DPS Sharjah Hall of Fame

Safin Safarullakhan of Grade 5 showed excellent performance in chess during 2024-2025, achieving top positions in major tournaments across India, UAE, Spain, Georgia, and Albania. He won first place in several prestigious events, including the XI Sunway Sitges Chess Tournament, UAE League Team Chess Championship, Hafeet Sport Challenge 2025, and Zayed Sport Junior Chess Championship.

He also secured second place in the Sharjah Futures Chess Championship. Safin proudly represented India in the FIDE World Cup in Georgia and the World Cadet Rapid and Blitz Chess Championship in Albania. In January 2025, he earned the Candidate Master (CM) title. He is currently ranked 2nd in India, 3rd in Asia, and 16th in the world in the Under-11 category. He has crossed the 2000 rating in all formats: Classic, Rapid, and Blitz.

Since the post-pandemic period, Rithunanda of Grade 5 has discovered and nurtured a remarkable passion for hiking. What started as simple weekend adventures on local trails soon turned into an extraordinary journey of grit, growth, and greatness. With every summit, she has proven that limits are meant to be challenged.

Stairway to Heaven – Conquered Twice! - Known as the UAE’s most demanding and treacherous trail, Rithu didn’t just complete it, returned for a second round!

True Summit – The Highest Point in the UAE- Rithu reached the elusive True Summit, standing tall and proud above the clouds of the Emirates. Everest Base Camp – With Confidence & Ease- Scaling one of the world’s most iconic routes, she reached EBC with unwavering strength and calm—an inspiring feat for any trekker.

Next Goal: Annapurna Base Camp, Nepal- Driven by her relentless spirit and love for the mountains, Rithu now sets her sights on the majestic Annapurna Base Camp. We can’t wait to watch her embrace this next big adventure!

Omisha C. Hegde is a student leader, innovator, and youth advocate who represents the UAE internationally as a Country Ambassador for the International Foundation of Beyond Borders and Social Media Director at Global Youth Mandate, associated with the United Nations Department of Global Communications.

She currently serves as Head Girl of the Middle School at Delhi Private School, Sharjah, with achievements across STEM, innovation, sustainability, and inter-school competitions, including FLL, Frijna, and Technova. She and her team won the Best Prototype Award in a global STEM competition spanning 9+ countries, while her two ReEarth submissions received Honourable Mentions.

A passionate sustainability advocate, she is a Tawazoun Green Champion, Run Blue volunteer, and Founder of One Green Thing UAE. She is also the Founder of DIY Treasures, through which she raises funds for Water Is Life to support communities where access to clean water, a basic human necessity, remains limited.

Her linguistic achievements include Third Place in French Declamation, A1 and A2 French diplomas, First Place in Arabic Story Recitation, and High Distinction in the International Benchmark Test for Arabic. She represented her school in the Arabic Reading Challenge, won the Sharjah round, and qualified to represent Sharjah at the national level. She also holds a diploma in Abacus and is a Brand Ambassador for PINCA.ae.

A dynamic and passionate learner, Kashika Sonone has earned national recognition across academics, arts, and sports. She is a Silver Medallist at the ADNOC Net Zero National Level, an IOF English Gold Medallist(2025), and has received Achiever Certificates in Science and Math. She ranked 20th nationally in the Ignited Mind Lab Mental Maths Grand Finale and is a Silver Scholar in the ASSET Talent Search (2025–2026).

A skilled athlete, she holds UAE U13 Rank No. 11 in Badminton and represents her school team. Creatively gifted, she won The Indian Art Fest National Drawing Contest and is a semi-finalist in both the Voice of UAE (2025) and BEEAH Future Pioneer (2025) competitions. Her commitment to sustainability earned her recognition in the Interschool Clean Earth Recycling Contest (2nd Place). Kashika stands out as a confident communicator, environmental advocate, and all-round achiever—an inspiring young changemaker.

Zia Faisal is a talented Grade 7 student who stands out for her academic excellence, creativity, and dedication to community service. She is an ASSET Gold Scholar, a French diploma holder, and a high scorer in Olympiads. She has won multiple STEM competitions for her innovative AI-based projects. She is also a national award-winning writer, confident public speaker, singer, and chess player who participates in charity runs, leads environmental initiatives, and runs her own small business to promote sustainability.

Kanshika Manikandan from Grade 7 is a young recipient of Diana Award, Sharjah Award for Academic Excellence and NetZero Hero selected by Ministry of Education (MoE, UAE) to represent in events at COP28. She is also a UNICEF Ambassador who was chosen to represent the European Union at COY18 at COP28. She has won in “BLUE DOT “ drawing competition at COP28 and FAO soil ART competition.

She is also a published author and illustrator, having authored 5 books, Kanshika has won short story writing competitions in magazines and has been awarded “WORDSMITH AWARD” and “LITTLE PICASSO AWARD” for her drawing skills. She has also won 1st place in Hindi Story writing competition hosted by Raj Bhasha Utsav. Being an active country captain for the Thirst Foundation supported by Ms. Mina Guli, Kanshika represents UAE at a global movement for water. As an environmentalist, Kanshika has hosted several runs, beach clean ups and tree plantations.

Art has always been Kanshika’s favorite hobby and has contributed to many art galleries and has won in competitions as well. Kanshika won Golds in the Asset Talent Search and various other Olympiads. She has also won medals in swimming competitions. She has represented the school in the FLL National competition and won gold in KenKen.

Dhyan Jithin Rajan is a Grade 7 student, a passionate singer, published author, young philanthropist and environmental enthusiast who loves taking on new challenges. He is a proud recipient of the Sharjah Award for Educational Excellence, International Star Kids Award and UKL Award, and has consistently been recognised as an Outstanding Achiever. An international topper in various Olympiads, Dhyan has also been an ASSET Talent Search topper for three consecutive years and a UAE National Level Topper in the Sastra Pratibha Contest. His achievements extend to FLL, being part of the National Champion team in Formula Ethara, and winning several singing competitions including UAE’s Got Talent and inter-school events. His commitment to the environment has earned him recognition from EEG for the Toner Collection Drive and the Sharjah Award for Voluntary Work for Environmental Awareness. A winner of the “I Am at Sharjah Museum” Photography Competition, Dhyan continues to pursue his diverse interests with passion, purpose and a desire to make a positive difference.

Veer Singh Kukreja is a dynamic student known for his academic strength, creativity, and dedication to community service. A two-time ASSET Gold Scholar with top international Olympiad ranks, he has earned the All-Rounder Award once and the Scholar and Outstanding Awards for three consecutive years. Veer is a recognized writer in the VoFG Newsletter, MUN chair and winner, and TED-Ed speaker. He has volunteered over 50 hours supporting social and environmental causes, and explores interests in coding, music, and art. He plays basketball for both his school and academy teams, and football at the academy level, balancing excellence across diverse fields.

Khan Ayaan Abdullah, our Grade 12 student was awarded Al Zarooni Award by His Excellency Suhail Mohammad Al Zarooni as an appreciation for his achievements in the year 2022. The Award aims at recognizing those who have performed exceptionally well and left their mark in their respective fields.

Khan has been participating in the Asteroid Search Campaign, an extension from NASA for their citizen scientist program. He has noted movements of three unknown asteroids and NASA has confirmed one of them in their preliminary detection list and has named it after him as KAA0003.

He also received the Sharjah Chamber Award from His Highness Sheikh Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi (Crown Prince of Sharjah). He grabbed the rare opportunity to exhibit and perform live art at Expo 2020 Dubai, Indian Pavilion under the patronage of Dr Aman Puri (Council General of India in UAE). He has also hosted YOUTHS Creative Mind, an organization formed by him, on the occasion of World Environment Day and World Ocean Day involving founder of EEG and many more delegates.

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