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The U.S. celebrates the first week of May as “teacher appreciation week” and Tuesday of the same week as “National Teachers Day”. Hindu philosophy and culture consider the Guru as the “Supreme Being” who invokes and sustains the light of knowledge while eliminating the darkness of ignorance. Our lives are touched and inspired by countless teachers in schools, colleges, and many other activities that we participate and excel in. To acknowledge and appreciate these Gurus who silently shape our lives, HSS volunteers across the nation will hold Guru Vandana during their weekend activities in the Month of May and at some places in June. In a typical event, the children will present a cultural program where Sanskrit shlokas are recited in the honor of the Guru. The shlokas focused on the significance of the Guru, comparing the Guru to God, and pointing out the Guru’s role in achieving the supreme knowledge. A local chief guest will share his or her thoughts with the audience, followed by a teacher appreciation ceremony. Following infographic shows 2021 Guru Vandana statistics

What is Guru Vandana?

Testimonials from educators on Guru Vandana

School District Superintendent, Indiana

Middle School Principal, Texas

Elementary School Principal, Indiana

School District Superintendent, Texas

Guru Vandana 2019 Report, TX

Past Guru Vandana events by the numbers

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Subject: Thank You: Guru Vandana (Teacher Appreciation)

Dear <Teacher / Principal / District Superintendent / Board Member Name>,

On behalf of the HSS-HEF team, I wanted to convey our sincere thank you for attending the Guru Vandana event.

Thank you for being a source of motivation and inspiration to your students and recognize that your warm participation in such events is an additional element for the growth and nourishment of the students.

Guru Vandana events were hosted in other cities as well by HSS-HEF chapters. We felicitating over 1,700 teachers from 113 school districts from 24 states. I am sharing the national press release for Guru Vandana 2021 (please see attached) that was covered in various media outlets.

Have a great rest of the summer break and best wishes for the upcoming school year.

We are looking forward to the continued partnership to enhance the student learning experience.

Warm Regards,

 <Your name and contact phone number>

Hindu Education Foundation (HEF), a program of Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh, USA (HSS).

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Subject: Thank You: Guru Vandana (Teacher Appreciation)

Dear <Teacher / Principal / District Superintendent / Board Member Name>,

On behalf of the HSS-HEF team, I wanted to convey our sincere thank you for attending the Guru Vandana event.

Thank you for being a source of motivation and inspiration to your students and recognize that your warm participation in such events is an additional element for the growth and nourishment of the students.

I hope you enjoyed the time spent during the event and look forward to your continued support as well as feedback for next year’s event.

Here are links to the picture and video recording from the event. Please feel free to share further as you feel appropriate.

<Photo and/or Video Link>

As similar Guru Vandana events are happening in other cities as well by HSS-HEF chapters, I will be sharing the report with you in the coming weeks to provide a glimpse from HSS-HEF national perspective on the Guru Vandana events.

Have a great rest of the school year and best wishes for the next school year. 

I am looking forward to the continued partnership to enhance the student learning experience.

Warm Regards,

 <Your name and contact phone number>

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Sadhana Shakha Guru Vandana Utsav Protocol (Utsav date : May 9th, 2020)
Create an interactive medium for teachers and educators to experience Guru Vandana Utsav, virtually.
Timeline	Category of task	Task	Owner	Participants	Notes
1st week of April
	Zoom meeting to invite ideas	1. Finalize date of Guru Vandana Utsav 2. Determine the feasibility of an interactive e-Guru Vandana 3. Invite ideas for performances/events to be included in the Utsav 4. Assign task owners 5. Follow up with bi-weekly Zoom meetings to gauge progress on all tasks	GV Pramukh	All Shakha Families	Document Ideals in a centralized loction (Google Drive)
	Invitation to Teachers	1. Parents will enter name, school, email id of teachers into the Google Sheet shared with them 2. Prepare a standard invitation to be sent to all teachers, listed. Invitation content: a. Date, time of the Utsav b. RSVP link for teachers to confirm their acceptance c. Invitation sent by GV Pramukh, using Sadhana Shakha Gmail id. (ensure timely delivery of invites)	1. Parents 2. GV Pramukh		Document info in a centralized loction (Google Drive)
	Instructions on creating and sharing videos	1. Record at least 1080p resolution (standard in most phones). The higher, the better. 2. Recording at similar resolution will help where stitch videos where they are part of same task 3. Give few seconds of blank recordings at the start and end of recording, they can always be trimmed. 4. Keep your device horizontal (i.e. Landscape and not portrait) 5. Do not use Email, Whatsapp, web transfer etc to share the videos. 6. To transfer videos, connect your phone to your PC and transfer your videos to your PC first and then transfer to Google Drive. (You can download the Google Drive App for that). Each participant was assigned a Google Folder, into which their video files could be uploaded by them.	GV Pramukh & task owners	Shishu gana, Bala gana, Kishore gana	Verbal and WhatsApp Instructions
2nd & 3rd weeks of April
	Follow up email to all invitees	1. A brief reminder was emailed to all invitees (parent responsible for inviting CC’ed on each email) to RSVP.	GV Pramukh		Emails were sent from GV Pramuksh account for: a) Put personal touch b) Prevent going to Spam fold
	Video Editing – Main	1. Every project (event) needs 3 files : a. Video Files b. Audio Files – background music, sound effects c. Visual effects – transitions added 2. Choice of Software: iMovies, Adobe Premiere 3. Premiere video of 50 minutes was divided in 7 parts: a. 5 minutes: Intro, Ganesh + Saraswati Vandana + Deep Prajwalan b. 5 minutes: Welcome by MCs, Recitation of Gurur Brahma c. 9 minutes: Intro, Facts on Hinduism – Om, Skit d. 6 minutes: Intro, Facts on Hinduism – Namaste, Musical Instruments e. 7 minutes: Intro, Facts on Hinduism – Yoga, Skit f. 7 minutes: Intro, Facts on Hinduism – Festinvals, Dance Performances g. 11 minutes: We The Students, Miss You, Thank You	GV Pramukh		Video Editing is the hardest part. Be very patient.
4th week of April
	Invite dignitaries & PRESS	a. Invite Mayor, Congressmen, Senators b. Invite TV and Newspaper	GV Pramukh		– Ideally invitation to dignitaries must be sent atleast 4-5 weeks prior to the event. Invitation can be sent via email. Follow up with a personal phone call or a visit to their offices. – Press and TV media should be informed 2 weeks in advance. Invitation and Program Guide must be shared.
	Post Production tweaks; Review and Feedback	a. Video files are often large, which could make them difficult to share with your team via traditional channels, such as email. Files were uploaded to YouTube and links were shared with team to invite their feedback and edits. b. Large amounts of storage is needed to save these video files. Please be mindful of that. We had to deleted some files as soon as they were converted to YouTube links. But later realized that these files would have come handy to polish and refine our final product.	Everyone		Keep history of files and backups. People change their minds. Have to accomodate everyone to the best extent.
1st week of May
	Launch teaser on Social Media	1. 60- second Teaser with glimpses of the actual Premiere was prepared and launched on Sadhana’s FaceBook page and shared with Sadhana families on it’s bi-weekly ZOOM meeting.	GV Pramukh		a. Teaser for e-Guru Vandana, 2020: https://bit.ly/2Wzm6wu b. Guru Vandana from past years: https://bit.ly/2yyJL8t
	Email invitees and families	2. Email with, a. viewing instructions b. link to teaser (eGV, 2020) c. link to video compilation of past Guru Vandana Utsav(s) d. Program Guide	1. Parents 2. GV Pramukh		a. See Summary: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LSqC4-MwOoetKx1R-qhTzfY1idcq7q0e/view?usp=sharing b. Teaser for e-Guru Vandana, 2020: https://bit.ly/2Wzm6wu c. Guru Vandana from past years: https://bit.ly/2yyJL8t d. Program Guide: https://bit.ly/3ce4X22

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2021 Guru Vandana Invitation for School District Leadership

Subject Line: You are Invited – 2021 Guru Vandana – Teacher Appreciation Event

Dear <School District Leader Name>,

On behalf of the <your city name> chapter of the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS) and Hindu Education Foundation (HEF), I would like to invite you to Guru Vandana (Teacher Appreciation) event on <day, date, time, and weblink>

We have been conducting Guru Vandana (Teacher Appreciation) program to honor teachers in <your school district name> for the last <number> years. Guru Vandana event is very well received and attended by teachers and their families. We also appreciate all the support and encouragement from <your school district name> leadership for this unique event.

It is our pleasure to invite you to this celebration, which includes a cultural program by the children, a peek into Hindu culture and traditions, and the felicitation of teachers by the students.

The Guru (Teacher) is held in high esteem in the Hindu culture and the word “Guru” is always expressed with reverence and love. As a remover of ignorance, through imparting knowledge, the Guru is an integral part of a student’s life.

Please RSVP by <day and date> via the provided link. We encourage you to bring your family along with you for this event.

Here is a 2-minute video on the Guru Vandana program. To learn more about Guru Vandana, please visit https://www.hssus.org/guru-vandana

What: Guru Vandana (Teacher Appreciation Event)

When: <day, date, and time>

Where: <web link>

Dress Code: Business Casual (or Indian outfit as per your comfort)

RSVP: <Any RSVP method shakha would like to use>

Thank You,                                                

<Your Name>

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2021 Guru Vandana Invitation for Teachers

Subject Line: You Are Invited: 2021 Guru Vandana – Teacher Appreciation Event 

Dear <Teacher Name>,                                        

<Student Name> (Grade – School Name) would like to invite you to this year’s virtual Guru Vandana (Teacher Appreciation Event), which is taking place on <day, date, time, and weblink>.

The <your city name> chapter of Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh, USA (HSS) in collaboration with the Hindu Education Foundation (HEF) is conducting Guru Vandana (Teacher Appreciation Event) program to honor teachers in the local area. It is our pleasure to invite you to this celebration, which includes a cultural program by the children, a peek into Hindu culture and traditions, and the felicitation of teachers by the students.

The Guru (Teacher) is held in high esteem in the Hindu culture and the word “Guru” is always expressed with reverence and love. As a remover of ignorance, through imparting knowledge, the Guru is an integral part of a student’s life.

Please RSVP by <day and date> via the provided link. We encourage you to bring your family along with you for this event.

Here is a 2-minute video on the Guru Vandana program. To learn more about Guru Vandana, please visit https://www.hssus.org/guru-vandana

What: Guru Vandana (Teacher Appreciation Event)

When: <day, date, and time>

Where: <web link>

Dress Code: Business Casual (or Indian outfit as per your comfort)

RSVP: <Any RSVP method shakha would like to use>

Thank You,

<Student Name>

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