by Placida Nazareth and Sunita D’Souza for BIS Mumbai

St Joseph's High School, Wadala, hosted the most awaited Josephite Festival on December 12th, 13th and 14th, as they marked their 107th year in educating and shaping young minds. The purpose of the Festival is to foster camaraderie between schools. The spectacular event received an overwhelming response from 93 schools, with 4,180 participants, who competed in a diverse range of 77 competitions organised by the school. The competitions featured several components like the Spell Wiz, Debate, Folk Dance, Mono- acting, Ethical Hacking, English Elocution, English and Marathi Choral Recitation, Indian Folk Dance and much more.

 The Chief Guests who graced this occasion with their presence on the three days respectively were – Rev. Sr. Elizabeth D’Mello, the Superior of the Social Service Centre in Auxilium Convent, Wadala, Rev. Fr. Godfrey D’Souza, the Rector and Manager of Don Bosco, Matunga and Mr. Jayesh Kenia, our very own past pupil who was instrumental in the formation process of the mega event - Josephite Festival in the Centenary year of our school. Fr. Peter Gonsalves, sdb who is the author of the teachers’ manuals for South Asia titled, ‘Exercises in Media Education’ (1999) and ‘Exercises in Peace Education’ (2018) and Sr. Rita D’Souza, the Manager of Auxilium Convent, Wadala were the Guests of Honour for the grand finale. 

In order to carry out the competitions smoothly, participants were classified as Categories I, II, III and IV, comprising students from the Pre-Primary, Primary, Middle School and High School. There were a panel of distinguished judges, who gave their valuable inputs in evaluating and judging the students. 

There was a team of 65 parent volunteers along with the team of student volunteers, event heads, networking together, guided by the dynamic Members of the Management, the Rector, Rev. Fr. James Nigrel, the Principal, Rev. Fr. Solomon Rapol, the Vice-Rector and Administrator, Rev. Fr. Bonny Borges, the Assistant Parish Priest, Rev. Fr. Arul Nicholas, the Secondary Supervisor, Tr. Nagaprabha Rao and the Primary Headteacher, Tr. Matilda Fernandes along with Tr. Smitha Lewis, the core committee members, and the PTA members.  

The best performers were felicitated with trophies, certificates and medals. The Principal, Fr. Solomon Rapol, was elated with the energy of all the students. All the participants received a participation certificate. He asked all the students if they would like to come again next year for the Festival and was happy to hear a resounding “YES!” 

The Josephite Festival Parent workshop, on 13th and 14th December 2024, conducted by Mrs Mercy Itty and Mrs Nandita Das, Dr Ramani S. Kumar, Ms Prutha Lunvara and Ms Samidha Kamble from Prafulta Centre for Psychological Well-being, Nerul, was attended by more than 150 parents. The topics focused on mobile addiction, introducing sex education at home, parents as counsellors, self-care etc. The parents gained deep insight into developing a strong connection with their children based on trust. 

On the festival's final day, an exciting lucky draw took place, and the winner of the 1st prize won a brand-new cycle. The fortunate student was from St. Joseph's High School, Master Naman Nagoda. In addition, there were nine prizes given to the other winners.