Students work in groups, pen articles, and shoot photographs. Then our team of publishing professionals weaves their work into the EdTerra Student Travel Chronicle. Choose Travel Journalists Program to show your students’ analytical and intellectual maturity to the world. This project activity delivers 21st Century Skills.
1. A DAY AT CAMP
Responsible Travel : Making a
Better World
Importance of Spending Time in Nature
How Adventure Activities
Helps us to Face our Fears?
HAPPY
MOMENTS!
PLUS
Our Outdoor Adventure
Sursingdhar, the Big Adventure Camp
GEMS INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL,
GURUGRAM
3. School trips are an incredible opportunity for young minds
that are constantly seeking information, experiences, and
acquiring knowledge. In our experience, when these young
minds go beyond the classroom, they cement and build upon
curricular subjects and lessons. Outdoor learning helps the
students develop a more holistic understanding of themselves,
their skills, their curriculum, and how all this ultimately relates
to the development of the world.
GEMS International School, Gurugram, is committed to create
a vital link between learning in the classroom, the students’
inner lives, and the world at large. The pages that follow are
representative of the aim of our institution, which is to take
teaching beyond the walls of the classroom into the freedom
of outward exploration and creativity.
We chose this particular program to Sursinghdhar,
Uttarakhand for its unique approach to understand the chief
historical and cultural aspects besides its special focus on
wildlife conservation.
Helping us to organise and implement this journey was a
company that specialises in student education travel. EdTerra
Edventures brings over ten years of experience of having
helped over 30,000 students learn from the diversity of our
planet. We are happy to state the success of this collaboration
stemmed from a deep alignment of EdTerra Edventures’
vision with our own. We seek to make our students global
citizens who actively understand and contribute to the United
Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Further, from
EdTerra’s travel curriculum and to develop 21st Century Skills
amongst millennial students, we opted for Student Media
Projects, especially EdTerra’s Travel Journalists Program.
This magazine — Student Travel Chronicle (Sursingdhar)
is a product of our students’ concerted teamwork to write
and collect their journey experiences and impressions in
a comprehensive manner. We hope you will enjoy reading
this Chronicle and have valuable points to take away from
students’ experiences.
Finally, we, at GEMS International School,Gurugram, would like
to acknowledge our teachers. The success of this journey is
only possible with their responsible and informed efforts. We
also thank our parents, who remain our most fervent partners
and collaborators for the education of all the students who
study and work together.
Principal
DR. AMRITA VOHRA
GEMS International School,
Gurugram
SAMPLE
Hello
PRINCIPAL’S LETTER
4. Contents
08-09
HOW ADVENTURE
ACTIVITIES HELPS US
TO FACE OUR FEARS?
It was magical that we could view the
beautiful landscape of New Tehri during our
action-filled zip lining activity
06-07
A DAY AT CAMP
Collecting and assembling stuff for
Maggi-making activity made us deeply
engaged
04-05
OUR OUTDOOR
ADVENTURE
We were stunned to see the
splendid scenic views and the
emerald waters of the Tehri Lake
5. THE
EDTERRA
EDITORIAL
TEAM
12-13
IMPORTANCE OF
SPENDING TIME IN
NATURE
10-11
RESPONSIBLE TRAVEL :
MAKING A BETTER
WORLD
As a part of our responsible travel, we made
food only out of natural things available
around us
Spending time in nature helped us
develop an important attribute that is,
humility
Created as part of EdTerra’s on-journey Student
Media Projects
Photographs & Articles
Students of GEMS International School,
Gurugram
Journey Mentor(s)
Saloni Singh
Publisher
EdTerra Edventures Private Limited
Chief Editor
Amita Midha
6. Team Members
GEMS Geniuses
This is our experience about the outdoor adventure activities in New Tehri. This topic makes us want to write many
pages on it because our adventure camp was very interesting. Here are the things that we found really fascinating during
our adventure camp:
• Fun activities like rappelling.
• Spectacular bonfires.
• Beautiful nights in the mountains.
• Local biodiversity.
We are sure that not only our group, but everyone had a great time and especially during the outdoor adventure activities.
This camp allowed all of us to find ourselves in the lap of nature. Not only that, the expressions on our friends’ faces
spoke for themselves.
The outdoor activities were fun and relaxing at the same time. You will adore every moment of the blissful beauty of this
place and it will be a golden time in your life. To add some more points to this topic, we would say that we also learnt
about various survival and life saving techniques. The fireman lift, two hand lift, three hand lift, and the four hand lift
were a few of them. All these are used in saving lives in case someone gets injured during outdoor games and activities.
This camp provided us with some basic knowledge about survival in the mountains that everyone should have. Now,
to conclude, once again we would like to say that if you’re looking for a fantastic adventure, you should visit New Tehri.
Our Outdoor Adventure
01.
7. 05
We discovered valuable lessons while
exploring the great outdoors on our
educational journey
Working in teams for Maggi-making
activityimbibedthetruespiritofteamwork
in us
Survival cooking was an important thing that
we learnt on our adventure camp
We learnt to create an improvised stretcher,
an important aspect of our first-aid training
Our Outdoor Adventure
8. Team Members
Aadhya, Aanya, Angad, Arnav, Ayaan, Ayesha, Harlin, Kanishk, Khush, Manya, Namah, Pawani,
Prabhnoor, Saksham, Sharjita & Unnati
Our team had a wonderful time in Tehri. The day at camp was different from the one that we have at our home. We had
our breakfast early in the morning. It felt like we were having a meal in the class with our friends. A lot of them were
still sleepy. We were then sorted into teams namely, Cheetah, Crocodile, Chameleons, Werewolf, and Horses. After this,
we got ready and headed for some activities. We learnt how to rappel (downwards) a mountain. We also did zip lining
and jumaring (using an ascender) in which some of us got to the top. We came back to the resort to enjoy our lunch.
Meanwhile, we also had some rest from all the tiring activities.
Next, we trekked back to the mountains to complete all the activities. We played many games and climbed back and
forth many times. All of us were tired when we got back, so we went to sleep. We enjoyed the mesmerising view of nature
from our resort. Before the dinner, we sat beside the bonfire in the chilling cold and watched people showcase their
talent. We had dinner, talked to our friends and went to sleep.
We learnt many survival skills from our mentors in the journey. Overall, our day was fantastic. I never had such an
adventurous day in my life. In the future, I would like to go on many more trips like this.
02.
A DAY AT CAMP
9. 07
It felt wonderful to receive special certificates
on the basis of our performance during
various adventures
From collecting wood to lighting fire, we
did every step of Maggi-making ourselves
We rested for a while before restarting the
adventure activities
Quick two-minute activities were truly fun
A DAY AT CAMP
10. Team Members
An exuberant bunch of children
The beautiful time in New Tehri gave us not only a great opportunity to learn new things but also made us heroes who
could conquer their fears by taking part in the following activities:
1. Adventure activities: We did the adventure activities with the help of our EdTerra Journey Mentors who motivated
and reassured us about our safety, helping us to overcome our fears.
2. Being alone: The time during lockdown made all of us too dependent on our parents but through this trip, with the help
of our mentors, we overcame the fear of travelling alone. It promoted the value of responsibility in us.
3. Treks: Various treks on the mountain ranges in New Tehri enabled us to avoid many small and big animals and leave
our fear of height behind.
4. Bonfire: The warm, cosy, comfortable, and bright fire with its high flames helped vanish the darkness above, beyond
and across all realms.
5. Night in the mountains: Camping on the isolated mountain top enabled us to adapt to different surroundings and
overcome the fear of insecurity.
6. Teams at the camp: The wonderful support from the team members helped us overcome fears and made this adventure
one of its kind. In the end, we were able to understand that everyone has their own fears that can be conquered by one’s
efforts and determination. We would like to end by saying that fears are only one’s imagination and can be overcome
easily.
03.
HOW ADVENTURE ACTIVITIES HELPS US
TO FACE OUR FEARS
11. 09
Scavenging the forest floor in search of dried
wood for fuel taught us the value of sources
of energy
Through this adventure camp, we got
an opportunity to learn about survival in
challenging conditions
We were ready for jumaring — an activity
that was going to challenge our strength and
stamina
We took a halt after testing our strength
in jumaring
HOW ADVENTURE ACTIVITIES HELPS US
TO FACE OUR FEARS
12. Team Members
Aanya Goel, Anvi Rana, Charvia Agrawal, Garima Chhabra, Katyayani Thakur, Kartikey Bhat, Kirti
Poonia, Sanvi Ganjoo, Srijan Chak & Unnati Khanal
Tourism means to experience the beauty of nature and not to harm it. We, team Chameleon, contributed, both together
and individually, to make this journey responsible and thoughtful. We took a number of measures while travelling like
keeping the places we visit clean and not throwing garbage in nature’s lap. We took our own garbage bags to keep waste
wrappers, rotten food, etc. and brought them back with us so that the waste gets properly managed. The games and
activities were conducted keeping in mind the flora and fauna and did not include anything that could harm nature.
Biodiversity is a very important element of nature and always has to be taken care of. During our trek, we came across
the furry mountain sheep crossing the road and we stopped to let them pass without getting harmed. On the trek we
also came across the locals here who were very kind and followed their own diverse culture. We heard them playing their
traditional music, which we really cherished. This camp was an opportunity for us to explore the world with a better and
responsible view. At every step, we learnt something that will definitely be helpful to us forever. The camp was fun and
educational or informative at the same time. In conclusion, we would say that we played the role of making this world a
better place.
04.
RESPONSIBLE TRAVEL: MAKING A
BETTER WORLD
13. 11
It felt satisfactory as we made sure that we
were responsible travellers
We recorded all our learnings and
experiences in the Student Travel
Chronicle
Receiving special certificates motivated us to
employ all the learnings of responsible travel
Trekking was our favourite as it allowed
us to explore the majestic beauty of the
hills on our own pace
RESPONSIBLE TRAVEL: MAKING A
BETTER WORLD
14. Team Members
GEMS Geniuses
Our team (Horses) loves nature. It was evident in the way we sat on the side of the hill. We were watching constellations
in the sky and everyone was singing and dancing round the bonfire. Everyone was dazzled by the fab view when we went
to do zip lining. The best part we found about nature was that it is the best place to get peace of mind. Ranging from a
small ant to a huge whale, nature is beautiful. Even on the trek, every view was worth giving time.
In the evening, our team sat down in the balcony and enjoyed the view in silence. The silence wasn’t awkward, rather it
was peaceful and calm.
When we were going for rappelling, we saw a small frog, which was as beautiful as a bead, and later realised that it was
just a rock that was shining because of the sun. Everyone from the team Horses agreed that sitting on the mountain
was the most calm and beautiful moment of the entire trip. The crackling bonfire beside the spectacular view was just
like heaven for me.
Nature is God’s playground therefore, it is precious. Our Journey Mentors taught us about Leave No Trace (LNT), which
teaches us that we can enjoy and preserve the beauty of nature in the following ways:
• Plan ahead and prepare.
• Camp on a durable surface.
• Respect the wildlife.
• Leave what you find.
• Minimise the campfire impact.
• Dispose your waste properly.
In short, spending time in nature is a golden moment.
05.
IMPORTANCE OF SPENDING TIME IN
NATURE
15. 13
We loved reading EdTerra’s Knowledge Kit
as they provided interesting outdoor tips and
tricks.
We shared our experiences about various
adventure activities such as zip lining
We decided to remove all man-made
interventions as it was our time to
be one with nature
From lab to wilderness: we discovered
the impact of nature on our educational
journey
IMPORTANCE OF SPENDING TIME IN
NATURE
16. 01 A small activity, ‘Where’s The
Monkey’, inculcated qualities
like team building
02 We escaped the ordinary and
found joy on our unforgettable
adventure camp
03 Recieving the certificates gave
us mixed feelings -- we
were happy to win but sad to
end our adventure
01
03
02
Moments
06.Say Cheese
17. 04 We were thoroughly briefed on
all the precautionary
measures to be taken before
starting the recreational
activities
05 Taking a break from adventure
to capture a moment with
friends
06 We were excited to collect
wood from our surroundings
and use it for activities such
as cooking and bonfire
04
17
05
06