December 2020, Mumbai: The COVID-19 pandemic may have dampened the Christmas spirit for the world this year but a premier ICSE school in Khar, Mumbai – Jasudben ML School (JML) celebrated the festival virtually in an interesting fashion. The school had a week-long celebration in collaboration with The Bakers Dozen – an Artisan bread bakery – a much-loved hand-crafted artisan bakery brand that uses only the most authentic ingredients and recipes. The brand offers an exquisite variety of bakery products with no chemicals and no preservatives.

During the workshop, The Head Baker of The Baker’s Dozen – Chef Aditi Handa taught the students how to make Shortbread cookies and chocolate premix which the students can easily and conveniently make at home with the help of their parents.

Co-Founder and Head Baker of The Baker’s Dozen – Aditi Handa says “Christmas this year may not have seen the customary exuberant, frivolous parties but everyone definitely wished for a safe, peaceful, and happy time with their loved ones. After all, the essence of Christmas lies in spreading love and cheer especially this year as we have all been dealing with a situation that has caused distress for everyone for far too long. We were keen on creating meaningful experiences for the students of JML school and holding a baking class for them virtually was a fun idea. As kids are always considered as very enthusiastic and creative, we wanted to bring out the creative side of them. Hence we have decided to send our premix range to all the attendees and will run a short baking contest, where the top 3 creative entries will get a hamper on behalf of The Baker’s Dozen. The kids will also look forward to baking with their families and in this way, we could play a little part in spreading their joy.”

 

Apart from The Baker’s Dozen workshop, The school organized a digital puppet show by “Puppet Maestros’ composed by Jayasree Nair and Bela Kotwani for the pre-primary students to spread the message of Christmas – bringing Love and spreading holiday Cheer. The teachers surprised everybody with the medley of Christmas carols on 22nd December and played an important role in being Secret Santa for their students as Santa will be visiting the pre-primary classes on the 23rd. Gifts for the pre-primary children have already been given to the parents on behalf of school which in turn will be presented to the children when Santa visits their classes. The primary students also played the role of Santa Claus to Sr. Christobel’s Trust – Mother Teresa’s Roses – situated in Kalina, and found their happiness in gifting the underprivileged children clothes, toys, food grains, and goodies – a loving attempt at fulfilling their needs. Through Ektara – a community service club, the senior students of JML School also volunteered in holding a fun learning session with the Spark-A-Change (SAC) kids and conducted an educational project which involved finding geometrical shapes in their surroundings and creating an exciting geometry experience for them.

Speaking on behalf of the Jasudben ML School, Mrs. Damayanti Bhattacharya said, “Christmas always brings an entertaining distraction from the study & exam stress and the children feel excited and joyous during this time of the year. I would like to thank Aditi for the amazing workshop session where she taught our little ones the joy of making delicious treats and celebrating Christmas with loved ones at home. I’m also deeply moved by the initiative my students took to give gifts to the less fortunate without a thought of receiving. It is these selfless acts of giving and helping others that allows us to experience joy in its purest form.”