Puttur: St Philomena High School Celebrates Diamond Jubilee Year
Daijiworld Media Network – Puttur (SB)
Puttur, Dec 17: St Philomena High School is one of the many institutions founded by the Architect of Puttur, Msgr Antony Patrao. The closing ceremony of the Diamond Jubilee Year of the high school was celebrated, recently to coincide the 109th birthday of the founder.
Msgr Antony Patrao introduced education and knowledge in the remote village of Puttur in the year 1949 when there weren’t any schools or colleges there.
The beginning of the day was marked by the celebration of the Holy Mass by Vicar General of the Diocese, Msgr Denis Moras Prabhu and nine other priests. Fr Nelson D’ Almeida, professor, St Joseph’s Seminary, Jeppu who is a former student of the school preached the Homily and described the values, sacrifices, personality and service of Monsgr Antony Patrao and called on the gathering to imbibe his qualities and build a better society.
The school flag was hoisted by Monsgr Denis Moras Prabhu. He also received the Guard of Honour from the NCC cadets, Guides and Scouts. He appreciated the discipline and performance put in by them.
The Closing Ceremony of the Diamond Jubilee Year and the School Day was presided by the Bishop of Mangalore, Dr Aloysius Paul D’Souza.
Speaking on the occasion, bishop said that over 300 educational institutions under the Catholic Education Board impart quality education along with inculcating moral values among children. St Philomena High School has been instrumental in giving to the society good citizens. It is heartening to see that the institution has recognized all those who were behind its success, he added.
The correspondent of Mai De Deus Institutions, Puttur Fr Gerald D’Souza welcomed the gathering. The headmaster Oswald Rodrigues presented the report.
Fr Wilson D’Souza, secretary, Catholic Board of Education called on students and their parents to consider it their own school and walk towards success. He also appreciated the achievements of the students and wished them well.
Releasing the Diamond Jubilee Souvenir, “Vajra Yana”, the former student of St Philomena High School and former MP Vinaykumar Sorake said that poverty can be eradicated through education and Fr Patrao had this foresight when he established the many educational institutions in Puttur. He requested the old students and patrons of education to extend a helping hand and generously contribute so that the new school building project is completed at the earliest.
Speaking on the occasion, the chief guest Sheshashayana, block education officer, Puttur said that “human resources arise from education. In today’s times, educated class is responsible for most of the unpleasant happenings in the different nations. Hence it is important that children need to be imparted with quality and value based education. The catholic institutions in Dakshin Kannada have produced responsible and intelligent citizens. In the current academic year, there are more than 1,000 students studying in this school and the credit goes to the headmaster and the correspondent who are like two twinkling stars of this institution.”
The selfless service put in by Denis D’Souza, as headmaster for 32 years was recognized as he was honoured by the bishop. He expressed his gratitude and said that his dream of a new building should come true. He requested the former students to come forward and support the cause.
Recipient of the district-level best teacher award and Art teacher Purushotham, Diamond Jubilee Finance Committee president Vinay Kumar Sorake, BEO Sheshashayan, secretary of Catholic Board, Fr Wilson D’Souza, and proprietor of Adlab Studio Ponnappa were felicitated on the occasion. The correspondent Fr Gerald D’Souza who will shortly be celebrating his silver jubilee of ordination was also felicitated.
Fr Eric Crasta, campus director, St Philomena Institutions, Rajesh Bannur, Puttur municipality president, Karunakara Rai, president, Parent-Teachers Association, Isac Khan, president, former students association and school pupil leader Jostin D’Costa were also present on the dias.
Teacher Rajashekar along with students Thejas Sorake and Sushmitha compered the cultural programme presented by the present and former students. The theme of the cultural show was “National Integration”. There were dances of different states of India with the students singing songs in different languages. A play on the life of Fr Patrao was an eye opener to the audience.
There was a Yakshagana presented by the former students, on the life and death of Jesus Christ, titled ‘Christa Mahime’ written by late Shivashankar Shastry Manila, retired teacher St Philomena High School. It was directed by his son Rangashastri Manila and Chende was played by Dr Shri Prakash. The uniqueness of cultural programme was that it was all live accompaniment and no recorded songs were used.
Appeal
The school building set up by Fr Patrao by undergoing lot of hardships is now in a very bad shape. Hence the project of constructing a new building was taken up. The correspondent and the members of the Diamond Jubilee Committee have humbly requested the former students and well wishers to contribute generously and help in completing the project.