Realizing the importance of education, the School of Scholars (SoS) was envisioned to become an innovative chain of educational institutions in Maharashtra. With the AIM to equip SoS children with excellent technological proficiency so that they will function with clarity and efficiency in the modern world, Atal Tinkering Labs is being set up in these schools. SoS has eight schools spread across Maharashtra catering the educational needs of more than 20,000 students. Out of the eight schools, 5 of them are selected for the establishment of Atal Tinkering Labs.

The ATL in the School of Scholars, Kaulkhed, Akola branch was established in 2017. Since then, the young innovators of the school and nearby community have been leveraging the ecosystem created in the school due to ATLs and are diligently working towards innovation which makes a difference in the community.

To celebrate the immense progress and impact of ATL in the Vidarbha region, the management of School of Scholars organized a 2-day event – ‘ATL Carnival Explorica, 2019’ at the Kaulkhed, Akola, Maharashtra campus. 23rd and 24th of February, 2019 resulted into an exciting action-packed couple of days for more than 20 Atal Tinkering Lab schools from 8 different states across the country viz. Maharashtra, Pondicherry, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Telangana, Bihar. More than 100 students and teachers from these states presented 60 innovative projects. The event was attended by various key officials from the local industry, academia and administration.

Mrs. Manisha Umabarkar, Principal, SoS Akola strongly feels in facilitating students with opportunities to showcase their work and express themselves. Such kind of opportunities boost a child’s confidence and nurtures out of the box thinking attitude.

The goal of ATL carnival Explorica was to foster curiosity, creativity and imagination in young minds; and inculcate skills such as design mindset, computational thinking, adaptive learning, and physical computing. To achieve the same, various activities were conducted over 2 days at SoS Akola.

ATL Community Awareness session

Creating awareness about ATL ecosystem in the community is the fundamental step to enable young minds to innovate. SoS Akola organized free workshops on various topics like tinkering, design thinking, app development, electronics, robotics and 3D printing. More than 200 community children from local NGO - Gayatri Balikashram participated over the course of the session.

ATL Experience Center

SoS Akola showcased their student’s innovative projects via the SoS ATL Experience Center. An exhibition of the journey of SoS Akola students with the ATL and key innovations created till date.

Curbing superstitions with logical and scientific approach

SoS Akola as an institution believes in solving community problems by innovating. The core team brainstormed about various aspects of their local community and found an interesting problem that they can address to. To bust the myths of superstitions and black magic, students of SoS Akola enacted an interesting play on the scientific approach about superstitious beliefs.

Day 2 witnessed the evaluation of the innovations showcased at the carnival.

The 1st position was won by Kaushik Shetty, from ATL Shri Manjunatheshwara Central School, Dharwad, Karnataka. The 2nd position was won by Nachiket Patil and Pranav Nair from ATL Podar International School, Jalgaon, Maharashtra. The 3rd position was won by Rohan kavale and Avishkar Karve from ATL Kodoli Highschool, Kolhapur, Maharashtra. Further, two Agri-Tech based innovations from ATL Shivaji Multipurpose Higher Secondary School, Amravati Achariya Bal Shisha Mandir, Puducherry were specially felicitated for their extensive work towards making Agriculture more efficient and sustainable.

The ATL Carnival Explorica was a huge success with more than 5000 students, teachers, parents and community members coming together and celebrating the spirit of tinkering over 2 days. The event was a huge success and was covered on various regional media channels.

It is imperative for a school to provide opportunities for its students and create amazing experiences. School of Scholars is indeed blessed with innovative teachers and students who believe in the spirit of tinkering and aim to propagate this message wherever they go. This is an inspiration for all ATL schools across India which will guide them to create such kind of opportunities for their young minds in the near future.

Principal : Mrs. Manisha Umabarkar

ATL Incharge : Mr. Bhanudas Tiwhale

Facebook page : https://www.facebook.com/SOSAKOLA/