Metea’s Hindu YUVA,(Youth for unity and Voluntary action) organized Guru Vandana on April 20th after school in the Large Forum Room. Guru Vandana is a Hindu custom where the students apply a paste, tilak, on their teacher’s forehead symbolizing devotion, touching their feet to seek blessings and adorning them with a shawl. The students also give them flowers to express gratitude towards their gurus (teachers).
“Guru Vandana is a traditional Hindu teacher’s appreciation event,” junior Aditi Puntambekar said. “We have always thought of gurus as God or next to God, because they are teachers and they lead us to the path of knowledge and success.”
This was the first year that the celebration took place in Metea Valley. Planning for the event began back in September.
“I met with the founders of the Hindu YUVA Club to discuss what events they would like to do throughout the school year,” YUVA club sponsor Katherine Edmundson said.
“The students mentioned they were interested in having an event to honor teachers during Teacher Appreciation Week.”
Many teachers were invited so students could thank them for all that they do.
“We landed upon having an afternoon event where we invited all the teachers so we can appreciate them personally and honor them for being our teachers… we gave them a shawl and a lot of other small trinkets,” Puntambedkar said.
Parents and students helped organize the event and brought food to enjoy the occasion. Students had boards explaining the traditions and customs done during the event and why it is practiced in the Hindu culture.
“The students and their families worked so hard to create such a meaningful celebration….it truly was a wonderful display of the cultural diversity we have at Metea and the appreciation we have for our staff,” Edmundson said.
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