North South Foundation

Encouraging Academic Excellence in Our Youth

NSF Newsletter

Volume 3, Issue 5, May 2005

Namaste!

With the Regional Contests coming to a close, NSF would like to congratulate all of the contestants for their commitment and hard work. We believe that all children are winners simply because they fearlessly made an attempt to achieve their best. By handing out a participation medal and a certificate to each child, we hope to encourage the inner spirit that is so vital to learning.

Thanks and see you again next time!

In this Issue...

• NSF News
• NSF-India News
• Contest Feedback
• Articles
• Volunteer Profile
• People in the News

NSF NEWS

Here's a glimpse of NSF happenings.

Bee 2005

Online registration for the various NSF contests is now closed (with the exception of two centers). Over 5,250 contestants registered this year in various categories. We wish to recognize the efforts of the incredible volunteers who have put in countless hours of diligence. Thanks also to the parents, judges, and sponsors for participating and sharing your thoughts and ideas toward enriching our contests.

Our volunteers are now gearing up for the National Final, which will be held during August 6-7, at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL. We will invite the finalists shortly to join us on the final leg of the 2005 Bee series.

Essay Writing pilot Feedback

The Essay Writing pilot was a roaring success. We were utterly dazzled by the insightful and stimulating entries we received from our young contestants. Overall, most participants expressed satisfaction on the scope of the given topic. While many agreed they had sufficient time to complete their writing because it provided them an opportunity to plan their ideas as well as review their work, some suggested reducing the time to 45 minutes or 50 minutes as opposed to the alloted one hour. Participants also offered valuable topic ideas for future contests. We congratulate our budding writers on their accomplishment and invite them to enter the official Essay Writing contest in 2006.

The National Final

NSF will publish the finalists' names by June to enable parents to begin planning for their participation in the National Final, which will be held at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL (near Chicago), during August 6-7, 2005.

Join Us!

Connect with our expanding network of people today by joining our mailing list. Come on, get with it! Remember, our membership is free. P.S. To make sure you receive our e-mails, please add 'admin@northsouth.org' to your address book, so your filter will know our communiqués are legitimate.

NSF-India NEWS

NSF-India has 17 chapters currently: Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Bhavnagar, Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Hyderabad, Jamshedpur, Jodhpur, Kanpur, Katihar, Kochi, Kolkata, Madurai, Mau, Pune, Sibsagar, and Trivandrum. The NSF-India main office is based in Hyderabad.

If you or your friends/family know of financially disabled but academically aspiring students in India, please direct them to contact NSF India regional chapters. NSF-India chapters generally solicit applications for scholarships following the publication of 12th grade/Intermediate results.

CONTEST FEEDBACK

Included is a sample of what one parent attendee had to say about the 2004 National Final that was held in Phoenix, AZ, during September 4-5:

"First of all, I think NSF did a fantastic job of conducting these contests. Having said that, I have to be gently critical of the fascination for speeches that I have often seen with most Indian organizations. I fully appreciated the presentation made to the parents by the founder of the NSF in the morning while children were in the Phase I of spelling bee. However, speeches during the awards ceremony were totally misplaced. I dont think it was a correct forum -- where 6-7-8-9 year olds were being rewarded for their efforts after a grueling day -- for sales pitch by politicians and likes. It would have been fantastic to just see the awards ceremony with the cultural achievements of the youngsters. At least based on my experience, neither the parents nor the children had the patience to sit through those speeches at the end of the day that was filled with so much excitement."

ARTICLES

The Los Angeles chapter recently completed its regional contests. Indulata Prasad details the day's events. Also, Shalini Kathuria Narang, a correspondent with HundustanTimes.com, penned an article on the San Francisco, Bay Area bee activities. Take a read.

VOLUNTEER PROFILE

This issue's featured volunteer is Sivananda Reddy, an NSF-India scholarship recipient and ardent NSF volunteer.

PEOPLE IN THE NEWS

Three Americans of Indian origin, including a NSF Bee alumnus and volunteer, Hirsh Sandesara, were recently awarded the esteemed Truman Foundation Scholarship. Read more... Hirsh is a much loved kid at NSF. He is a National Champion. He is one of the original NSF contestants, who has participated since 1993, the first year the contests began in Chicago. His mother would drag him every year to the contests, much to his consternation! But we're certain he appreciates it now. Hirsh is also among the top rankers at the National Scripps Howard Spelling Bee. He regularly volunteers for NSF at both the Regionals (Raleigh, NC) and the National Final. Congratulations, Hirsh! We're very proud of you!

It must have been a proud moment in the Vavilala household when brothers Vaibhav and Vikas came out on top in the final round of the 12th annual Hamilton County Regional Spelling Bee , advancing to the National Howards Scripps Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. The young Indiana brothers are NSF bee participants. Congratulations, Vaibhav and Vikas!