Jaina Education: Jain Academic Bowl (JAB) 2017 Report

Jain Academic Bowl (JAB) 2017 Report

JAB 2017 Administrative Team

July 20, 2017

Jai Jinendra Everyone.

We hope the participants, the coaches, the moderators and all family members have reached home safely and had some time off to relax.

If you like to see and download the entire report in pdf format, please click the following link:

http://www.jainlibrary.org/JAB/00_JAB_2017_Competition_Report.pdf

JAB Competition Result, Appreciation, and request for Feedback

It was an exciting long weekend for Jain Academic Bowl (JAB) Competition at the JAINA Convention 2017. The convention team provided us with amazing facilities during Individual and Semi-Final competitions and then providing us an opportunity to showcase the JAB Finals on the main convention stage.

This is the first time that JAB finals were conducted in prime time in the main auditorium and in front of a huge crowd. It means a lot and most importantly this encouraged more kids to learn and participate in future events. We wish JAINA keeps this setup moving forward.

We would like to thank Shri Gunvant Shah, Convener, JAINA 2017 and the convention team members such as Dilip Shah, Dilip Punatar, Haresh Shah, Rajendra Mehta, Kirit Mehta, Jigar Shah, Viren Shah, Harshad Shah, Vijay Kothari, Atul Shah, Anil Shah and others for not only supporting JAB activities but also Pathashala teachers’ conference and Jaina Education Booth facilities.

What is JAB?

Jain Academic Bowl is a team competition for young Jains held biennially at the JAINA conventions. This competition tests the overall knowledge of Jain philosophy, Jain history, Jain Conduct, Jain Literature, Ritual sutras, Tirthankars, Revered Jain personalities, the Jain Way of Life, and more

What does it take to prepare for JAB Competition?

In two words, Hardwork and Perseverance.

JAB manual (Compendium of Jainism) is compiled using all Jaina Pathashala text books and reference books of Jaina Education Series. This 400-page book covers all aspect of Jainism. The following link provides the list of topics they have studied to prepare for the competition.

http://www.jainlibrary.org/JAB/00_JAB_Manual_2017_Table_of_Contents.pdf

You can view and download the complete JAB manual from the following link

http://www.jainlibrary.org/JAB/00_JAB_2017_JAB_Manual.pdf

What was JAB Competition Participation?

JAB competition had total 13 teams from various Jain centers across the US. 7 junior teams and 6 senior teams totaling about 90 students successfully participated in the JAINA JAB 2017 competition at the convention.

In addition, there were about 15 moderators (Young Jain Professionals) who conducted the JAB competition. Everyone did amazing and made us ALL proud.

List of Centers Participated in the JAB Competition:

Sr	Team Category	Jain Center Name	JAB Team Name	Total Students	Coach
1	Junior	Jain Center of New Jersey Franklin	Siddhashila	8	Parshva Vakharia
2	Junior	Jain Center of NJ Caldwell	Niyati	5	Heena Gada
3	Junior	Jain Center of Northern California - Milpitas	JCNC Strikers	7	Jayshree Sheth
4	Junior	Jain Society of Chicago	Arham	8	Reshma Shah
5	Junior	Jain Society of Chicago	Hrim	8	Bhavisha Shroff
6	Junior	Jain Society of Houston	Arihanta	7	Hema Ojha
7	Junior	Jain Society of Washington DC	DC Dharmapedia	8	Foram Shah
8	Senior	Jain Center of New Jersey Franklin	Moksh	8	Anil Shah
9	Senior	Jain Center of NJ Caldwell	Prarabdha	5	Priti Doshi
10	Senior	Jain Center of NJ Caldwell	Purushartha	5	Priti Doshi
11	Senior	Jain Society of Chicago	Om	8	Meghna Shah
12	Senior	Jain Society of Houston	Siddha	5	Chini Mehta /Hema Ojha
13	Senior	Jain Society of Washington DC	DC's Elite Eight	8	Megha Doshi

How was the Competition Setup?

Each junior team played 4 games with different centers & each senior team played 3 games in the preliminary round (regular season).The draws were a random selection. The top 4 teams winning the most games made it to the semi-finals (playoffs)

There were tie-breaker rules in place in case the number of wins were tied. The winning teams in the semi-finals (playoffs) made it to the finals (championship game) The finals were played in the main auditorium.

What Type of Questions were asked in the Competition?

In each game, 48 questions were asked to the team by JAB Moderators. These questions were divided into 3 groups.

Individual team questions – 20 questions (10 per team)
Category Round with Buzzer – 12 questions
Grab Bag Round with Buzzer – 16 questions

The following link has one complete set of question paper that was used in the competition

http://www.jainlibrary.org/JAB/00_JAB_2017_Sr05_Question_Packet.pdf

How long did it take?

It took 30 game hours to complete the JAB 2017 competition program.

Who led?

All the games were conducted and moderated by our youth and Young Jain Professionals who did an outstanding job. All of them were JAB participants in the past. We are extremely proud of our moderators and most importantly we have learnt a lot from them.

Who won?

Everyone!

Each participant worked hard and we saw tremendous support from their teachers, coaches, families & friends. It’s a testament of their dedication and hard work. They decided to take time from their daily schedule and learn Jain way. They learnt Jainism and a lot that we are confident will help them lead a gracious and successful life.

Now the Results

Senior Team Result

Jain Society of Houston – Siddha team Coach – Hema Ojha & Chini Mehta	Siddharth Shah, Asha Ayyar, Thara Ayyar, Rhea Mistry, Prisha Gandhi	1^st place
Jain Society of Washington DC – DC’s Elite Eight team Coach – Megha Doshi	Shreyal Gandhi, Foram Shah, Dhruvil Shah, Manan Zaveri, Jahnavi Shah, Kanvi Shah, Deesha Ajmera, Amol Ajmera	2^nd place

Junior Team Result

Jain Society of Chicago – Arham team Coach – Reshma Shah	Om Gandhi, Riya Jain, Garima Shah, Asmita Shah, Paras Shah, Ravi Shah, Shreeya Gandhi, Tanya Sheth	1^st place
Jain Center of NJ, Caldwell – Niyati team Coach – Heena Gada & Priti Doshi	Cavin Gada, Chery Gada, Forum Shah, Jainam Shah, Krishi Shah	2^nd place

Thank you -

We, the JAB Administrators, would like to take this opportunity to thank each one of you for the successful JAB participation and competition. This would not have been possible without your total dedication and support. As we collectively see it, JAB 2017 was a grand success. Your collective efforts are un-paralleled. We know it takes a great amount of sacrifice, devotion and a deep-seated urge to teach and promote Jainism to our future torch bearers and all of you have proved it beyond any doubts.

We would also like to thank some anonymous past JAB Coaches, moderators and Pathshala teachers who helped us preparing question papers for Semi-final and Final competitions.

Finally, we would like to take this opportunity to thank all the volunteers who helped out during JAB – this includes helping kids in the food line, guarding the doors and organizing the seating arrangements during the matches. Without the help of these volunteers, JAB 2017 would not have been as successful as it was.

We Salute You ALL.

Future Improvements

We would like to improve the JAB program from everyone’s collective wisdom. We will appreciate your constructive feedback, regarding JAB 2017 and what we could be or should be doing to make future JAB competitive yet humble, fun yet learning, and most importantly enjoyable and memorable for all including our adorable kids and youth, who are in the hot seat at the JAB competition.

Please send your comments and suggestions over the next two weeks while your memory is still fresh. You may send your comments and suggestions to all of us or only to me jainaedu@gmail.com. We will appreciate if you forward this letter to your students and other teachers of your center and take their input as well.

For complete JAB documentation – go to the following link

http://www.jainlibrary.org/JAB/.index.php

Michchhami Dukkadam

While preparing for, conducting and concluding the JAB competition, we may have knowingly or unknowing hurt you and for that we wish to say Michchhami Dukkadam. Finally, we would like to reiterate, how proud we are of everyone involved, especially the youth. We hope the knowledge of Jain principles they gained from JAB stay with them and become a part of their daily lives, and of course, that they had fun.

Thank you and Jai Jinendra.

Warmest regards.

JAB 2017 Administrative Team

Youth Admin	Priyal Gandhi – Washington DC	Charmi Vakharia – New Jersey	Anish Doshi – Chicago
Adult Admin	Harsh Shroff - Chicago	Megha Doshi – Washington DC	Sunil Vakharia – New Jersey
Adult Admin	Shweta Daftary – Dallas TX	Pravin K Shah – Jaina Education