In our efforts to help non-profits and educational institutions, we often encounter inspired individuals who are thought leaders in harnessing the power co-creation. Today TapSmack is profiling Ms. Gayathri Ramachandran, Director of Social Awareness & Outreach at St. Columba’s School in Delhi.

Her Story

My father’s once told me, “If you want to pursue a career, there is nothing better than ‘teaching-a noble profession!” Thus began Ms. Ramachandran’s incredible journey to St. Columba’s.

I remember my school days in Coimbatore, small town in Tamil Nadu. I had penchant for getting involved in the school activities, academic -in the classroom as well as singing, drama and sports, my favourite being a game of badminton whenever there was a break from studies. I was elected popularly as the Head Girl and later I did my school proud by passing the SSLC exam with merit and won a gold medal and scholarship for Pre University studies in Chennai, in 1964.

What I began in school naturally continued and gave me a place as one of the office bearers the College Union-I was the Cultural Secretary! I networked with all the colleges in the University of Madras and introduced many cultural programs. This phase in my life as a student brought me closer to two projects that stay close to my heart even now-I was the secretary of the World Vegetarian Congress on Environment and worked closely with eminent personalities like CR Pattabhiraman and Smt Rukmani Devi Arundale in Chennai.

After my marriage and the subsequent move to New Delhi, I had come to know of the ‘Christian Brothers’ and their commitment to the education of boys. I first got involved with St. Columba’s on a chance occurrence. I recall my meeting with Br Foley in 1989, as a parent willing to fill in for a teacher on leave of absence for a period of three months. Br Foley had been persuading me to join on the staff for quite some time and I finally agreed to do so then. It’s been twenty years from that day and I’ve been intimately involved with St. Columba’s ever since.

Innovations in Co-Creation

“The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.”

Ms. Ramachandran has always been in the forefront of instilling social awareness and community outreach in the students at St. Columba’s. One of the major challenges in any school is engaging each student in every class. To this effort, Ms. Ramachandran has been a pioneer in using innovative and technological ways to involve students. Working w/TapSmack, St. Columba’s empowers each student to find that area which he/she excels by democratizing the design process. This gives every student an equal opportunity to co-create important art, music, etc. that are critical in communicating important messages to St. Columba’s community. Ms. Ramachandran and St. Columba’s will be continuing these efforts with a number of outreach projects including an importantly H1N1 prevention campaign for this flu season.