The DAV Public School in Kansbahal undertook a project to create an herbal garden on their school campus from September 3-9, 2012. Students were divided into groups named after herbs and given responsibility for certain plants. Activities included cleaning the garden site, an education program about herbs, collecting and planting over 60 herb varieties, and designing the garden. The herbal garden was inaugurated on September 9 and aims to create awareness of medicinal plants and a greener environment.

1. DAV PUBLIC SCHOOL, KANSBAHAL
DESIGN FOR CHANGE SCHOOL CHALLENGE-2012
“WONDERS OF HERBS”
-A JOURNEY TOWARDS A GREEN & HEALTHY LIFE.
PROJECT REPORT
D.A.V. Public School, Kansbahal took up a project on creation of Herbal
Garden in the school campus from 3 rd September, 2012 to 9thSeptember, 2012 as a part
of DESIGN FOR CHANGE SCHOOL CHALLENGE-2012 on the topic “Wonders
of Herbs: - A journey towards a green and healthy life.”
Objectives of the Project
• To have a herbal garden in our school campus.
• To achieve a Clean and Green Environment in and around the School premises.
• To create awareness among the students about the medicinal values of
different herbs that can be grown in the school garden & local surrounding.
• To reinforce the message of protecting and caring for the herbal plants.
• To make the students eco conscious citizens of the future.
Our Team:
To conduct the programme systematically Mr. A.K.Nayak was nominated as mentor.
The students of class-IX (English medium) & Eco Club members were divided into
nine groups & started working to develop a herbal garden in our school campus under
the supervision of the principal Mrs. Rashmi Mishra and In-Charge teachers Mrs. N.
Roy, Mrs. G. Naik, Mrs. R.R. Mohapatra & Mr. S.R. Naik. Each group was assigned a
name after a herbal plant & was expected to take complete responsibility of a
certain number of herbal plants. A lot of excitement & enthusiasm was seen among
the students and reflected the feeling of being protective & caring towards the
plants.
The name of the groups & the leaders are as follows:–
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2. ALOE VERA AMLA SATAVARI
AYUSHA SATAPATHY SURAVI PANIGRAHI SANJANA PATRA
TULSI BRAHMI ASHWAGANDHA
SHRIYANKA DASH PRIYANKA PRADHAN SIMRANJIT PANESAR
NEEM PUDINA CHIRATA
ANSHU AMAN GAURAV MOHANTY VIVEK PRADHAN
We concentrated our efforts on the students and teachers as we believe that the
students are the future of the nation and the school teachers are effective catalysts
in shaping the minds of children during their formative years and making them realize
the importance of having a clean and green environment around them. Each group
leader so trained is expected to influence the minds of at least 20-30 students in
his/her sphere of influence, who in turn would be Didactics to influence the thinking
and actions of their families about environment, thereby setting in motion student
based mini environmental revolution for conservation of natural resources and to have
cleaner and greener surroundings.
The project was overall an enriching educational programme to create awareness
about various Herbs among the students of the school & educate them on the
importance of Herbal Plants & their medicinal values in the day to day life.
The programme was conducted on the following dates.
3rd September, 2012
Introductory programme:
An introductory programme was held among the team members for the successful
conduct of the planned programme in the School. An introduction was given by the
Mentor during this meeting. The students were aware about the importance of herbs
in their everyday life.
A brief discussion about Culinary Herbs, Medicinal Herbs, Ornamental Herbs, and
Aromatic Herbs was held in the meeting between the group leaders. To gain
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3. knowledge about different herbs & their medicinal values, they consulted their
biology teachers. They were given instructions about identification & collection of
herbal (medicinal) plants, weeding, tilling, nurturing, arrangement & maintenance of
these plants.
Site selection & Cleaning drive:
The site is located on the west of the school building inside the campus. It is a level
plot of dimension 10 m X 8 m properly illuminated by sunlight. A water tap is close to
the plot for convenient watering of the plants.
The enthusiastic students of our team under the leadership of group leaders took the
initiative of mowing grass & uprooting the weeds manually. Cleanliness drive was
undertaken & the site was made suitable for herbal garden.
4th September, 2012
Education programme, Expert’s Advice and Awareness speech:
An education programme to provide adequate literature and training about the herbs
was organized in the school. A lecture-cum-presentation was given by Mr. M.
Panigrahi, Horticulturist, L & T, Kansbahal. The students were counseled on the
importance of herbs in day to day life. Mr. Panigrahi delivered his speech on herbal
plants and their medicinal uses. The students asked their queries and he explained all
those satisfactorily. He gave live demonstration on various herbal plants and tried to
create awareness among the students. The students were so trained that they were
not only able to identify the herbal plants but also acquired adequate knowledge about
the uses of the plants.
Collection of data, Placard & Poster making:
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4. After the programme got over, the group leaders under the guidance of biology
teachers browsed the net and downloaded the botanical names and medicinal uses of
various herbal plants those are available in local areas. They made placards protected
by polythene coating which include common names, botanical names and uses of the
plants.
5th September, 2011
Rally & Field visit:
On this date a rally was organized with the active participation of eco club members &
class-IX students under the guidance of group leaders & guide teachers. A large
number of Placards, Posters & Banners were displayed. The main purpose of the rally
was to spread awareness about lifesaving herbs to the nearby rural areas.
Identification & Collection of useful herbal plants
A group of students along with the leaders & guide teachers went to nearby places
which are rich in diverse types of herbal plants. They identified different herbs,
their uses with the help of the guide teachers. They collected many herbs from
different fields & brought to the school. This visit enabled the students to know the
vastness of herbs in the nature & also to know their medicinal values.
6th September, 2012
Interaction with village people
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5. During the field visit, our team met the villagers. To involve them, an interview
session was conducted for the exchange of ideas. The people revealed many secrets
of medicinal plants in the locality. They gave us various information to identify &
conserve the medicinal plants. They also enlightened us about the methods of
treatment of various diseases by using these plants.
Visit to local nursery & Collection of herbal plants
7th & 8th September, 2012
Plantation of herbal saplings in pots:
Around 80 pots were purchased. They were cleaned and painted green by the
students. Rich black soil was mixed with compost and the pots were filled.
Plantation & Designing Herbal Garden:
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6. The plants (more than 60 types) collected from the field visit and purchased from
nursery were planted in the pots by the students under the guidance of mentor and
guide teachers. Students involved in plantation were given a plant each and assigned
the responsibility to care for that plant. The group leaders were delegated the
responsibility of protecting and caring for the Herbal Garden in the school. This
helped to build a sense of belongingness among all the students.
The students designed the herbal garden in a most attractive manner that added to
the beautification of the school campus. Pots were arranged in such a way so that the
plants could receive maximum sunlight & fresh air.
9th September, 2011
Inauguration of Herbal Garden
On this day the herbal garden was completed and it was inaugurated by Mrs. Vasanthi
R. Rao, President, Women’s Welfare & Charitable Foundation, L&T, K ansbahal. She
along with Principal Mrs. Rashmi Mishra planted two plants. Mrs. Rao was kind enough
to deliver a short speech through which she appreciated the efforts made by the
students towards a green school campus & a healthy life. She enlightened the
students about the usefulness of the planted herbs which enable to lead a healthy
life in the lap of nature.
With this our programme “Design for change school challenge-2012” came to an end,
but we decided it is just the beginning and it is to be continued . . . . . . .
Acknowledgements
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7. We are thankful to Mrs. Rashmi Mishra, principal, D.A.V. Public School, Kansbahal
under whose able guidance and encouragement we conducted the programme in the
school.
We express our thankfulness to Mr. M. Panigrahi & Mrs. Vasanthi R. Rao for coming to
school and giving valuable speeches and motivating the students to be aware towards
a green world.
We are thankful to our mentor & guide teachers for giving their whole hearted
support and cooperation in achieving our objective and in making our mission a success.
We got very good cooperation & support from the other teachers & students of the
school and so, we are thankful to them also.
Design for Change School Challenge-2012 Team,
DAV PUBLIC SCHOOL (CBSE), KANSBAHAL.
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