Happy New Year!!
Happy New Year to all of our students and families! We are so grateful to be a part of your lives, and for the opportunity to serve you. As we prepare for the coming year we pray that the Guru will bless all of our students with academic success and the mental and spiritual discipline that they will need to face the challenges of life with grace and courage. May all of our extended MPA family have a year of great prosperity and joy.
In honor of the new year we are very excited to present to you our new website, complete with a special login area for parents and students and a blog that will soon be updated several times a week to help everyone stay connected. We invite you to contribute your own photos, videos and thoughts about MPA. If you haven’t already received it, your personal login information will be emailed to you shortly!
From left: Teo (Germany), Gobind (Brazil), Manee (UK), Tarun (UK), Balwant (Mexico) and below, Guru Partap (Netherlands) in Rajasthan for Winter Break
Table of Contents:
News and Notes
- Anterpreet Kaur, co-Principal, will be arriving on campus on January 5th, 2010 to personally oversee the Academic department. If you have questions or concerns about your child’s academic progress please contact her directly at . Kirandeep Kaur, the Academic Director is on extended leave for personal reasons.
- Re-enrollment and Financial Aid applications will be accepted starting January 6th, 2010. We encourage you to begin your application as soon as possible. Financial Aid applications for re-enrolling students will be accepted until April 1st, 2010.
- Students will return from Rajasthan and Thailand on January 5th and begin classes again January 6th.
Honoring Our Students
Student of the Week
Liana Hu and Bhagwati Kaur
We are on the lookout for students who are excelling in both academics and student life. With MPA’s Student of the Week program, teachers and Mukhya Jethadars nominate students and make a decision each week about the most deserving student. Our English teacher, Jagat Joti Singh sais the program is “A great way to to motivate students. Students are more aware of their performance and behavior is better too.” Bhagwati Kaur, a long time student sais “I think it is inspiring — it even inspired me after I won the award. it shows you you can get recognition even if you are not the best student– you still can get recognized.”
Students have been selected for consistently high academic scores, active participation in student life, and/or improvements in one or both areas. Each student of the week receives a certificate and a gift such as a yoga CD or book and his/her name is posted in the MPA lobby. Students who were honored:
Week of Oct. 26: Hari Akal Singh and Bhagwati Kaur
Week of Nov. 2: Gurusundesh Singh and Tripta Kaur
Week of Nov. 9: Sat Kartar Singh and Ongkar Singh
Week of Nov. 15: Sat Prakash Kaur and Har Narayan Singh
Week of Nov. 23: Siri Krishna Kaur and Siri Parmeshar Singh
Week of Nov. 30: Maria Christina, Gurudev Singh, and Prabhjot Kaur
Week of Dec. 7: Narayan Singh, Saibhang Kaur, Hargobind Singh
Week of Dec.14: Hari Mitar Singh and Maria Betancourt Schwartz
The Honor Roll
Honor Students Siri Avtar Singh and Narayan Singh
Thirty-four students made the MPA honor roll by obtaining all A’s and B’s. Miri Piri salutes the following students for their diligence and academic pursuit:
- Siri Avtar Singh
- Tashi Nyima
- Narayan Singh Khalsa
- Japji Singh Narang
- Gururaj Singh Khalsa
- Guru Partap Singh Khalsa
- Gurusundesh Singh Khalsa
- Simran Kaur Narang
- Guru Dev Singh Khalsa
- Guru Kartar Kaur Aguillen Garcia
- Simran Kaur Khalsa
- Saibhang Kaur Khlasa
- Parmatma Kaur Aguillén Garcia
- Dev Amrit Singh Shanley
- Satpaul Singh Virk
- Andrea Viviana Garza
- Guru Karam Singh Khalsa
- Harisimran Kaur Khalsa
- Ramneek Kaur Brar
- Har Narayan Singh Khalsa
- Hargobind Singh Wester
- Sat Kartar Singh Burmeister
- Jaspreet Singh Virk
- Liana Hu
- Mirabelle Helena Lemoine
- Gobind Singh Balberde Khalsa
- Ad Such Kaur Gendelman
- Savitri Kaur Beaver
- Maria Betancourt Schwarz
- Siri Krishna Kaur Khalsa
- Hari Mitar Singh Khalsa
- Guru Amrit Hari Kaur Khalsa
- Ongkar Singh Teske
- Sat Kiran Kaur Yanez Davila
Implementing Cambridge at MPA
Ravi Kaur
Miri Piri Academy has made great strides this fall towards improving education for all students. Thanks to the good will and efforts of many, students are adjusting to our more rigorous academic expectations and many students are beginning to take greater ownership and responsibility for their own learning.
When I came to MPA in August to serve as Assistant Principal for four months it was with the intent of organizing a program to personalize instruction and assist with teacher training and the implementation of the Cambridge Accreditation. We have implemented a variety of strategies to support student learning – including a pull out program for students with English as a Second Language, a focus on the beauty and regard for other languages and cultures, in classroom support for students, tutoring, more hands on instruction, greater use of the internet for lessons, and differentiation of instruction. Also, in the tradition of the Siri Singh Sahib we are connecting the yogic and spiritual life with academic skills and knowledge.
Students are doing a variety of special projects – sometimes by undertaking independent studies and conducting internet research, sometimes by tutoring others, and sometimes by studying in teams to promote their learning and retention of information. For a small number students who need it, we are modifying exams to reflect adjustments that were made in their curriculum. Also in support of Cambridge we are putting a huge emphasis on preparing for exams. Teachers are giving mini-quizzes, students receive study guides on content to be covered on tests, and we are using innovative practices to help students review content and prepare for exams. Students are taking these exams very seriously.
Miri Piri is all about balance, however. While other Cambridge schools allocate 3 hours a day for studying, Miri Piri Academy, with its unique yogic focus and mission must consider more than academic excellence. To assist students with their studies this fall we have added additional study time so that students have 5- 7.5 hours set aside for study. As we move forward with Cambridge we must continue to consider Miri Piri’s traditions of sadhana, seva, gatka, yoga, sports, extra curriculars. and meditation. With that in mind we are establishing a culture so that youth will apply their yogic knowledge of concentration and focus to learn what is needed for Cambridge exams, even as they continue all the additional MPA studies.
Currently, for some we are in the process of remediating student deficits and helping students gain a new confidence in their learning, and for many we are helping them improve their writing. We are raising the bar for our academic expectations. Teachers are implementing a multiple intelligence approach to learning and they provide more opportunities for student choice according to individual student interests. Also to strengthen our teaching, teachers are completing a self-assessment, followed by teacher observations and conferences. Each teacher has also submitted his/her own goals for self improvement. Together these steps should help us move forward with Cambridge.
So does this mean that all 10th and 12th grade students will take the Cambridge exams that are scheduled this year? No, some students are choosing other options to increase their likelihood of being admitted to prestigious colleges and universities. Some students are putting their efforts primarily into studying for their SATs. For some, the results of the mock Cambridge exams we held in December will help guide their next steps and whether they choose to sit for the Cambridge exams in May.
To all Miri Piri Academy staff, students and parents, thank you for the opportunity to serve you this year. India is a country rich in tradition, sights, and sounds and Miri Piri, located in the remote Punjab, is a school that is holding a unique space for tomorrow’s yogis, leaders, and soldier-saints who will end up in all walks of life. Miri Piri is also a transformational experience. To be here is to feel its vitality and to live in its vibration. It is a honor to have shared a few moments with you in your home.
Blessings to all,
Ravi Kaur
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I really enjoy the fotos. As I won’t be in India this year, it means a lot to see what’s going on visually. It’s really nice to have them posted shortly after the events.
Sending all the staff a warm wish for health and perseverance as the year continues. Thanks for taking care of Gobind Singh and all the others.
May we all stretch our limits this year of the Radiant Body via Positive Mind.
I’d like to share Shiv Charan Singh’s thoughts on the numbers this year below.
Blessings to all,
Subagh Kaur (Brasil)
TIME TO TRAIN THE POSITIVE MIND
We mark the change of the year by the introduction of the number 10, and in combination with the century we find 2+0+1+0 = 3.
Key themes of 3: action, manifestation, positive mind, affirmation, heat, fire of joy or anger, resourceful, hope when there is no hope, smile when there is no reason, equality or victim, success, respect and right value, including yourself in God and putting yourself in the picture.
The background presence of number 10 means that all these themes can be experienced in their extremes. The 10 will illuminate the best and the worst of these themes over the year. The presence of the 2 [from 2000] will also work to bring out the duality and challenge us to find the creative polarity.
It is a great year to distinguish and clarify the No and the Yes in our life on a daily basis. By doing this we will be well placed to train the Positive Mind to serve the Neutral rather than the Negative Mind.
It is not so easy as saying that the total number of 2010 = 3 therefore the year will be lucky, positive, year of action and joy. There is a journey to make to reach to the best of number 3 and it is not an easy one.
Yogi Bhajan referred to that journey as Obey, Serve, Love, Excel.
To obey is like following the call of the river to reach the ocean. Even when the power of the flow gets deeper and wider and is not so easy to stay with.
To serve is to hold to our commitment no matter what circumstances we cross. No matter how strong the storm of fear or how great the doubt.
To love is to let the heart go through the pain of stretching wider to reach the discovery that there is nothing the Light of God within cannot hold and deal with.
To excel is to let that Light shine through into every single act you do.
The journey to the 3 is also described in the Karam Kriya saying ” Chaos Spontaneously Initiates Order”. To find the true and natural order requires that we hold the power of the chaos in a state of prayer directed to the soul.
This means to ask for help. To remember, and lean on, the Greater Unit of Self, as represented by the number 10. It is the Radiant Body which always keeps us company, even when alone. Listening to the Greater Unit of Self shall provide the impulse for excellence.
My prayer us that Ratnavali will develop a love for learning and continue to improve her grades.