Janvi Poddar

Teaching, learning, and appreciating with Ms. Leaf and Mr. Dinesh

It was the third, maybe the fourth day, of our week-long hike, somewhere in the Himalayas. I was exhausted and grumpy. All of us were. I just wanted to go back. But every time I complained about my aching back or tired feet, they shouted out words of encouragement or tried to distract me. I […]

by Janvi Poddar

Mental health: another crisis that needs our attention

When Sushant Singh Rajput, a widely celebrated Bollywood actor, recently committed suicide, it stirred up conversations about mental health on media platforms across India. Everyone, from politicians and activists to celebrities and businesses, seemed to acknowledge the importance of mental health through social media outbursts and in their condolences for Rajput’s family. However, just a […]

by Janvi Poddar

Can this pandemic help us fight a greater crisis?

When I first read about the World War, the Bubonic Plague, or the Great Depression, I took solace in the fact that these were the issues of a bygone era. I thought my only knowledge of such catastrophes would come from my history books or the occasional documentaries my teachers screened in class. I never […]

by Janvi Poddar

Online classes create barriers in learning for many

As the world battles several different crises in the midst of a pandemic, millions of students around the globe are struggling to keep up with their education. Earlier this month, the school made the decision to remain closed for the rest of the academic year. However, to continue educating its students, the school formulated a plan […]

by Janvi Poddar

Sexism in sports is a global trend, and it’s one that Woodstock follows

Everyone who attended this year’s Swish-a-thon finals will agree that it was dramatic, to say the least. In the boys’ division, the final game was played between teams from grades 10 and 11. When the game started, every single row on the bleachers was packed with students and staff, with no space to move. The […]

by Janvi Poddar

Swish-a-thon 2020: Predicting for PINK

The sixth Swish-a-thon tournament, scheduled to start on Friday, Feb 21, will be dedicated to raising money for PINK, a foundation that helps and supports women with breast cancer. The Woodstocker presents its statistical predictions on who will dominate this season, and help raise the most money. Will it be the Win Mumby Tigers or the […]

by Janvi Poddar

One semester in, DP concerns still linger

With the school’s decision to change its curriculum and adapt the IB Diploma Programme (DP), came several questions, concerns, and controversies. Now, Woodstock’s first IB batch, the Class of 2021, has already started their second semester in the DP. Even after an entire semester, the anxiety and angst among teachers and students seem only to […]

by Janvi Poddar

Best pathways to education are rugged and steep

As Woodstock students, we live in one of the most beautiful parts of India, the foothills of the Himalayas. This biodiverse location is what makes outdoor education such a valuable part of the curriculum. Woodstock seeks to educate each one of its pupils through the environment around us. However, I fear that the school’s outdoor […]

by Janvi Poddar

One hundred days of Cook: an update on new leadership

After Dr. Jonathan Long’s departure at the end of the last academic year, Dr. Craig Cook, our newly appointed principal, had big shoes to fill. Dr. Long was loved by the community, and many doubted if the administration could find someone who was good enough to replace him. On November 14, Dr. Cook completed his […]

by Janvi Poddar

Far, far away: bonding at a tiger reserve

Little kids chuckled all around me as they ran across the playground of a small government school, just a few kilometers from our resort. I hid behind one of the broken walls of the main school building with little Sunita, while one of the other kids looked for us. We were playing hide and seek. […]