Mrs Champa Thiara, is currently a PGT in English at Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan, Command Hospital, Kolkata.

Mrs Champa Thiara has been teaching for the past 14 years of which, 11 years as a primary teacher and 3 years as a PGT. She was first posted at the KV in Jammu and Kashmir where she was the co-ordinator of co-curricular activities and sports owing to her background as the University Champion (Magadh University - 1972-73).

At the KV (Command Hospital, Kolkata) she has edited the school magazine and designed the school prospectus. Further, she has also attended various ELT workshops. At present, she is working as the in-charge of one of the computer wings and finds teaching through CD-ROMs and the LCD projector very effective. She feels that if a teacher is sincere, she is naturally motivated resulting in innovative ideas for using various strategies to make the learning process interesting.

Mrs Thiara finds teaching in KV very challenging since the students at KVs come from heterogeneous backgrounds. Some of them are the first generation learners with more or less no guidance at home. These students depend fully on the school for their education. Hence, she feels that KV teachers have to take up the gauntlet and work towards the cause of education. The word 'impossible' does not exist in her lexicon. In order to make the students' spoken communication effective, she hosts extempores, debates, discussions, news reading etc in the classroom and also makes use of CDs and cassettes. Newspaper articles, Macmillan's worksheets and assignments, book reviews, are all incorporated to enhance the students' written communication. She feels that in this field, Macmillan has done a great service by providing well-graded exercises to hone the interests of students in computers, proficiency and their interest in the language as well as in developing their confidence.