Past Updates

August 14, 2023

Namaskar Mandali,

A word from the Principal of HMM Marathi Shala, Amrut Athavale –

HMM Marathi Shala is in its tenth year!! Houston Maharashtra Mandal (HMM), in collaboration with BMM, opened a Marathi Shala in the Houston Area on 13 October 2013 with 36 students. The Shala is founded with the purpose of protecting and preserving the Marathi language.  The aim is to empower children with the ability to communicate (read, write and speak) in Marathi and familiarize them with the rich culture of the state of Maharashtra. We are a non-profit school, run solely by
volunteers. The school is one of three divisions of Houston Maharashtra Mandal. Bruhan Maharashtra Mandal (BMM) of North America initiated the “Marathi Shala” (Marathi School) project with a passion and commitment to teach Marathi language
and culture to the next generation. Since 1970, many Marathi Mandals have been formed in various locations in North America. Many Mandals run Marathi schools based on the BMM Marathi Shala Curriculum, and the HMM Marathi Shala is one of
them.

Our new 2023/24 Marathi Shala year resumes the weekend, Sunday Aug 20. We will be operating three branches this year in Cypress, Katy and Sugarland. Interest in enrolling children in Marathi Shala has been increasing year over year and this
year is no exception. We will be hosting around 90+ students this year across the three branches. Our volunteer teachers and Shala coordinators are ready to make this year a memorable one for the Shala students. Starting this year, there is a new
Shala core committee in place, and we are eager to get started with our Shala activities. This year, we will be continuing the successful initiatives put in place by the earlier Shala committee and introducing some new ones as listed below –

  • Treasure box/small prizes – Each branch will have a treasure box, to encourage
    our young students to complete Shala related activities.
  • Homework/Reading log – To encourage students to continue their Marathi studies
    at home between weekend classes, reading/writing homework will be assigned to
    students which parents need to supervise and sign upon completion.
  • Birthday celebrations – Aukshan will be performed by teacher/parents in their
    classes
  • Reading buddies – Older students will be reading books and reciting stories to
    younger students
  • Mystery readers – Parents/grandparents/relatives come to the Shala to read
    stories in class
  • Shala time will be increased to 2 hours for all students
  • Combined Diwali celebration for all branches along with distribution of BMM
    certificates during the function
  • Annual day will be held in early March 2024

Please check our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/hmmshala and our website https://hmmmarathishala.org/ for Shala related updates.

We are excited to welcome a new batch of students, teachers, volunteers and parents to our Shala for the new academic year 2023-24. The first day of Shala is Sunday August 20.

Thank you for your continued support!

HMM Marathi Shala Team 2023-24
Principal – Amrut Athavale
Vice Principal/ Curriculum Coordinator – Lalita Phadke
Secretary – Anuja Zambre
Treasurer – Rohit Joshi