp/

ICC concert,, - A positive ending to October

Do come out and enjoy this event.

AlphaMax Academy lights 108 Diyas for Diwali

On Wednesday 22 October, students and staff from the AlphaMax Academy lit 108 diyas on the school's campus. This ritual was part of the school's celebration of Diwali, one of Suriname's important holidays.

Students put the diyas around four important areas. Each area has 27 diyas. The first area  is the garden around the bust of Rabindronath Tagore. Alphamax Academy is proud to be one of the fourteen locations in the world with a bust of Tagore.

The second major area to be lit is the schools Cosmic Heart crystal fountain. This special sculpture was done by renowned Barbadian artist Charles Barrow who is the father of one of our teachers Isadora Barrow.

AlphaMax Academy has a special garden called the Rainbow Garden. This garden of flowers and plants is designed in the shape of the school's logo. When viewed from the air the school's logo is seen. This garden will be lined with diyas.

The final area to be lit by diyas is a special project of the school. Students in the practical physics class will be building Mr. Krak's unique preservation dehydrator. This device is the first one its type in the world. This preservation system allows tropical fruit, vegetables, herbs and meat to be reserved without chemical additives.

People believe that the number 108 is a spiritually successful number. AlphaMax students are inviting prosperity and abandons in all their activities.

-Nomi-Brittanni Vriesde

Alphamax Academy

Living Values Training at Alphamax Academy

Surinam’s AlphaMax Academy has scheduled a new LVE Training for their new teachers as well as for teachers from other institutions. This three-day workshop will be led by Belén Romero, the Focal Point for LVE in Venezuela.The workshops will be held at The Academy's Educational complex 18 Stanvastestraat from 5pm to 9pm on Monday 22, Tuesday 23rd and Wednesday 24th.

Belén Romero

In 2010 AlphaMax Academy initiated the first Living values Training Program in Suriname. All its staff including Administrative and ancillary staff were trained. The school then adopted Living Values are an important part of the curriculum.
Belén Romero who did the 2010 program is now back to train new teachers and to update the older teachers on new aspects of the program.

The Ministry of Education in Suriname has signalled an intent to add the Living Values program in all schools in Suriname. Teachers from the Basic Life Skills unit of the Ministry will attend the three day workshop.

The System by Shannon van Ommeren

The System
A teacher once said
To a small group of students:
“The system has failed us!”
“The system of society…humanity,
Life and love, has failed us!”

He’s wrong!
The system has not failed us,
You failed yourself in life
The system is us
It’s you, it’s me,
It’s him, her, it’s all of us
We are the system!!

By saying that the system
Has failed us
You are stating that
You failed yourself
In life

I?
I refuse to believe that!!
Why?
Because, I have not failed myself
I do make mistakes,
But, I move on
To a new day, a new dawn,
A new light
Because as long as there is life
There are hopes and dreams .

Shakespeare once said:
“life is a stage, everyone
Has their part to play”
So…
You don’t like your character?
Change!
We can’t change what happened…
But, we can change what will happen!

Shannon van Ommeren

Final Year ( Grade 12 ) AlphaMax Academy.

AlphaMax Graduation & Opening of Cosmic Heart Fountain

2014 Graduates

 with Milton Drepaul

Last weekend, the school year at the AlphaMax Academy came to a close in a sphere of festive activities.  On Saturday, nine students received their diplomas.

Valedictorian for the Class of 2014 was Reann Kersenhout.  Reann received the highest school awards for her super performance in the Global Assessment Certificate program, which she completed with 17 distinctions out of 18 subjects.  Her super performance gave the 16 year student of Suriname a perfect average score of 4.00.  This very rare achievement – perhaps the only one this year worldwide – was applauded with a special Certificate of Achievement and a Scholarship Award from examiners in Australia.

Among the highlights of this year’s Graduation and Awards ceremonies was the opening in the Academy’s courtyard of the Cosmic Heart fountain.  It is a unique gift from Caribbean sculptor, James Barrow, who lives in Barbados.

The AlphaMax Academy was established in Suriname in September 1998; the school attracts students from Suriname who are keen to receive their education in English, the world language.  The Academy offers classes to students from Kindergarten through the VWO level, the first-year of University study.

Reann Kersenhout achieves perfect GPA score for GAC 2014

The GAC team in Australia has congratulated Reann Kersenhout on achieving a perfect GPA of 4.0 from her GAC work this year.

To acknowledge her work Reaan will receive two awards.

Reann speaking at Mandela Memorial

One is a certificate of Achievement from Ros Washington , Head of GAC and her AES academic team. The second is a cash award from the General Manager , Gaye Pullyn.

The AlphaMax community is proud of Reann's achievements.

A smart horse m

http://blog.petflow.com/we-call-her-houdini-horse-after-catching-this-trickster-on-camera/#5BzpV5xCKkxpe7MQ.01

Light bedrooms may have role in weight gain.

Light bedrooms 'link to obesity' http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-27617615

Google to build cars.

Google to build self-driving cars http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-27587558

Guyana Research Trip for Carinlangs Students

Twelve first year students on the Caribbean Institute of Language Studies  (Carinlangs ) first year BA TESOL program  will be visiting New Amsterdam , Guyana as part of their Special Seminar primary research course. Four tutors  including Director Dr. Robby Morroy will accompany the students.

Carinlangs Dance Item

The group will be travelling overland and will spend three days. On Friday the students will meet and interview professionals in nine areas of life in New Amsterdam.

On their return the students will do a research paper and a PowerPoint presentation on a selected aspect of the life and culture of Guyana. a

The Ministry of Sports and Culture  in Guyana has arranged for Ms. Shaundrel  Phillips, the acting principal of the New Amsterdam Multilateral school to link up with the Carinlangs group.

The New Amsterdam Library has invited the students to visit the library on Friday at 11.00 am to meet and interact with children during their weekly story telling time.  Two of our students will read Surinamese stories in English for the group. Mr . France Olivera Carinlangs lecturer will assist these students

The Mayor of New Amsterdam, Mr. Henry will meet the Carinlangs students when they arrive on Thursday. They will then have a mini tour of the city.

On Saturday the group hopes to be able to visit the University of Guyana’s  Berbice campus at Tain. In the evening the group will hold a mini reception at Berbice Inn for all the people who assisted them on the tour.

The group returns to Suriname on the 1st June.

This research project completes the first trimester for the Carinlangs students who began their one year BA capstone program in March. The students have already demonstrated their presentation and event management skills in a brilliant joint production with Alphamax Academy and the Indian Cultural Center celebrating Tagore’s birthday on May 10.

Carinlangs MC with Ambassadors from India & Guyana and ICC performers.

Golden Milk

http://themindunleashed.org/2014/05/golden-milk-simple-drink-change-life.html

Suriname aims for.25% stake in gold minem

http://www.ifre.com/suriname-shelves-bond-plans-eyes-us$200m-loan/21145309.article

Culture, dreams and sleep

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/05/14/opinion/luhrmann-to-dream-in-different-cultures.html?emc=eta1&_r=0&referrer=

Columbus's Santa Maria may have been found.

Santa Maria Replica

More than five centuries after Christopher Columbus’s flagship, the Santa Maria, was wrecked in the Caribbean, archaeological investigators think they may have discovered the vessel’s long-lost remains – lying at the bottom of the sea off the north coast of Haiti. It’s likely to be one of the world’s most important underwater archaeological discoveries.

“All the geographical, underwater topography and archaeological evidence strongly suggests that this wreck is Columbus’ famous flagship, the Santa Maria,” said the leader of a recent reconnaissance expedition to the site, one of America’s top underwater archaeological investigators, Barry Clifford. 

“The Haitian government has been extremely helpful – and we now need to continue working  with them to carry out a detailed archaeological excavation of the wreck,” he said.

So far, Mr Clifford’s team has carried out purely non-invasive survey work at the site – measuring and photographing it.

Tentatively identifying the wreck as the Santa Maria has been made possible by quite separate discoveries made by other archaeologists in 2003 suggesting the probable location of Columbus’ fort relatively nearby. Armed with this new information about the location of the fort, Clifford was able to use data in  Christopher Columbus’ diary to work out where the wreck should be.

Test Dates for Prospective AlphaMax Students

Saturday 17th May.
Saturday 5th July
Monday 25 th August.

Parents are free to come with students and view the school facilities. Someone will be assigned to show you around.

Orientation Day for new students -Saturday 30th August-10 a.m.

Important Final Term Dates at AlphaMax

AlphaMax AcademyTuesday 27 May PTA Meeting (Lower & Middle school).
Wednesday 28 May PTA Meeting(High School & GAC).

Re-registration for next year -Forms to be returned by Monday 2nd June.
Return of books-Monday 23rd.( Lower & Middle School)
& Tuesday 24 June. (High School)

Close of School/Awards Ceremony Friday 27 June
Graduation Saturday 28 June 10 am

Columbus' Santa Maria found?

Columbus's Santa Maria wreck 'found' http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-27397579




A US underwater investigator has said he believes he has found the wreck of the Santa Maria, the flagship of Christopher Columbus's famed expedition.

Barry Clifford said evidence "strongly suggests" a ruin off Haiti's north coast is the Santa Maria.

Mr Clifford's team has measured and taken photos of the wreck.

Replica of Columbus's Santa Maria

He says he is working with the Haitian government to protect the site for a more detailed investigation.

The Santa Maria, along with the La Nina and La Pinta, were part of Columbus's expedition in 1492, which explored islands in the Caribbean in an attempt to find a westward passage to Asia.

The flagship was lost during the expedition, shortly before Columbus returned to Spain.

"All the geographical, underwater topography and archaeological evidence strongly suggests that this wreck is Columbus's famous flagship, the Santa Maria," said Mr Clifford.

Excellent Professional Tagore Performance

AlphaMax Academy students put on an excellent, professional performance last night in the Tagore celebration of Gitanjali.

Eight dancers trained by Mrs.Kawita Thani thrilled the audience with their skill and stage finesse. Surinamers were proud that students from all the major Suriname communities could master the cultural dance from another country.

Reann Kersenhout -GAC 2014 class as well as AlphaMax 2014 graduating class joined Randy Esajas also a 2014 graduate and Daniel Kolf to give intensely focused powerful dramatic presentations of Tagore ' s poetry that left many marveling at the acting skills of Suriname ' s young people in English.

Parents were impressed that the school's director, dance/drama tutor and five other members of staff were fully involved with the production and either performed or worked alongside the student team.

The three ambassadors and other distinguished guests asked the school to convey their congratulations on a thoroughly professional performance.
Members of the audience also praised the smooth, flawless collaboration between AlphaMax, the Indian Cultural Center and Carinlangs.

AlphaMax Academy Convincing winner of Happy Spelling Bee Contest

Tamia Hoppie- AlphaMax Champion Speller

AlphaMax Academy convincingly emerged as the English-school winner of Suriname’s National English Spelling Bee Competition last night at the Congreshal in the capital city of Paramaribo.

The major educational event that attracted a full hall of students, teachers, team supporters, and parents – about 750 in all – was organized by Stichting Leren voor een Goede Toekomst (Foundation for a Better Future).

Two AlphaMax scholars successfully captured both the first and second English-school prizes in the fourth and final round of a hotly contested event in which a total of 43 contestants from 22 schools competed for top honors.

The participating schools in the English spelling competition were divided into Dutch-speaking institutions and English-speaking ones.  There were four participating English-curriculum schools facing off in the May 8th finals that saw competitive spelling among primary school, middle school and junior secondary school students, namely from:  the AlphaMax Academy, the Caribbean Education Institute of Suriname, Christian Liberty Academy, and Suriname International School.

After three rounds of spelling a wide range of words graded according to levels, the original field of fourteen (14) English-curricula contestants was whittled down to 8 students – five (5) of whom were AlphaMax scholars, two (2) from Christian Liberty Academy, and one (1) from the Caribbean Education Institute of Suriname.  The five AlphaMax scholars who made it to the final round were Graciella Kenswil, Joanna Daher, Andrea Lau, Noor Patandin, and Tamia Hoppie.

Following the fourth and final round, the Queen Spelling Bee, and winner of the first prize in the English schools, was Tamia Hoppie, AlphaMax junior high school student.  Her performance was an impressive 100%.  Joanna Daher of the Academy’s middle school program emerged as the runner-up Spelling Bee, taking home the second prize.

The National English Spelling Bee Competition is a ground-breaking visionary initiative of Drs. Monique Brown, the Director of the Stichting voor een Goede Toekomst.

Runner up Joanna Daher with the Venezuelan Ambassador to Suriname

Dr A. Murugesan and Kenneth Biervliet – until recently the Director of Education in the Ministry of Education of Suriname – were the specially invited Guests of Honor to distribute the trophies and gift prizes to the winning students and school coaches.

Dr Murugesan is an international artist from India.  Following a career as an economist, English Literature teacher, and human resource director, Dr Murugesan currently resides in Suriname with his spouse, the Ambassador of India.

It is the second time the AlphaMax Academy has won the English National Spelling Bee top honors in Suriname.  The Academy won the first competition in June 2013, at the Congreshal in Paramaribo.

2014 Spelling Bee Champion Tean with teacers.

The winners of the Queen Spelling Bee title in the Dutch-school competitions were students from Geyersvleit Mulo (Junior Secondary) school and O.S. Reeberg (Projekt) Primary School.  Students from both schools emerged as the champion and runner-up – taking home the first prize trophies and second prize medals.

This year the first round of the National English Spelling Bee competition had attracted 24 Dutch and English schools.  The first-round spelling competition was run-off in January, earlier this year.

The AlphaMax students who made it to the finals of the Spelling Bee competition were  Graciella Kenswil, Joanna Daher, Andrea Lau, Noor Patandin, Lakiesha Despo, and Tamia Hoppie.  Their Academy’s English teachers and Spelling Bee Coaches included Simone Griffith, Sharon Hoppie, Vijoya Taylor, and Kawita Thani.

AlphaMax Academy has Tagore bust garlanding ceremony

In a simple but elegant short ceremony distinguished guests including Indian Ambassador to Suriname Mrs. M Subashini garlanded the bust of Rabindranath Tagore in the courtyard of AlphaMax Academy in Paramaribo, Suriname on Tagore’s birth anniversary –the 7th May.

Rabindranath Tagore is India’s best-known writer and artist. He is the first non-European winner of the Nobel Prize and is the only known person to have written the national anthems for two different countries.

Rabindranath Tagore has had a profound influence on India’s philosophy and educational thought. He founded the influential Visva-Bharati University.
In the early twentieth century when travel was not easy he visited many countries lecturing on his ideas for a national education based on the lives of the people living in that nation. In his book The Discovery of India, Jawaharlal Nehru wrote, "He (Tagore) has been India's internationalist par excellence, believing and working for international co-operation, taking India's message to other countries and bringing their message to his own people."

India has commemorated his spreading of India’s ideas to many countries by assisting in the setting up of statues and busts in more than 20 countries.
Suriname was honored to be one of a dozen countries that received busts of Tagore on the 150th anniversary of his birth in 2011. AlphaMax Academy was selected as the place in Suriname where the bust was placed because of the Academy’s commitment to Tagore’s ideals. Several time a month Tagore’s poem “ Where the Head is Held High” from his Nobel Prize collection “ Gitanjali” is recited by the school’s community at their morning assembly.

The ceremony began with the singing of the national anthems of Suriname and India. Devesh Chaturdevi Indian Cultural Center musician then sang an enchanting Tagore song in Bengali. The audience warmly applauded his sincere rendition.

The Indian Ambassador, the head of the Indian Cultural Center, the first secreatary of the Indian Embassy , ICC staff and other senior members of the AlphaMax Community then garlanded the bust. The AlphaMax staff and students then recited Tagore’s “ Where the Head is Held High.”

Mr. Sean Taylor made a short speech in which he said that Tagore not only belonged to India but to countries like Suriname which cherished his ideals.
This part of the ceremony ended with brief remarks by the Indian Ambassador who expressed her deep appreciation of AlphaMax Academy’s commitment to Tagore’s ideals.

The audience then went to the school’s major auditorium for a short presentation. This consisted of a harvest dance “ Pous Utsav” by seven female AlphaMax students. Mrs. Kawita Thani of AlphaMax and Carinlangs choreographed this dance item.

Three members of the school’s drama group—members of the class of 2014 Reann Kersenhout (also member of the 2014 GAC class), Randy Esajas and Senior student Daniel Kolf did dramatic renditions of three poems from Gitanjali.

The audience applauded both the dance and the readings. The dance created a happy successful mood and the intense charged presentations of the poems stirred the audience with the emotional power of Tagore’s work

Tagore bust at AlphaMax Academy

Rabindranath Tagore was born on May 7th, 1861, and died on August 7th, 1941.

Tagore bust at AlphaMax Academy in Suriname.

The Tagore bust at the AlphaMax Academy is one of a dozen effigies unveiled worldwide to mark the 150th Birth Anniversary Celebrations worldwide. Tagore is the author of one of the anthems students and teachers of the AlphaMax community use daily in school assemblies.

Suriname's First Lady speaking at the unveiling of Tagore bust. 

The Tagore Bust-unveiling ceremony  was done on June 4th, 2011. Suriname’s First Lady Ingrid Waldring-Bouterse unveiled the bust with Ambassador K.J.S. Sodhi. 

One of the highlights of the Tagore bust-unveiling ceremony was the ICC-sponsored Bihu Dance Troupe which had travelled from Assim, India, to perform. This was their premiere performance in Paramaribo.

Tagore Ideals on Education

The curriculum at AlphaMax Academy is strongly influenced by the ideals of India's celebrated poet and artist Rabindranath Tagore.

Tagore Bust in the courtyard at AlphaMax Academy

From its inception in September 1998, teachers and students of the Academy have recited, often daily, those memorable words which first appeared in Tagore’s world-famous and respected collection of poetry, "Gitanjali."

            

"Where the mind is without fear and head is held high           

 Where knowledge is free             

 Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls         

 Where words come out from the depth of truth              

 Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection               

 Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary dead sand of dead habit              

 Where the mind is led forward by Thee into ever-widening thought and action      

 Into that heaven of free, my dear beloved God, let us all awake”.

First Lady of Suriname speaking at the  unveiling of Tagore monument

On June 4th 2011 Suriname’s First Lady Ingrid Bouterse Waldring unveiled the Tagore monument, a sculpted bronze figure of Tagore, which has a plaque that bears this inspiring prayer.This monument, a gift from India to Suriname, is one of several worldwide. AlphaMax Academy is proud to be the custodian of Tagore's bust for the people of Suriname.

In 1918, Tagore founded Visva Bharati University – an international center of Culture and Humanistic Studies.

Tagore considered the lack of education to be the main obstacle in the way of national progress and at the root of all its problems. He thought that the basic objectives of any worthwhile national education system were to promote, creativity, freedom, joy, and an awareness of a country’s cultural heritage.

Therefore he worked assiduously towards developing an appropriate system of national education. He felt that each nation was different and this fact should be reflected in its system of education.

Some of his salient thoughts on this topic were:
“In every nation, education [should be] intimately associated with the life of the people.”

“Let the students gather knowledge and materials from different regions of the country, from direct sources and from their own independent efforts.”

“We must try to understand how [our native] genius express[es] itself… Unless we try to put these together and discover the integrating factors behind these diverse streams of thought and make them a subject of study at our universities, we would only be borrowing knowledge from abroad. The natural habitat for knowledge is where it is produced. The main task of universities is to produce knowledge, its dissemination is its secondary function. We must invite those intellectuals and scholars to our universities who are engaged in research, invention or creative activity.”

To help foster and enrich the holistic formation of its young scholars, from its inception, the Academy has devoted four of its five school days to left-brain academic and ratiocinative development and activities, and one full school day to right-brain creative endeavors.

An unswerving resilient insistence on the latter is vintage Tagore, who like his Occidental contemporaries, Rudolf Steiner and Maria Montessori deplored lop or one-sided child/human development at the expense of a willful fostering and guidance of creative gifts and skills.  Indeed it is through the latter that the inner ‘child’ is nurtured and brought to a ripe maturity.

To illustrate how important contact with nature was to the life of the educator and poet, during one of his many travels to lecture in the West, Tagore wrote:

“I wish I could be released from this mission.  For such missions are like a  mist that envelops our souls – they seem to shut us off from the direct touch of God’s world…  The springtime has come – the sky is over-flowing  with sunshine.  I long to be one with the birds, and trees and the green  earth.  The call comes to me from the air to sing, but, wretched creature  that I am, I lecture – and by doing it I ostracize myself from this great world of songs to which I was born.”

New York, March 18th, 1921.

On Mat 7th 2014 there will be a garlanding of Tagore's Bust at AlphaMax Academy.