Students at MHS have spent between 10 to 13 years of their lives in school..  It’s been the same exact routine for the majority of their lives: the monotonous alarm going off at the crack of dawn, riding the crowded school bus, then sitting in the uncomfortable blue chairs for seven hours.  Most students probably don’t even think that going to school for such a long period is a great privilege.
However, Nivi Biju, sophomore, stepped away from this daily routine this past summer. Biju spent two weeks in Kerala India volunteering at Sahajeevan Special School and then decided she wanted to raise money back in the states for the school.
“The school is in Kerala, India, which is where my family is from and the school is for students ages 2 – 40 from underprivileged homes and they’re also physically or mentally disabled,” Biju said.  “What I did there is, for two weeks, I taught the kids basic math skills or science skills, and I know how to write Malayalam, which is the language spoken in Kerala, so I taught them some Malayalam as well.”
Many of the special needs kids are never taught some basic skills that most students at MHS learn in kindergarten such as speaking, reading, and socializing

“Some people have a really hard time speaking listening etc, so what they’re trying to do is teach them basic life skills so they can fit into the world,” Biju said.
“The one thing I noticed about this school is that it’s really surrounded by love,” Biju said. “Each of the teachers takes the time to teach each student whether they’re 2 or 40 by their own individuality and not as a group of mentally ailed children.”
This October, Biju will be holding a ticketed dance concert in order to raise funds for the school.  Her goal is to raise $3,500 and donations are appreciated.
“I’ve been learning classical Indian dancing called Bharantnatyam for about 10 years now and I graduated before I moved here from Seattle coming into my freshman year. Since no one really saw the [dance] pieces I thought I would do all my pieces and do a ticketed show:”
Chesna Panicker, sophomore, will be MCing and singing for the performance.
“Well first it was really just my friend who started it all.  She told me about it and her idea and I know she is a really good dancer,” said Panicker.” “She asked me if I could sing for it so we’re just trying to sell tickets really.”
Panicker has been singing Carnatic music, a type of classical Indian music, for five years now.  She will be singing Carnatic music for the fundraiser.
The fundraiser is on Saturday, October 4^th.  Tickets are $ 10 each for general seating and $20 for premium seating.  The school charity link to buy tickets and make donations is http://www.careandshare.com/sahajeevan.html.  Tickets will also be sold at the door.  All proceeds and donations will go directly to Sahajeevan Special School.