Our Vision

Innovation in Hindi Learning

Background
In summer of 2009, a committed group of Hindi teachers, journalists, and scholars, while attending a Hindi teaching workshop in the campus of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, decided to set up a non-profit organization to promote Indian culture, heritage and values through the vehicle of Hindi language.

Hindi Sangam Foundation
Hindi Sangam Foundation, a New Jersey based non-profit educational and cultural organization was established in 2015. Founded by Ashok Ojha, a journalist and teacher, to meet complementing goals of promoting Hindi learning and cultural practices in the Indian Diaspora, it's immediate objective was to organize International Hindi Conference in collaboration of universities, educational organizations as well as institutions that supported the idea of promoting Hindi language and culture globally.

Managed by a board of trustees Hindi Sangam Foundation was awarded its first federal grant to conduct STARTALK Hindi Language and Culture Program in the summer of 2016 in association with Franklin Township Board of Education in New Jersey.

Ashok Ojha
President, Yuva Hindi Sansthan & Hindi Sangam Foundation

Yuva Hindi Sansthan
The organization, conceived as youth centric, was named Yuva Hindi Sansthan (YHS). The founders vowed to work for the sole aim of revitalizing and promoting the heritage language Hindi among the youths in the United States and other countries.

Yuva Hindi Sansthan Inc. strives to create opportunities to improve the communicative capacity (communication skill) of youngsters in Hindi through youth-centered workshops, meetings, cultural events, and other educational, academic and community-oriented activities throughout US. In order to meet its objective, YHS has also opened pathways to explore venues for working with the other organizations and institutions with similar goals and objectives, researchers, social activists and individuals.

ASHOK OJHA, YHS PRESIDENT AND DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMS

Ashok Ojha is a New Jersey based journalist and teacher, where he manages two non-profit organizations, Yuva Hindi Sansthan and Hindi Sangam Foundation, both dedicated to promotion of Hindi language in USA and beyond. Well-versed in national standards and best practices in curriculum instruction appropriate for US schools, Ashok is a K-12 certified teacher for social studies. See More >>>

SANJYOT TATKE, MASTER TEACHER AND LEAD INSTRUCTOR

Sanjyot Tatke, an experienced Hindi teacher, has been associated with STARTALK students programs since 2011. After receiving STARTALK Teachers Training at Kean University she served as an instructor at YHS STARTALK since 2011 and SANGAM-FRANKLIN STARTALK programs. Sanjyot is a team player who coordinates professional development workshops for all teachers and collaborate for developing classroom material including activities and worksheets for students in the target language. In the past years Sanjyot attended a number of STARTALK conferences and workshops where she learned new teaching strategies to share with her team. In 2019 she led a team of instructors at the STARTALK regional workshop at College Park, MD. Sanjyot is also serving as the Treasurer, Yuva Hindi Sansthan.

ANJU RAI, INSTRUCTOR

Anju Rai joined Sangam-Franklin STARTALK HINDI Program in 2019 as an instructor for heritage learners, grades 5-8. She easily develops close bond with her co-teachers and a productive relationship with her students. She says, “I design activities that engage learners in the class as they produce new language. I take extra care providing differentiated teaching for needy students.

My strategies for effective teaching are based on STARTALK sponsored principles. I provide comprehensible input in Hindi and move on to guiding students through varieties of activities in the three modes of communication. While engaging my students in performance activities I keep in mind to provide information in chunks, scaffold language input and move on to Gradual Release of Responsibility.” Anju received her teachers training at Kean University in 2015.

AKHILA SEKHAR, CULTURAL INSTRUCTOR

Akila Sekhar serves as YHS Secretary. She has been associated with Yuva Hindi Sansthan and Hindi Sangam Foundation programs as a Cultural Coach and Associate Teacher for the past five years. Akila is a great organizer of events and a team player who helps organize Annual Hindi Diwas and reunion events in addition to STARTALK programs successfully.

SHEEMA VASHISHT, INSTRUCTOR

Seema Vashisht is an experienced teacher of Hindi. In 2019 she joined YHS STARTALK Hindi Program in North Wales, PA and SANGAM-FRANKLIN STARTALK HINDI PROGRAM, Franklin Township, NJ. " As a teacher I helped young learners engage in varieties of performance activities in the three modes of communication. As I helped improve their proficiency in Hindi I learned to modify my teaching strategies”, she says. She effectively applies the STARTALK principles and ACTFL guidelines in her classroom teaching.

Hema Ojha, Administrator

Hema Ojha, an experienced inventory manager, administers all logistics for our summer programs. Hema serves as the Treasurer of Hindi Sangam Foundation and serves on the executive committee of the Yuva Hindi Sansthan. She plays a key role in supervises purchases, logistics, and meal service. She is a welcome sight for both students and teachers as she provides strong support to the smooth functioning of the programs.

Sangeeta Jain, Instructor

Sangeeta Jain joined SANGAM-FRANKLIN STARTALK HINDI PROGRAM in 2018. After completing her STARTALK NYU teacher training program in 2012 she worked as an assistant teacher at West Windsor STARTALK Hindi Program from 2012 to 2015 and as a Classroom Teacher at Kranti Hindi Kendra STARTALK program in 2015. She did her OPI workshop from Columbia University in 2012 and the Foreign Language Proficiency Testing Service at NYU in 2013. Well versed in STARTALK principles of effective teaching and learning, Sangeeta implements her daily learning plans with comprehensible input and moves on to guiding students through a variety of activities in the three modes of communication. “While engaging my students in performance activities I provide information in chunks, scaffold language input and use the Gradual Release of Responsibility model as my teaching strategies”, she says. “I use 100% target language during instructions and apply total physical response while working with young learners to improve their proficiency. While developing my learning templates, I integrate content with culture and technology.”

Sandhya Bhagat, Master Teacher

Sandhya Bhagat is a Master Teacher of Hindi who has so far taught at 16 STARTALK students' programs held in Atlanta, Delaware, Lansdale, PA and Franklin Township, NJ. She has been associated with Yuva Hindi Sansthan since 2014 and with SANGAM-FRANKLIN STARTALK programs since 2016. Her forte is theatrical activities for Hindi learners. She uses interactive methods, such as, role play, modeling, remodeling, and enactments in her teaching. She directs her own theater group called, “Dhoop Chhaon" (Sun Shade) in Atlanta, GA and writes poetry and stage plays.

Avani Shah, Technology Instructor

Avani Shah, a NYU trained STARTALK teacher, joined SANGAM-FRANKLIN Summer Program as the Technology Instructor in 2019. Her forte is integrating technology in the learning process to provide a rich environment and varied experience for learners. She manages computer sessions for students and administers computer based tests, such as, AAPPL testings.

Soma Vyas, Instructor

Soma Vyas, an enthusiastic instructor, facilitates a number of activities for learners including daily Yoga and classroom assessments. She joined SANGAM-FRANKLIN STARTALK Hindi Program in 2019, where she helped heritage and non-heritage students perform daily activities and tasks in order to meet program and lesson goals.