Teach for cause
- 1 May 2020
While coping with the stay-at-home order, Oakridger Yash, who studies in grade 3 at Oakridge International School Bengaluru came up with this amazing idea to raise money for the underprivileged by taking online classes. He takes virtual classes by charging a minimal amount of fee that goes as a donation towards fighting the uncertainties due to the pandemic.
“When the lockdown happened, I had a lot of spare time at hand. One day when my mom was asking my younger brother Yuvaan to teach alphabets to my little brother Viraaj, I got an idea of teaching kids. I also saw that my dad was donating money to organizations and people to help the needy. I thought I could teach little kids and raise money to donate to police, doctors, and poor who can use it in such difficult times”, says Yash.
Taking his father’s help, he designed a beautiful poster that gave all the information about his initiative. They circulated the poster on WhatsApp to their friends, colleagues and other acquaintances. Interestingly, a lot of parents were interested and replied almost immediately. He began to take classes for children in UKG, Grade 1, and Grade 2 on every alternate day, so that he can use the days in between to prepare presentations and content for the classes. He also attends all the virtual classes that his school conducts with utmost dedication, so that he can share the knowledge while teaching other kids in these classes.
“Yash is naturally creative and it’s our job to give him freedom; and direction for his ideas to blossom. We find Yash emotionally intelligent that he understands the impact his efforts can have on others. His mission about the idea to help society by raising money through teaching kids was exceptional. He was driven to ensure that PowerPoint presentations and quizzes for his classes were prepared a day ahead. For us as parents, it’s very fulfilling and satisfying watching him deliver on his promise” said Yash’s parents.
“The first topics I taught were about outer space, galaxy, and solar system. I also gave kids homework that their parents submitted to my Gmail account. I also got feedback on my classes which was very positive and encouraging. I found that all the kids were engaged and completing their homework on time”, adds Yash. He started with 4 kids and later more joined. He used to charge Rs.20 per class per student and it turned out with this great initiative that he had raised more than Rs.10000 through generous donations from extended family. His goal is to raise Rs.25000 and donate it to the district collector for relief efforts. He also aims to continue taking classes in the future and keep raising money for different good causes.
“We feel so happy to see how our students like Yash are taking it upon themselves to make a change. Through various activities and projects at school, we always aim to inculcate strong values in our kids, preparing them to be change-makers whenever needed” says Pallavi Mishra, Principal Oakridge International School Bengaluru.
