June 4 2023, at First parish Church– The local Hindu community from Westford and neighboring towns in Middlesex county, Massachusetts gathered recently to celebrate a special teacher’s appreciation event called ‘Guru Vandana’. It was attended by 18 teachers from several schools in the area including Rita E. Miller School - Westford, John Crisafulli school -  Westford, Westford Academy – Westford, Luther Conant elementary school – Acton, and Page hill top school - Ayer. Some of the dignitaries present at the event were Principals from Luther Conant Elementary School Acton and Rita E. Miller Elementary school in Westford, and constituted teachers from diverse disciplines including taekwondo, dance and music. The event was sponsored by the local Westford chapter of Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS), that is a 503 (c) (3) voluntary, non-profit, social, education, and cultural organization.

The main event involved the felicitation of the teachers by children in a traditional Indian way. It was followed by the recitation of a poem on the role of Gurus or teachers in our daily lives. After that, there were a demo of Suryanamaskar (or salutation of the sun), a skit showing the student-teacher relationship, and finally, a beautiful Indian dance called Bharatnatyam by the children from Samskriti – a dance school in Lexington. The teachers were touched by the performance of the children. The principal of one of elementary schools lauded the event with the remarks “It was quite lovely, and something that does not happen quite often to the teachers”. He encouraged this event to be conducted on a wide scale for a larger number of teachers to be able to participate. Another teacher from Lowell were particularly impressed by the message presented in the skit that if a student takes one step towards the teacher, the teacher is willing to take ten steps towards the student.

In addition to the teacher’s felicitation and the cultural programs, on the display were a large number of posters called ‘Darshana’ providing a glimpse into the Indian civilization. The teachers and guests found those fabulous. The teachers were seen taking pictures and showing great interest in them. A social sciences teacher from the 6^th grade commented, ‘It is important for the students to connect the modern subjects with the knowledge from their own culture. It leads to personalized learning for the students. I have taken pictures to reference back to them later’. She was keen on having an event in the school displaying the posters.

The event was also an opportunity for the teachers to experience the world and culture of their students. A teacher from an elementary school in Westford remarked candidly, ‘I love learning about my students, particularly about who they are outside their classroom. It was lovely to see part of my student’s world when she is not in the 5^th grade classroom!”. She loved different elements of the culture and rituals, and was amazed by the dance performance and the skit.

The event ended with dinner including everyone’s favorite Samosas! Overall, the event was very well received among the teachers and the guests.

HSS conducted similar events in Shrewsbury and Burlington, MA in June 2023.  

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