More than 50 students from 12 reputed schools of Delhi and Gurgaon participated in the 5th inter school ‘Multiple Intelligence and me’ (MI-me) competition held at Suncity World School, Gurgaon on November 20. Tagore International, New Delhi, KR Mangalam, Blue Bells International, Summer Field School, DPS International Sector 45, DPS Sushant Lok, Amity International sector 43 Gurgaon were amongst the schools that participated in the competition. The chief guest at the event was famous Indian stage actor and director Lushin Dubey who inaugurated the competition. Adele Newman from Flow India, Ajay Sood, an accomplished travel photographer and a travelogue writer, associated with Canon and National Geographic, Pragati Agarwal, curater, Bruno Art Gallery and James Hickman, country head at Russel Reynolds Associates also graced the inauguration. Rupa Chakravarty, principal, Suncity School along with teacher representatives from all the schools were present at the occasion.
‘MI-me’ competition has been designed by Suncity School in sync with Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences. Howard Gardner is an American developmental psychologist and professor of Cognition and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education at Harvard University. Gardner opposes the idea of labeling learners to a specific intelligence. He believes that individuals possesses a unique blend of all the intelligences and should not be judged on one modality of learning. Gardner articulated eight criteria for a behavior to be considered intelligence rather than seeing intelligence as dominated by a single general ability. The eight abilities are musical–rhythmic, visual–spatial, verbal–linguistic, logical–mathematical, bodily–kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalistic. Taking this theory a step further and getting students to think indifferent ways, is the goal behind this annual inter school competition. These widely recognised intelligences are found in some measure in all human beings and it becomes vital to focus on all the intelligences for developing a holistic personality. The competition featured an array of specially designed activities, based on the eight intelligences. The four competing groups of the competition comprised students of classes IVto XI. Each student participated in five different activities namely Making Connections, Art to Astound, Milieu, Rhapsody and against all odds to become the MI-me champion.

The competition was judged by an eminent panel including Newman, Sood, Agarwal, and Hickman.

DPS Sushant Lok aced the competition by accumulating the highest score.

The winner of different categories were:

Category I (class X and XI): Daiyta Choudhary, DPS Sushant Lok

Category II (class VIII and IX): Ijab Singh, DPS Sector 45

Category III (class VI and VII): Kushwant Gulati, Summerfields School

Category IV (class IV and V): Arush Lal, Suncity School

Before the prize distribution ceremony, an elated Dubey said, “I am delighted being at Suncity School today. We have all been talking about a holistic development for children but it is only schools like you which are working in this direction.  I believe that Moral Science, Life Skills and Theatre should be compulsorily a part of every school’s curriculum.”

“This competition aims to provide a platform to help hone the skills of all eight intelligences and elicit the best from within the child to mould an ‘ABLE and NOBLE’ being. We are all smart in our own way and no way is smarter than the other. This is our fifth year and I thank all the schools and teachers for their participation and making this competition successful,” said Rupa Chakravarty, principal, Suncity School.

“It is absolutely amazing to participate in MI-me. This competition gives us different kinds of activities to participate in and explore new things. This is the second MI-me that I am participating in and looking forward to enjoy the entire competition” said Naysa Dobhal, Tagore International School.