What do you do with pencil shavings? Throw it away, right? But had the little children of Gandhi Memorial Lower Primary School, Ashtamichira, at Mala in Thrissur district, Kerala, done the same, they wouldn't be record-holders today! As per a report by TNIE, the students collected the pencil shavings and made a portrait of Mahatma Gandhi, after whom their school is named. The feat got the students and the school a place in the India Book of Records. Suresh Kumar, Headmaster of the school, said, "The portrait was deemed the biggest in India that was made out of pencil shavings. The portrait measured 6.5 x 5 feet."
According to him, the school, which has 68 students studying in Classes I to IV, had been thinking of coming up with a project that would be a special gift for the Gandhi Jayanthi celebrations. "The idea took shape as a part of producing something best out of waste. We found that the students generate a lot of pencil shavings every day. The children have the habit of sharpening their pencils frequently. So, it was decided to ask the students to collect the shavings and hand them over to their teachers," he said.
The project has been a few months in the making. The students started collecting the pencil shavings in July. "We didn't weigh the pencil shavings. However, the amount collected would have been from around 200 pencils," the Headmaster told TNIE. According to him, it took 4 days, 68 students and 5 teachers along with the PTA members to finish the portrait. "The teachers and the students did the portrait during the free periods and that total time amounted to eight hours. The portrait was inaugurated on September 30," said the HM.
The original plan was to unveil the portrait on Gandhi Jayanthi, October 2. "We never thought the outcome would be so good and didn't plan to send the details of the feat to the India Book of Records (IBR). But as a part of motivating the children, we decided to approach the office of IBR and they awarded us the certificate after studying the project," said a proud HM.
