When Purpose Leads, Recognition Follows: Our Journey of Reimagining Education

There are moments in a school’s journey when you pause—not to celebrate completion, but to reflect on how far you’ve come, how much you’ve grown, and how many hearts have grown with you.

When the pandemic disrupted the rhythms of school life, it didn’t just bring silence to our classrooms—it brought clarity. We saw with painful honesty how fragile our systems were: learning gaps widened, emotional distress deepened, digital divides became glaring, and traditional ideas of success no longer held relevance. It was then that we knew—we couldn’t go back. We had to build forward.

So, at Gulmohur High School, we began to reimagine education. Not as a race for marks, but as a journey toward resilience, relevance, and rootedness. The result was the MFDCC 5-Pillar Model—our response to a changing world. Grounded in Mental and Emotional Wellness, Future-Ready Teachers, Digital Transformation, Career-Aligned Learning, and Civic Responsibility, this model is not just a framework. It is a living, evolving ecosystem shaped by every teacher, student, and parent who dared to believe that school could be different.

A Culture of Courage and Care

When we launched “Raise Mentally Strong Kids” and later the “Happy School Programme”, our goal was simple: help children feel safe again. What we didn’t expect was the ripple effect—thousands of  students, parents, and teachers engaging in weekly well-being sessions. The emotional data we began to collect through our Happiness and Behaviour Trackers became the soul of our school timetable. Emotional wellness was no longer an add-on—it became our foundation.

As our teachers began sharing their journeys through Knowledge Sharing Sessions, the school slowly transformed from a place of instruction to a laboratory of innovation. Even those who once hesitated to speak up began leading workshops, presenting at city forums, and mentoring peers. And when I was invited to share our story at the National ISQ Conference 2023, sharing the stage with some of India’s leading quality advocates, it felt like a collective triumph—not mine, but ours.

Innovation with Intention

One of the most powerful moments came in February 2025, when we were honoured with the Economic Times Edutech Award for innovation in digital pedagogy. This wasn’t just about our  digital teaching modules, or our collaborative Google-based planning system. It was about how we had used simple tools to create meaningful, inclusive, and scalable digital ecosystems—without relying on high-end infrastructure.

Our Career Expo, which welcomed 3,500 students from 56 schools, and our Career Counselling Lab, run by IC3-certified faculty, were born out of a similar conviction: that education must connect students to life, not just to exams. When parents began thanking us—not just for teaching their children, but for expanding their dreams—we knew something was shifting.

Recognition as Reflection

In January 2025, I received the Sri Sri Award for Best Teacher (East Zone). In March, I was honoured with the Aparajita Samman by Prabhat Khabar for educational leadership on Women’s Day. And in between, Gulmohur was awarded Rs. 1,00,000 by the Tata Education Excellence Programme for outstanding internal assessment systems.

These recognitions were deeply humbling—but more than that, they were mirrors reflecting the spirit of our community. Because behind every award was a teacher who stayed up perfecting a lesson plan, a parent who joined our Mothers’ Reading Club, a student who led a clean-up drive, and a counsellor who stayed back for just one more conversation.

Scaling Without Losing Soul

Today, our model is being adapted by schools in Jamshedpur. We’ve partnered with NGOs, corporates, B.Ed. colleges, and other schools to share everything we’ve built—story maps, assessment rubrics, lesson plans, and most importantly, our learnings. We don’t believe in hoarding good ideas. We believe in growing them together.

The Road Ahead

As I look at the smiling faces of our students, the confident stride of our teachers, and the quiet commitment of our support staff, I’m reminded of why we began: not for recognition, but for transformation.

Gulmohur High School today is not just a school. It is a model of community-powered, value-driven, future-ready education—one that proves that with courage, care, and collective effort, any school can become a lighthouse.

And if recognition follows us on this journey, we accept it with gratitude—but never as the destination. Our destination is every child’s right to a joyful, just, and meaningful education.

Warmly,
Priti Sinha
Principal
Gulmohur High School