• The prestigious Walter L. Hurd Executive Medal for 2014 was awarded to Mr Atul Temurnikar, Chairman and Co-Founder, GSF and Mr B G Shenoy, Director, GCEE
• Students of GIIS East Coast Campus and GIIS Kuala Lumpur Campus made Quality Circle Presentations that received great response from industry professionals

On November 24, 2014, Mr Atul Temurnikar, Chairman and Co-Founder, Global Schools Foundation and Mr B G Shenoy, Director, Global Centre for Education Excellence were awarded the prestigious Walter L. Hurd Executive Medal for 2014 the from the Walter L. Hurd Foundation and the Asia Pacific Quality Organization (APQO). The Annual Productivity & Innovation Conference and Exposition (APIC) was held in conjunction with 20th Asia Pacific Quality Conference (APQC) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The award function honoured companies and industry leaders who have distinguished themselves through Excellence for their achievements.

Quality Circles (QC) at GIIS gain global recognition

Implemented in 2008, Quality Circles at the Global Indian International School allow students to tackle real world issues while shaping their team-building and communication skills. The Quality Circles at GIIS extends to teachers as well, who come together to identify issues and challenges.

Two such Quality Circle teams from GIIS East Coast Campus and GIIS Kuala Lumpur Campus, participated in the Team Excellence Competition on November 25, 2014 at the 20th Asia Pacific Quality Convention.

All about quality... Inspired Warriors (from left) Rujuta, Pranit, Varun and Niveditha with APQC chairman Charles Aubrey

GIIS East Coast Campus team, the Inspired Warriors comprised Varun Shah, Rujuta Athalye, Class 7 and Niveditha Nerella, Pranit Dutta, Class 8 who presented the Quality Circle @aps@An Enemy called Average. The youngest of all the participants in the convention, Team Inspired Warriors competed with 58 other teams consisting mainly of professionals from industries. Inspired by the book - @aps@An Enemy called Average@aps@, written by the famous author John Mason and @aps@Success is not an Accident@aps@, by Tommy Newberry - the QC aimed to motivate students to rise above average performance and strive for success. The team identified students@aps@ apathy towards average performance as their problem and tried to find solutions to help overcome it. They used tools like the Ishikawa diagram or the cause-and-effect diagram to find the root cause, set targets and work on action plans to achieve the goal. The results were encouraging and were validated by industry experts namely - Mr Rajiv Vasudeva, Country Director, GIIS Singapore, Mr B G Shenoy Director, Global Centre for Education Excellence and Mr George Madhavan, Director of the public utilities board of Singapore (PUB). The presentation was widely appreciated by the panel of judges, audience and other contesting teams. The team secured a maximum of 3 stars for their QC and was placed among the top 15 teams.

Team Inspired Warriors were declared winners of Quality Circle Competition, (category 2) by assessors from Singapore Productivity Association, during the Real World Challenges Convention 2014, held at GIIS East Coast Campus.

"Importance of hard work, team work and a commitment towards excellence were the key take away from our trip to Malaysia. We would like to thank Ms Radha Ganesh and our Principal, Ms Melissa Maria, Ms Shoba Silvia, Mr BG Shenoy and Mr Rajiv Vasudeva for giving us the glimpse of the world of excellence" - Team Inspired Warriors.

Team Challengers - Madhan Venkatesh, Shayan Rizvi, Siddhant Bhatia, Bhavani Ponnurangam, Ranit, Varun

GIIS Kuala Lumpur team Challengers participated in theage group 13-15 years. The QC team of Madhan Venkatesh, Shayan Rizvi, Siddhant Bhatia, Bhavani Ponnurangam, presented on the theme ‘Challenges in facing the real world’. The QC aimed to make every child understand that they have the potential in them to conquer the world. The power within each child needs to be tapped and the young minds set on fire to think big and triumph in life. The core values of honesty integrity, team work, leadership skills and the right attitude make an individual outshine others. The extensive research and action plans formulated by the team, helped many students overcome their inhibitions and gain self-confidence, thus improving academics as well as overall attitude. The Methodologies and Tools used by the team include:

1. Deming cycle / Plan Do Check Act (PDCA) Cycle
2. Brainstorming - Online brainstorming & Step ladder Technique
3. Nominal Group Technique
4. Histograms
5. Check sheets
6. Surveys
7. Graphs & Charts
8. Presentations
9. Talks/ Lectures
10. Group discussions

‘The Team Excellence’ presentation by Challengers received strong appreciation from the members present at the convention.

“The unparalleled exposure we received through the interactive sessions and during our presentation is invaluable. We thank our GIIS teachers, Principal and parents for giving us this great learning opportunity. It has been an amazing experience” - Team Challengers.

Related News:

• Prestigious Walter L Hurd Executive medal conferred on Atul Temurnikar, Co-founder and Chairman of Global Schools Foundation
• GIIS students excel in Kuala Lumpur