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Another successful year of
Academic Fest (2008) concluded....
The Bihar Association of North America (BANA)
organized its signature event The BANA Academic Fest – 2008
on Saturday, August 9th at the Stafford Campus of
Houston Community College. The BANA Academic Fest
encompasses the mission of BANA as it attempts to preserve
Indian heritage by fostering academic and cultural
excellence. As a testament to its commitment, BANA has
organized the Academic Fest for the past eleven years. The
Academic Fest has become a widely recognized trademark of
BANA and has continued to receive a great reception year
after year. This year, with lots of participants and their
parents, the Fest was brewing with excitement.
Students from the 1st through 12th
grades participated in a multitude of events including
Debate, Math, Speech, Spelling, and Vocabulary. In addition,
a new category, the Science Fair, was created this year for
middle and high school students to present a science
project. By doing so, students were encouraged to understand
the scientific method in more depth as they presented their
projects to respected professionals.
The event began with a
presentation about BANA and its mission, immediately
following which, a description of the Academic Fest, its
schedule, and its rules were presented. Students were led to
their respective contest rooms to begin a long, event-filled
day. To make this event a reality, countless judges,
organizers, and volunteers gave days and weeks of their
time.
The
response from all who participated in the event from
participants to judges was overwhelmingly positive. Abhishek
Dasgupta, the 1st place winner in the Elementary
Math competition, stated, “I really liked this year’s
Academic Fest. It was pretty fun.” Karuna Kankani, the 2nd
place winner in the Middle School Speech competition
similarly commented, “This year’s event was really fun. It
was my first year winning something in the BANA Academic
Fest, so the award made my experience even more enjoyable.
However, every year, even when I didn’t win something in the
Academic Fest, I still had a great time.”
Dr. Jaidev Goswami, one of the judges in the High
School Debate Competition, was overjoyed that BANA provides
“such an excellent forum for children to come together and
discuss an important topic in a surprisingly professional
manner.” This year’s debate topic asked participants to
contend whether or not capitalism is the solution to
poverty. Professor TRN Rao, another judge for the High
School Debate Competition, was “very happy to see BANA
organizing this Fest. I congratulate the leadership of BANA
for performing such a tremendous job.”
The
Bihar Association of North America attracts a diverse
membership with outstanding leaders and professionals in a
multitude of fields such as education, engineering,
medicine, and research. Many individuals and businesses gave
very generous contributions towards this year’s Academic
Fest. Mr. Arun Sharma, the Coordinator for this year’s
Academic Fest, expressed great satisfaction at the end of
this fantastic event: “This event is getting better year
after year as we are executing it very successfully. We all
feel and organize the Academic Fest program like we are all
one family”
As
BANA chapters and affiliate organizations exist throughout
the United States and Canada, the organization one day hopes
to conduct this event on a much wider scale across the
United States. By doing so, it hopes to unite individuals
towards a joint cause of fostering cultural and educational
values while unfolding the academic talents of this nation’s
children. Dr. Madhusudan Choudhary, the current president of
BANA, would also like BANA to expand its initiatives to
India also. His dream is that “one day, we will hold a great
talent search across India to search for its brightest
minds. We will then finance the education of those
individuals and send them to the best institutions in the
world.”
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