Interactors shape a school’s vision
the presence of DG V R Muthu (centre) and school principal
G Meenakumari (left) to be delivered to a special home.
Out of over three decades of pursuing academic excellence at the Sri Kamakshi Vidyalaya Matric Higher Secondary School in Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu, over 25 years, this Interact club has enriched students with extracurricular activities and all the noble ideals of Rotary, as it celebrates its silver jubilee this year. Run by the Kamakshi Seva Trust, one of the charitable arms of the SPIC Group of companies, the school “is creating a database of Interactors joining Rotary after their Rotaract stints in college, as this will strengthen our umbilical cord,” says C Arunachalam, school secretary and member of RC SPIC Nagar, RID 3212, which has sponsored the Interact club.
The main aim of the Interact club, chartered in 1996, was to inculcate a service attitude in students. “This will extend a platform for the young minds to join Rotary in the future,” says the Rotarian, recalling his experience as a GSE member to Oregon, US, that transformed his life in 1997. “Excluding the Covid break, our Interact club has been very active on our campus, having taken up WinS projects, a smart class, mini libraries in classes and providing crucial support to Rotary’s field activities and programmes,” says G Meenakumari, the school principal and Interact coordinator. Only students from Classes 9–12 are allowed to join the club which has 27 Interactors who make their presence felt in Rotary projects such as the PolioPlus campaign and during governor’s visit to RC SPIC Nagar.
Annual project fund
Every year, their parent Rotary gives a corpus of ₹15,000–20,000 to the Interact club to kickstart its activities. “Apart from our monetary help, the Interactors are supported by the Kamakshi Seva Trust with its chief P Muthukumar taking keen interest in them. Whether it is installing a sanitary pad incinerator at the school, holding a district Project Vignana Ratham (science chariot) or the Save the Girl Child programmes, our Interactors are critical to our success,” says Arun Jeyakumar, president, RC SPIC Nagar.
Recently, they installed mini libraries called Books Bouquets in each class where the book shelves are rotated across the sections of all the three blocks once the students have read them. “Interactors are also helping us to provide vocational skills to adults. On Diwali eve, sparsely used clothes were ironed, packaged and donated to Anbu Ullangal, an old age home with 180 inmates. Around 10 girl Interactors visited Arumugasamy Anbu Ashram, a shelter home for abandoned girl children below 18 years and spent the day with 55 inmates,” recalls Jeyakumar. Last year, Interactors fixed bull’s eye on heavy vehicles and, along with Rotarians, gave helmets to 10 two-wheeler riders as part of road safety awareness campaign.
Interact Club president Aashiv Muthusuthan, Class 12, aspires to study Electrical and Electronics Engineering, plus a major in Computer Science. With 700 students and state-of-the-art facilities including smart class, computer lab, RO water units and gender-segregated toilets, “the school owes a lot to its Interactors who are our visible interface with the public and the community,” smiles the principal. Industrialist A C Muthiah, founder, SPIC Group, is the patron of the school.
