Languages are an inevitable part of history. One, histories are written in some or other languages, and secondly, the study of languages is also a part of studying history. In other words, languages are the carriers of history. That’s the reason why every community in the world tries some or other way to conserve their language. And the best way to conserve the language is to pass on its legacy to the next generation. Plano Marathi school from Dallas is doing exactly the same, stick to basics and deliver the best!

How it started –
The birth of Marathi school was more an amateur and little but well-spirited effort. A few people from Maharashtra Mandal started giving primary lessons of the language to kids in the Marathi community. It was an informal school held at somebody’s house. excerpts like Shlokas, introduction to letters, primary writing, and reading of Marathi were taught to children. This was in the year 2004 and it continued for the next few years, thanks to the dedicated volunteer efforts of Mandal people. Around 2009-10 it was decided that school will be run as an activity and under the shelter of Maharashtra Mandal and this was the point when the Marathi school started expanding its wings.

While talking with Mr. Mandar Gandhe – Marathi School co-ordinator of Plano, He told us that, The Plano Marathi school then was shifted to a new place owned by EdGurukul in 2009 and since then it is working unstoppably well. The school has classes from KG to 5th grade and those are conducted for one hour every Sunday. The school in its new premises started growing slowly. Very soon the school time was increased up to three hours, from 9 am to 12 noon on every Sunday. It was run in three batches, up to 2019, when physical schools were stopped due to Covid, the institution had 28 teachers and 10 odd volunteers.

Curriculum and Volunteers –
The school has a proper curriculum for Marathi and teachers give their lessons accordingly. Every senior teacher is accompanied and assisted by a co-teacher. This system has helped to bring flexibility in human resource handling issues and also to give training to voluntary teachers. To reduce the pressure on teachers about organizing co-curricular activities, some volunteers also have been appointed. Over a decade, the school has gained immense faith of parents who are not only enrolling their wards for classes but also showing interest in volunteering. Believe it or not, ‘Plano’ now actually has a waiting list of volunteers willing to wholeheartedly contribute to school!

Covid time and increase flow of students –
During Covid, teaching Marathi through online mode was indeed a challenge for teachers. Imagine a teacher teaching about how to draw a Marathi letter, from where to start and where to end. This effort is itself difficult in physical mode and online mode makes it tedious even more. Yet, teachers accepted the challenge and are doing it successfully. The wonderful thing is that the number of students actually increased during online education, reaching up to 175 students. Now, the situation is very spontaneous! The school management needs to deny admissions to some students due to full batches.

Association with School Districts –
The school is now getting recognition from ISDs also, while students are getting credit points for learning Marathi as a foreign language.
Mr. Gandhe told that the foundation work of this accomplishment was done by other Marathi Schools. He specially mentioned that Vaishnavi Apte from Irving Marathi School has done several meetings and followup with the ISD’s. She played a significant role in the high school credits work. This integration with School ISD’s would help to encourage more students to learn the language along with their formal education, feels Mandar.

Inculcating Marathi Culture Informally –
Along with formal classes, the school also organizes various activities at different festivals. MakarSankrant festival was held with the active participation of students, an inspiring lecture was organized to underline the greatness of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj on Shiv Jayanti. In addition to this, initiatives like Pizza Parties are also held by the school. Such get-togethers were held during the Covid period by following all rules.
On Diwali day, 200 models of forts were imported from India and distributed to students. The initiative was very well welcomed by parents and enjoyed immensely by students. This also helped artisans from India financially who were otherwise struggling due to loss of work in the Covid period. Indeed, it was a proud moment for the school said, Mr. Mandar.

The foundation for the success of school :

The success of the school is because of the team effort’ of the volunteer teachers and coordinator group. Everyone here put their heart and hard work while doing the work for school, humbly says Mandar.

Eying for future – 
The Plano Marathi school has already started planning for the future like starting physical school again in the post-Covid era. “The school is now entering into a more organized phase. Many people have contributed in past, laid a foundation, worked consistently and hence we could reach here. BMM(Bruhan Maharashtra Mandal) always took us under their wings and yet gave us all freedom to run a good Marathi school. Children in our school chat in Marathi with their grandparents back in India, that too in longer communications. So, maybe we are getting real success in connecting the dots and connecting the roots.

Isn’t this a real achievement,” exclaimed proudly Mr. Mandar Gandhe.

If you are also interested in your kids joining the Marathi School then visit their website https://dfwmm.org/content/plano-marathi-shala-team . This website will have present information about school teachers and other activities.