Kannur St Teresas School eyes hattrick win

THRISSUR: A girls’ high school from Kannur, the land of looms and lores, is all set to create history at the 52nd School Youth Festival. On the evening of the fourth day of the festival on Thursday, St Teresa’s AIHSS, Kannur, was leading the school-wise point list with 50 points, followed by BSS Gurukulam Higher Secondary School, Alathur, with 46 points.If St Teresa’s manages to stay on the top till the concluding day, it will be a hat-trick victory for this girls’ school, a first in the history of the youth festival. The school had secured first position in the previous two editions and second and third positions in 2005 and 2007, respectively.Leading the charge of the pack of girls is music teacher Suma Suresh Verma. A veena artist from Kannur, Suma is also a noted background score artist in the film industry. She has worked for Malayalam and Kannada films.Her school boasts of a fully professional panjavadyam team as well. The squad performs on various platforms beyond the school boundaries. “The school has groomed the likes of Shilpa Nelson, a member of music maestro A R Rahman’s recording group,” according to Suma.In all, 60 girls from the school are participating in 16 items in this edition of the youth festival. They have scored points in more than 10 competitions till Thursday evening. Devika Sajeevan, a 10th standard student, has scored the maximum points, so far, for the school in individual categories such as Mohiniyattam (first prize with A grade), Kuchuppudi (second prize with A grade) and Bharatanatyam (third, with A grade).In the deshabakthiganam (patriotic song) competition, Arya Dayal (a 10th standard student) and team won the first prize with A grade for the third time in a row. The music teacher herself has composed the winning number.In water colour and oil painting competitions, Amrita Prakash won first prize with A grade for the school. The others who bagged A grade in various items are Rhthulya B Nair (Kathakali music), Leonza Mariolla D Rozario (English recitation) and Anagha P Nair and party (Margamkali). Results of a few more items are awaited, which will finally decide who will lift the trophy for the best school.