It’s 2nd September 2014 and as the teachers gather at the venue of the ‘Teacher’s Qwiz 2014’, their eyes fall on the aesthetically pleasing rangoli at the entrance. One would be left wondering at the intricate design of the spider web and its association with the surrounding images that managed to strike the right chord of wonder in each of its viewers.

The Teacher’s Qwiz is an annual event organised by National Hill View Public School, Rajarajeshwari Nagar. The school hosted the event for the 11th time on Tuesday, with the year’s theme being ‘Wonder’. Almost 200 teachers across many schools in and around Bangalore zealously participated in the event. The event was inaugurated by the Chief Guest, Ms. Padma Rao, a senior faculty member of the school who has over 50 years of experience in the field of education. This ‘Wonder Teacher’ of the day said, “It is the privilege of the teachers to see the wonder in the eyes of the children, which awakens our own sense of wonder”. In her inaugural speech, Ms.Rama Ranganathan, Principal, NHVPS, said, “This event is a celebration of a wonderful being called ‘Teacher’ who seldom sees the wonder in herself.” The chairman of National Education Foundation, Mr. D. K. Shivakumar, Mr. Venkatappa, Additional Trustee Secretary and Mr. Lepaksha Trustee Secretary, National Education Foundation also graced the occasion.

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The resplendent design of the rangoli made with different coloured rice bore the image of a spider web with the words, ‘Teacher, Wonder Incarnate’ at the centre and was surrounded by different resources of the nature. This Wonder web represents the slender strands of life that the teacher weaves with her magic wand and the ability of the teacher to draw from the power to love, to forgive and to educate makes her a ‘Wonder Incarnate’.

With this theme in mind, the teachers of NHVPS managed to put in their love and labour in beautifying the venue with posters, rangoli, puppets and crafting the token of appreciation for each of the participant teacher as a souvenir. The memento for this year was a mirror, which, according to the Principal, is an object of reflection, where one needs to search for the real self.

The reversal of roles added a little bit of humour to the event as the teachers were tested for their general knowledge through quizzing while the senior students, who assisted in correcting the answer sheets, took on the role of teachers. On being asked, one of the students said that it was marvelling to watch the teachers out of the classroom being excited and having fun.

Distance doesn’t matter to the four teachers from PSSEMR School, Davangere who travelled all the way to Bangalore only to participate in the event. Inspite of not having time to prepare for the quiz, they found Qwiz to be a great forum of learning. Ms. Madhulika Chandrakumar and Ms. Geeta Vishwanathan, the teachers of Sishu Griha School, New Thippasandra, have been participating in the event since its inception and they emerged as the second runner up this year. “We always look forward to attending this event every year, as this is the day where the teaching community gathers to celebrate the profession”, they said.

The final round of Qwiz kept the six finalist teams and the audience at the edge of the seat as the two teams - National Public School, Indiranagar and Padma Sheshadri Bal Bhavan Learning Leadership Academy, Bannerghatta Road were at loggerheads that resulted in a tie breaker. Finally, Vandana Abhyankar and Nirmala Prabhu of NPS, Indiranagar, emerged as the winners for the second time in a row, while Ms. Anuradha Kannan and Ms. Anupama Sremaali of PSBB LLA, Bannerghatta Road emerged as the first runner up. “We were stressed out as there were a lot of expectations on us to win again this time and get back the trophy,” said Ms.Vandana Abhyankar.

Indeed, it is a wonder to see how a teacher can stir up the imagination of the children and create miracles by transforming the young minds. There is a lot to be learnt from teachers and yet the teacher herself or himself never stops learning and sharing the knowledge. The teachers, who continue to influence our lives, no matter who we are or where we are, will always occupy a special place in our hearts. Dear teacher, you are and you will always be a wonder incarnate!