Dilip Gandhi has been a long time (nearly 40 years) volunteer at Shishu Bharati. He has been volunteering without a break for all these years. His efforts have helped grow Shishu Bharati from a basement classroom of a handful of students into one of the premier institutions of the country imparting a secular Indian education to young children from Kindergarten through 8th grade.

He has been a role model and mentor to hundreds of younger volunteers at Shishu Bharati. Though his kids graduated 25-30 years ago, he still never seizes to serve Shishu Bharati. He has also served as a volunteer at Jain Center for many years while he was a volunteer at Shishu Bharati. 

 

Over the years, he has served as a president, secretary, director, teacher, officer, and now just as a volunteer. One can sense the love he has for the School and the passion he feels for its mission to introduce children to Indian culture and languages.  His service to the institution is truly selfless and he spends countless hours every week mentoring new teachers and helping to run the logistics of the school day.  We are at a record 509 students at the Lexington location this year and we would be lost but for his experience in crowd management and control. 

Dilip Gandhi is a math teacher at the charter school AMSA during the week and he brings this expertise of handling young children to the teacher workshops we conduct at Shishu Bharati for our volunteer teachers and he offers advice on how to manage a classroom of students with diverse learning styles. 

He is in the Assembly hall every Sunday making the announcements, managing the snack area during the break and supervising the dismissal at the end of the day. He sets up the sound system for the various programs that happen during the academic year.

Every summer, he updates our student handbook for the upcoming year and makes sure that the curriculum stays consistent with both the goals of Shishu Bharati as well as the evolving needs of the children of the new crop of parents, some of whom are second generation  Indian American themselves.

He sets the tone for a cohesive, collaborative and smooth operation across all 3 branches of the school. It is remarkable that even after 40 years of volunteering in Shishu Bharati, his enthusiasm has not waned. He is a true inspiration. He is an institution builder.