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St. Louis Kannada School
(Written by Usha, with insight from Divya, Priya and Juhi)
Nanda Subbarao and her family started the Kannada school of St. Louis in the fall of 1998. It includes students from age 3-17. Topics covered in the school are speaking, writing, reading and culture. Classes are held in the Thornhill Library from 9 to 11 AM every other Saturday. At the end of the school year there is a graduation ceremony which is almost as much fun as the classes. Here are some photographs of graduation ceremonies of past years.
There are four classes in Kannada school:
The first class (current teacher-Deepti Bhat) is made up of children ages three to six. They learn to read and write simple alphabets, by using packets where they write the letters many times. They also sing Kannada songs, and play games, such as bingo and others created by Deepti Bhat.
The second class (current teacher- Nanda Subbarao) is made up of children ages five to seven. They learn the alphabet and kagunita. They also read simple stories. They occasionally join the first class for games and songs.
The third class (current teacher- Chaya Gopalan) is made up of children ages eight to eleven. They also learn to read and write the alphabet, and do kagunita. They also learn history, geography, culture, and occasionally put on plays for the younger children.
The fourth class is made up of children ages twelve and older. They learn advanced reading out of a textbook, and write. They join the third class for geography, history, culture and conversation.
These are some views about Kannada school from the students:
“It’s really fun. We learn about Karnataka, because that’s where Kannada came from. We learn things like Ka + ee = Kee. I especially like to play games and do my Kannada homework.”---Priya, age 6
“Yes, I like the group… I like the games, ummm I like Kannada School.”---Juhi, age 5
“I like it! I give it five thumbs up!”---Divya, age 12
WE NEED TEACHERS!!!!!!!!!! Teachers who volunteer do not have to have extensive knowledge of the Kannada language, but must want to teach the children about their heritage, culture and language. We can form additional classes focused to other age groups and topics of interest as long as we get teachers.
If you are interested in teaching or learning at the Kannada School of St. Louis, please call Nanda at (314)-579-9426.
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