'Find the Hero within' with Amar Chitra Katha
Amar Chitra Katha has organised a School Workshop "ACK Heroes Programme' for the children of classes 5, 6 and 7; The workshop is being conducted across the four metros Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Kolkata in the top 85 schools with 40,000 students participating
Tweet-- Amar Chitra Katha, a collection of illustrated classics that retell stories about Indian Heroes in a comic book format, has organised a school workshop called ‘ACK Heroes Programme’ for the children of classes 5, 6 and 7. This programme is being conducted simultaneously across the four metros Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Kolkata in a select group of the top 85 schools with 40,000 students participating over a period of two months. An ACK Media initiative, the ‘ACK Heroes programme’ is conceptualized and executed by The Ideas Box, a content and activation company, with domain expertise in Kids & Families.
‘ACK Heroes Programme’ has been designed keeping in mind the need for value based education. It is based on the premise that there is a hero within all of us. The programme consists of a one hour workshop to be conducted in the school’s auditorium. This workshop will help students explore core values and qualities through five heroes from history textbooks which include Mahatma Gandhi, Rani of Jhansi, Subhas Chandra Bose, Akbar and JRD Tata, thus enabling students to identify with these heroes and find these qualities within themselves.
“Focussed Group discussion with principals, teachers and even students of the schools helped us identify the five heroes and their core values and qualities from the course syllabus of the classes”, said Sudipta Dhruva, Founding Partner and Creative Head of Content & Activation, the Ideas Box
During the workshop every child will receive an ‘I am a Hero’ worksheet with a questionnaire which would help the students identify themselves with their Heroes from history along with an entry form to the ‘I am a Hero’ contest. The contest consists of three parts – the ACK Heroes Quiz about the heroes discussed, ACK Heroes Slogan - ' I am a hero because.....' and ACK Heroes Challenge - Find a hero on whom Amar Chitra Katha does not have a comic book. The top three entries will receive an ACK Gift Hamper. Judging criteria will be based on the combined results of the three parts evaluated by a panel of judges. The session will be interactive with the aid of audio-visual presentation and dramatisation. “ACK Heroes Programme is nice way of learning about the values heroes represent. The workshop elements like the visuals and role play were interesting and made workshop more engaging”, said a teacher from Jasudben M. L. School
The ACK Heroes Programme aims to encourage reading habits among children, provide them a glimpse into India’s rich cultural heritage, make history appealing, build core values and most importantly, improve self confidence. “Nowadays with the value system degenerating, total chaotic atmosphere around with the media being in the forefront, the children are exposed to negative values around, hence it was an appropriate time for this workshop to come up, reviving and withholding the positive values and channelizing children to think upright and judicially”, said a teacher from Smt. Sulochanadevi Singhania School. The workshop will be conducted annually with an expanded list of qualifying schools every year. 25 schools from Mumbai are participating in the workshop this year which includes schools like St. Gregorios High school, Jasuben M.L. School, Yashodham High School, Lilavatibai Poddar High School, The Cathedral and John Connon School to name a few.
“Our goal as a company is to entertain children with Indian stories and heroes in a way that connects with the new generation. ACK Heroes programme is a critical element of the strategy because it brings the heroes alive through a performance and also allows us to directly understand how the children respond. We are very excited to initiate this massive outreach. The response from schools has been overwhelming and we have had to limit the number of schools for this year’s event”, said Samir Patil, CEO ACK Media
Notes to Editor
About ACK Media
ACK Media is an entertainment and education company for young audiences. Some of India's most-loved brands including Amar Chitra Katha, Tinkle, Karadi Tales and well-known proprietary characters like Suppandi, Shikari Shambu are part of ACK Media. We develop products for multiple platforms including print, mobile, online services, games, Television and Film. ACK Media is head quartered in Mumbai, has a design studio in Bangalore and a subsidiary in Chennai. For more information on ACK Media, please log on to: www.ack-media.com