Sophia Vocational Training Center for Differently-AbledSophia Opportunity School, Bangalore, managed by the Congregation of the Sisters of Notre Dame, caters to hundreds of children with Special Needs who are privileged to have a homey, caring and loving environment to excel in the all-around Special Education provided by us. The children are groomed, termed and formed in such a way that when the time comes for them to leave the school, most of them are able to handle or be trained in a job-based work. Our intent with the Sophia Vocational Training Center for Differently-Abled Children is to move further to train our intellectually and multiply-disabled youth, to equip them to handle a job anywhere or even in our own institution. The Vocational Training Center program is to create an infrastructure which ensures a smooth graduation from school to the outside world, for the young adult and the family. Thus, the young adults from Sophia Opportunity School adapt appropriately to the needs of adulthood, able to function independently, whole physically and emotionally. CREDO of the Vocational Training Center Dignity, not pity; Rights, not charity;
Vision: The vision is reflected in the belief that all individuals in society, irrespective of their abilities and /or sociocultural identities, have the right to equal opportunities for their personal growth and development. Mission: The mission is to reduce and limit the consequences of disabilities, through training for capacity building and facilitation of opportunities and support structures for integrated development of special individuals in society.
The aim is to empower the trainee to be independent, grasp the skills of his/her choice to achieve the goal of rehabilitation or an occupation in either their family enterprise or in a co-operative environment. The Vocational Curriculum usually emphasizes work skills for the areas of employment This training also provides the occasion for developing the personality, self-confidence and sense of satisfaction in both the trainee and his/her family, enhances the participant's self-esteem and respect by offering an opportunity to make a useful social contribution. The following are the some of the training the Centre has initiated this year:
1. Computer data processing skills God bless the Centre with new vitality, enthusiasm and energy. May God be with us. Annual Day 2017The experience of raising a child with special needs –this is not easy to describe.From the outside, it may look challenging and stressful. But parents of children with special needs don't see a disability when they look at their children; instead, they see the most precious and wonderful blessings of their lives: they see their child.Still, even the most resilient of parents need some inspiration and reassurance. Parents: all you need has been given to you with your child. You've got love. Everything starts from there. In the heart of a parent, it is a wonderful experience of evolution and personal growth. Challenges make us grow; you'll never be the same after receiving a child with special needs. You will become a much better person. We all need to be challenged to give our best. Challenges keep us alive. Challenges make us grow. To make others more aware of our similarities, as well as the great efforts our children make to achieve their goals –this is why we talk about our children's disabilities, not to label them. People with disabilities have the power to demonstrate that everything is possible. Logic is an illusion compared with the power of determination. Our kids teach us that sometimes joy is so intense that laughing is not enough to celebrate. I am sure you have learned to cry tears of joy and to smile with serenity during the tough times. Life is a roller coaster of emotions. The first step to enjoying your children is to learn to dream new dreams and understand that their disability is not a shame or a tragedy. Helen Keller, born able to hear and see, but soonlost those abilities, is quoted: "Sometimes I just stop and thank God, for having different plans for me than I had for myself. I have been blessed with a miracle."Actually, we are more alike than different, but we are all individuals, with unique abilities and needs. It's just a different way of living and loving with different abilities. Parents, as do teachers, share our life experiences, our kids' smiles and their achievements, not as a way to convince ourselves and others of their perfection, but simply as parents whose children are their pride and joy. As Melissa Cote says,"It's about progress, not perfection." Some things may never get better, but our ability to deal with that problem will improve. Annemarie Gibbs emphasizes "You don't have to be a perfect parent. Just love your child, that's plenty perfect enough." God hasplanted in you parents the deep love for your precious children, so God will also help you to be strong when you are tired of the struggle. In the Holy Bible, St. Paul in a letter says "…for when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Cor 12: 8) God will give you rest when weary. You will see God's hand at work in the seemingly impossible situations you face daily. He gives us all that we need for life. Most of all, He will open your eyes to His constant presence and His amazing love that is at work in, through, and around you every day. And He won't give up on you or your child either. Take comfort in knowing that He loves you and your child more than you can possibly imagine. He is with you, and He will not leave you. You can count on that just like you count on the sun to rise every morning. "Trust him and he will uphold you, follow a straight path and hope in him." (Sirach 2: 6) We assure you of our constant love, support and prayers as we journey together with God's incarnation made manifest through these students with special needs. At this juncture it is overwhelming that we now count the blessings God has been generously bestowing on us. Thank you, our chief guest, Dr. P. Shyama Raju, for gracing this occasion with your valuable presence and blessings. Your tremendous interest to be with the special children by postponing an important meetingis commendable. With your University motto of "Knowledge is Power" you also appreciate our school for our children. It is overwhelming to know that you are amidst us today to encourage, to value and to respect the dignity of these differently-abled children and to be of support to their parents. We will never forget your presence with us. Thank you sir; may God continue to bless you. Sr. Mary Sandhya, thank you for taking time from your busy schedule and to be with us, will definitely leave footprints on our hearts. Heartfelt gratitude goes to you, Sr. Manisha, for travelling all the way from Mysore to be part of us today. Likewise I am grateful to all of you who have come here to encourage all our staff and students. We have been so fortunate to be backed by a team of very motivated and dedicated colleagues who know their job and are result-oriented. I cannot thank everyone enough for their involvement and willingness to take on the completion of tasks beyond their comfort zones! I would like to commend the excellent team-work and deep sense of responsibility presented by our dedicated and committed staff. Hats off to you, my dear teachers especially the core team, for your untiring and tremendous faith in the students, and "making gold out of stones" through your creative ideas and efforts. Today's show is planned, edited, choreographed and directed by our own talented teachers, who managed the stage, control room, sound and lights --everything. A special thanks to the props team, Mr. Bellarmine, parents of other sections and ours, SND Associates, Notre Dame Creche teachers, and generous volunteers including Sangeeta and Sahana.They all deserve a big round of applause... Special thanks to our high school students who artistically applied make up on the children. Gratitude to Srs. Alpana and Rosilin for your constant support and encouragement to the teachers and students; Srs. Divya and Sushmita for being there for us as pillars of support. We appreciate all the Sisters, teachers, members of PTA for your presence and support, our helpers, parents and others for being here with us to celebrate today. Thanks to Mr. Mohan Krishnan for your kindness in providing the snacks for today. Thank you, Sandosh, William, Anbu, David and Alice for helping us with sound and light and with the maintenance of the auditorium. Our special children indeed deserve a huge hand for showcasing their talents in such a well-disciplined, energetic and joyful manner. Well done my children. Thanks to our specially invited guests, Mr. Amarnath Kamath, Mr. Vijaya Kumar, Mr. Chandershekar, Mrs. Shanti, Principal Bethany Special School, Mrs. Revathi, the Principal and the staff of FAME India, staff from Christ Special School. We appreciate all of you who are gathered today to share our joy and work with the students with special needs. With thanks on my lips and thanks in my heart I thank the Almighty for the success of today. God continue to bless each and every one.
ANNUAL DAY 2017The students of Sophia Opportunity School have done it again!!! An incredible mesmerizing performance is an understatement for the "JUNGLE BOOK', the classic play enacted by our children, sounds like a total animated film, but that's were all the misconceptions are unveiled. This is purely the talents of our children, pouring out in a beautiful show that is unimaginable. The Annual Day celebration held at Sophia High School Auditorium on 18th February, 2017. The programme was graced by the presence of our Chief- Guest Mr. P. Shyama Raju, Founder and Managing Director, Divyashree Developers, Chancellor, REVA University, followed by the Guest of Honour, Provincial Superior of Visitation Province, Sr. Mary Sandhya. The show began with a prayer service by the children of our Opportunity section, which included the choir, Bible readings, Yoga and a prayer dance. Our children have not just put up a wonderful performance but have also out done themselves in Yoga by bagging the 1st prize in an International Competition. This performance was displayed on stage during the prayer service. Moving further, we had our lovely children playing the character of Mowgli, Bagheera, Baloo, Share Khan and King Louis's faithfully, that brought out the real essence of Jungle Book. However the entire performance was even more effective and complete with each child, playing their role as a Bison, Bee, Monkey, Wolf and Elephant. An unbeatable performance which mesmerized the parents and entire audience. The entire show concluded with the Grand Finale of the "Animal Song" by Savage Garden, thereby bringing onstage the entire cast of the play. To conclude, there is no substitution, no thinking twice, about the props and no replacement to the entire show, but our children of Sophia Opportunity School. Moved by this unbeatable performance, our Chief Guest M. Shyama Raju extended his support and requested our dear Principal Sr. Prabha to perform the play at REVA University. Not losing out on the chance to put forth our children's talent, the entire show was done again at REVA University. The children put up an awesome performance keeping the audience spell bound. To wrap it up…"There is nothing too difficult for our children to achieve". Inter School fest: KALANGANAAs the saying goes "Not all the five fingers are the same", the same way "Not at all our Children are the same". Each one is different from the other and has been gifted with different talents. Having taken into consideration the special abilities and talents of these special children "Kalangana' offers a platform to display their talents. It explores a wide range of talents like dance, singing, painting, yoga etc. Information Resource Centre (IRC) conducted "Kalangana' an Inter Special School competition in Bangalore from November 9th to 12th, 2017. The first competition that was held on November 9th was coloring, drawing and yoga. Seven of our students and one teacher participant participated in the colouring and drawing completion. The students were given an outline of a beautiful butterfly and were asked to colour it. Our teacher participant Ms. Meghna drew and colored a peacock and titled it as "I am Special! I am proud!' On the same day, we had the privilege to participate in group yoga. Where a teacher was also part of it. Six of our students and a teacher depicted the yoga exercises namely the vinyasa flow, followed by vakrasana and padmasana. We are glad we won the Ist place in the competition. On November 10th, our children were given a wonderful opportunity to showcase their ability to dance. We were given the theme of devotion, to which our children put in their entire effort and put forth a wonderful performance. On November 11th our school choir got a chance to show-case their talent in singing. There were about 27 schools that participated in the group singing and the theme was 'Devotional and classical music'. Our team consisted of 14 children and they sweetly sang 'our Bhagwan' to which the audience gave a good applause and we got a special prize. Other than these, our teacher Ms. Ancy Joseph got a 'Special Educator's Excellence Award' and our student Sabina Ruth Carvalho was selected for 'Best outgoing student award'. We are grateful to our Principal Sr. Prabha, who encourages us to participate in competitions like this. We are grateful to God for His guidance and support.
Let us salute the nation on this auspicious day. Independence Day was celebrated with great enthusiasm and respect at Sophia High School Bangalore. The students of LEANS section's prayer service, patriotic dances and skit that awakened everyone's feelings towards our mother land. The Principal, teachers and children of the LEANS section worked towards the success of this patriotic programme day in and day out and put in their entire heart and soul to bear the fruits of success. The students and staff in Sophia High School celebrated Independence Day with great zeal expressing their pride and joy to be a part of the great nation India. The celebration held at Sophia High School on 12th August 2016. Indeed it was a day of joy, a day to love and respect our country and make it a better place for Indians to live and experience the freedom, peace and unity in diversity The patriotic dance presented by the LEANS section enthralled the audience to the tune of pulsating music. Sr. Alpana closed the programme with the inspiring speech that lid the flame of Independence deep down in our hearts and also put food for thought "to correct our self before correcting others". Thereby she concluded the whole programme in a beautiful manner. A heartfelt gratitude to our respected Sr. Prabha our Principal for giving us an opportunity to celebrate our Independence Day in a great way. Excursion To KeralaOn 16th of November, 2016 the students of Sophia Opportunity School went on a trip to the 'God's Own Country', Kerala. Standing in middle of the crowded Bangalore City Railway station all parents, students and teachers had a mixed feeling of joy and fear, but when the train began all were relaxed and waiting for the destination. The first day was fun in cruise with DJ and dance. 3 to 4 hours went with fun, visiting Dutch Palace, St. Francis Church, Chinese Fishing Net and beach. Children enjoyed eating, drinking and playing in the park. The second day visit to Wonderla was exiting and mind blowing. Children enjoyed to the maximum with all their friends and teachers. The last but not the least was the boat house visit, where children got a different experience of enjoying the river and viewing nearby places and having good tasty food and dancing in the boat was very unique experience for all of us. The 'Lovel Hotel', the ambrosial food, good transportation all contributed for overall success of the trip. Thanks to our dear Principal Sr. Prabha for the most eventful three days trip which made the children learn to be away from the parents and to stay with friends and teachers gave them a life time memories.
BETHANY INTER-SCHOOL RELAYIt was a day filled with God's providence and benevolence. Another feather added in the crown of Sophia Opportunity School as we have won third place in both 4x75 mts boys inter school relay and 4x50 mts girls inter school relay conducted on 18th of August at Bethany Special School. Our children with enthusiastic mind and a brave spirit participated in the event. The true sportsmen ship could be seen in their hearts and the zeal to win secured them the bronze medal. Sr. Prabha's constant support and encouragement helped our children to explore and excel in all fields and areas. Thanks are to God for giving us this wonderful opportunity and his care on all of us on that day. |
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