Media Release
Mangaluru, Feb 20: Reunions are many, but this one was special. The students who passed out of NMPT English Medium High School in the year 1999, recreated their memories by organizing a reunion after 20 years. It was a dream come true as this was the first time most of them met each other, since 1999. They met their school faculty (Teachers and the non-Teaching staff), the retired ones and the Teachers who are still in service, after good 20 years.
It all started as any regular WhatsApp groupwhere amidst recalling good old school days, the idea of a Reunion bloomed. Soon a committee was formed and after a meeting with the current School administration, the preparations for the Reunion 2020 began in full swing.
As a first step, the batch of 99 began by personally inviting the entire School staff, from NMPT Primary and High school. There was another committee setup which only focused on hunting the batch mates and have them sign up for the Reunion event. Of the total strength of 110, 87 alumni students and 47 members of the School faculty attended the event.
The event began with a red carpet welcome for the teachers. The former headmasters and headmistresses of the institution Padmanabha Acharya, Ramesha Joisa, Veera Fernandes, Mary Dsouza and Prathima, inaugurated the gathering by lighting the Lamp. Following the welcome address from the alumni, a cheque of Rs 2,00,000 was handed over to the school, to help the students who are in need of financial assistance in order to complete their basic education. This initiative was extended in memory of their friends Ranjith and Bharat, who left this world too early. Another highlight of the event was the pledge that the attendees took toactively work towards supporting the Right to Education and be a volunteer of national development.
Padmanabha Acharya, retired head masterblessed everyone on behalf of his team of teachers and encouraged the gathering to ‘Be good, Do good’ to the society by initiating a bigger reunion of many more batches of NMPT High school. He also acknowledged the presence of the school’s first headmistress Lucy Coria, who graced the occasion, at her age of 89.
Adhering to the Indian tradition where it is believed ‘Acharya Devo Bhava’, the members of the school faculty werehonored and felicitated by the ‘99 batch Alumni.The event provided an opportunity for students and their school teachers to interact, followed by lunch and a fun filled afternoon with games and cultural events.
The event concluded with ‘Road to 99 Union’ video, a compilation of all the alumni family pictures (for the teachers to see) and Behind-the-scene videos from the past 4 months, of reunion planning and a vote of thanks.
In addition to this, as part of the Reunion 2020, the NMPT High School Batch of ’99 also had a Swach Bharat drive in the school’s Anganavadi premises and a fitness drive to support healthy lifestyle, which included participating in the recently held NITK marathon.
As per their former headmaster’s blessing, the ‘99 team are now looking to organize a major event next year by involving many more batches from the school.