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March 2004
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Pushpinder
Kaur was born and brought up in a village in Punjab. She earned M.Sc
in biology and B.Ed degrees from India. Then she immigrated to US
along with her husband and has lived in San Jose, California since
1984. Here she received her teaching credentials and M.A. in
Elementary Education from San Jose State University while raising
her two wonderful
children. She got involved in teaching Punjabi to Sikh children in
San Jose in 1988. She was one of the founding members of the Khalsa
School, San Jose which is a very successful Sunday school model. Due
to the need of appropriate teaching materials set up in the western
context, she designed curricular materials to teach Punjabi and
Gurmukhi. Now she helps run Khalsa School, San Jose on every Sunday
1:00 P.M. - 4:00 P.M. Her
responsibilities include designing the curriculum, the teaching
materials, and volunteer recruitment. Every year more than 400
children and adults are enrolled in Khalsa School, San Jose and more
than 80 volunteers join to help teach and perform other
administrative tasks of the school.
Occupationally Pushpinder is a teacher in the California State public school system.
She has helped
start a number of Khalsa Sunday Schools that teach Punjabi, Gurmukhi
and Sikh history to young children throughout the United States. She
has prepared a very comprehensive, step-by-step curriculum that
helps in smooth running of these Sunday schools. Schools in USA,
CANADA and Australia use her Punjabi teaching books. She remains
immensely thankful to God for giving her this opportunity of serving the younger
generation.
Additionally Pushpinder is
also involved with Sri Hemkunt Foundation since 1993. Recently, she
accepted to do Sewa as a coordinator of Education for the
Foundation. In this capacity, she hopes to encourage and guide
Gurdwaras throughout the USA to start and run successful Khalsa
Sunday Schools to promote teaching and learning of Punjabi and Gurbani.
Now
for several years, Pushpinder has been involved in diversity training for
public school teachers by giving presentations of Punjabi culture
specifically focused on the Sikhs, their religion, values and
customs.
Pushpinder
is also the author of several storybooks and Punjabi teaching books. The Sikh
Foundation published two of her books.
The Boy With
Long Hair tells in very simple and straightforward words that
Sikh boys are like any other child, with feelings, which should not
be hurt, with dignity that should be respected and with identity
that should be preserved.
The book has been widely distributed to
several school districts in California and Canada, and Khalsa
Schools in USA. Recently the
book was endorsed by the California
Teacher’s Association to be used in public schools in California.
She is excited at the scope of the impact this
book would have on the perception and image of the Sikh boys in
the schools in the United States and the world. She would recommend
this book to every Sikh boy.
This is a great tool for conveying to peers and classmates as to
who Sikhs are.
She is looking
forward to writing more books to enhance the understanding of
diversity in our schools as well as sumptuous books to teach about the
lives of the Sikh Gurus so that Sikh children can learn about their
rich heritage, the messages that the Sikh Gurus wanted their Sikhs to learn
and be proud of themselves.
Pushpinder
lives in the foothills of San Jose with her scientist husband, Dr.
Gurinder Pal Singh, her son Tejinder Singh (a senior at University
of California Berkeley
and national level debater) and her charming daughter Tejkiran
(Lilly) Singh, (a freshman at University of California Davis).
Pushpinder
seeks unity in diversity. She believes that we are more similar than
different. If we can all see similarities among different cultures,
backgrounds and societies, the world will become a very harmonious
place to live in. That is the most important message of Sikhism, the religion
with a universal appeal.
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