When Westford ColorFest took place on the town Common this July 29, many of the volunteer organizers came from a small community of learners in the north part of town.
For the past three years, a group of parents has been quietly running an educational center for students living at the Graniteville Woods condominium complex off North Main Street. The goal of the GVW School, Ltd., is to prepare local students for success by having parents and high school students impart skills in their areas of expertise.
Areas of study include shark tank, iOS app programming, speed and agility programs, book club, theater classes/workshops, dance, music, math, yoga, healthy lifestyle, life values and lessons, robotics, physics and science, martial arts, and sports. Classes are free and offered throughout the year, including the summer.
According to its website, the school was founded by resident, Charu Khamitkar, who is its principal. It began with the formation of a Destination Imagination team, a hands-on system of learning that fosters students’ creativity through open-ended academic challenges.
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“We have been doing several activities with kids, educational and charitable for all this time,” stated Ketan Dave, lead organizer for the ColorFest.
ColorFest offered participants games, music, dance, food and the opportunity to play with colors by throwing powders on each other or in the air. The colors symbolize various aspects of life and nature. The GVW School sponsored the event.
“The GVW School kids also participate in several charitable activities such as volunteering for the Nashua Soup Kitchen & Shelter, and raising funds for other charitable causes,” he said.
This year the school won non-profit status, Dave said.
GVW Activities include:
- Participation in Destination Imagination challenges – “Out of 12 teams from Westford who participated in DI this year, eight were from GVW school. A couple of our teams also have gone to state level,” said Dave.
- Participate in First Lego League- Robotics challenges
- Participate in quizz competitions. “We had several kids participate in various BEE competitions like spelling bee, math bee, geography bee organized by National Bee organizations as well as Big Help foundation,” Dave said.
It all comes down to a valuable lesson, he said.
“We perform several events every year primarily focused around kids and giving them the opportunity and platform where they can learn to be leaders, great team players, respect society, and explore different cultures while knowing their own,” Dave said.
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