Siragu Montessori School is a nonprofit educational foundation funded by the Suyam Charitable Trust. This school, located in the outskirts of Chennai, India, houses and educates close to 500 underprivileged kids. These kids are typically children of panhandlers, scavengers or pig-farmers. For many of the parents of these kids, education is not necessarily a priority. Their daily existence is a struggle and many of them do not know where their next meal will come from. Siragu provides a montessori-inspired innovative K-12 education. Most of the staff at the school are volunteers who share a passion and commitment to change the world - one child at a time. Many of these volunteers are also former students of the school, who have successfully entered the workforce, and who now want to give back. This is a true testament to the efficacy of the program.

Since my elementary school days, Siragu has been an important aspect of my life. My grandparents and aunt introduced me to the school when I was eight years old. Since then, every time I visit India, I also venture to the school and work with the students. My interactions with them vary from friendly conversations to teaching them rigorous mathematical concepts. This year, as a result of the pandemic, I began online sessions a couple of months ago. During my first lesson, a college graduate (and Siragu alum) volunteering at Siragu recognized me from six years ago. That was my first time visiting the school and facilitating a robotics class. The student described my activity in great detail and even recollected the lesson learned. He is now spending time helping out at Siragu, but plans to return to graduate school. Memories like these prove the efficacy of not only my work, but also Siragu at large.

The city of Chennai has been in an extended state of lockdown due to the Coronavirus pandemic. The livelihoods of many families have been completely wiped out - many of which may never come back. During these trying times, many students are inclined to return to panhandling in hopes of some financial relief. As a result, it is imperative that these students remain engaged academically.

I have taken it upon myself to continue my work with the school, albeit remotely, during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. As such I have engaged with the students, in English, by encouraging diary entries cataloging their experiences. I have also developed a math curriculum tailored to elementary, middle and high school requirements. While younger students are working on competitive math, the older students are learning precalculus concepts in preparation for their public exams (the Indian equivalent of the SAT).  

The pandemic has made life incredibly challenging for many of the kids. They are stuck in the school due to the lockdown. I try to do my bit to cheer them up and continue my duties as a teacher.  That being said, I want to support my students in as many ways as possible. I understand that they are not alone in experiencing hardships. This is certainly not the first hardship they have had to or will conquer. But, anything that I can do to help them, will go a very long way. 

If you have any abilities during these times to support my Siragu students, please consider donating. I will be sure to put these funds to good use and support these students by providing meal security and enhancing their schooling experience.

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to reach out to me. Thanks in advance.

Thank You from Siragu

I had the pleasure of visiting Siragu during the summer of 2022. During this trip, I dedicated a week to coaching the students both in competitive math and persuasive essay writing. Building upon the online lessons I have been conducting with them for the past couple of years, we hosted school-wide competitions. The middle school students had multiple rounds of challenging math in individual and team formats. The high school students wrote an essay outlining who their favorite person is and why. The winners also had the opportunity to read their essays to the entire school during their assembly. It was great to finally see my students in person after years of collaboration! Recently, the school was granted provisional ICSE affiliation - a huge step in the right direction!