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Ard Scoil na nDéise "Reaching our Potential with Respect, Care and Friendship" |
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Enjoyable Awards Night at Ard Scoil
The arriving guests were met by the sweet music of the Junior Traditional Music Ensemble. Amongst the attendance were the recipients themselves with their parents and families, as well as Principal, Mrs. Dorothy Hughes, Deputy Principal, Mrs. Colette Power, teachers and staff of Ard Scoil. The Special Guest was Paula Goulding, Star of River Dance on Broadway and now an Image Consultant in Dublin and who also works from her home in Knockanore. In an enthralling speech she took her audience through her school years and her highly successful dancing career, from her first halting steps at three and a half years of age to Dance Captain of the Broadway Show. The ever-competent MC for the evening was Mr. John Cunningham, returning to the school in his first year of retirement to take charge of a task he has made all his own. Much of the evening was taken up with the presentation of the Awards to the winners in the various categories, from the academic, through sport, full attendance and the overall Sports Star of the Year and also the Student of the Year. On the academic side, Elaine Flavin continued her winning ways by justifiably taking the Overall Academic Award. Not only has Elaine participated in athletics, becoming a Munster Champion at hill running and playing football for the school at All Ireland Level, she also devoted time to assisting at athletic events. Elaine took part in every school concert since First Year and was honoured with a leading role in the school pantomime. During her time as Student Council representative, Elaine instigated the successful Ard Scoil's Got Talent Competition and acted as MC for the Green School Fashion Show. Elaine has managed to combine all of the above with dedication to her studies, culminating in a superb Leaving Certificate result. Zoe Scanlon retained the overall Sports Award which she had won last year. Zoe is one of the best know athletes in the throwing events and has won numerous titles at County, Munster, National and International level both in discus and javelin. Her current personal best of over 37m ranks her as the top Irish thrower in her age group. The Margaret Radley Geography Award was won by Chloe Lawlor who proudly accepted her prize from sisters, Denise and Angela Radley. Being lucky, she said, or being in the right place at the right time, does not come into it. I have been working at perfecting my skills as an Irish dancer since I was three and a half years old, she continued, and I still am to this day! Throughout my school days I went to classes every week, a feis every Sunday and when my homework was done every evening, dance practice had to commence. Luck does play a part but not to the degree that people think. Describing her exciting, but demanding career, she took the audience around the world to the many places she performed in both Riverdance and later, Ragus. She spoke of her having to surmount deficiencies in her feet which might have prevented her dancing at all; the agony of rehearsing for hour after hour until her feet almost bled, until she finally succeeded in getting an audition for Riverdance and eventually a role as dancer. Her big moment arrived with a post-audition phone call from Riverdance Director, John McColgan who offered her a part in the up-coming US show full time. There are moments of sheer joy in your life time and this one of those for me! With my parents consent and I think I can safely say, delight they allowed me at sixteen years of age to move to London to train in the Hammersmith Apollo and subsequently tour America. Several years later, while in the Broadway Show or The Shannon Company as it was known to us she was asked to become Dance Captain. This entailed the management of about 30 dancers, liasing with production stage management, company management, the Dublin office, the executive producer and so on. So here I was at just twenty, in Riverdance, managing a Broadway cast and answerable and accountable for the dancers highest performance level each night. Easy right?
Addressing the students directly, Paula told the girls that they had all of the tools necessary to do what you want, all you need to do now is get up and do it or at least give it your all because from working at one thing, even if that 'thing' fails it will lead to another, perhaps better than before. But rest assured there is no easy way. The key to my success has been passion, she said, hard work and perseverance. If I had listened to all of the medics that told me I shouldn't be dancing, my life, I'm sure, would be very different today. I have a lot more to achieve, I hope I am just getting started and I wish all of you the very best on your journey. Concluding the evening, School Principal, Mrs Dorothy Hughes thanked Paula for her most interesting story and inspirational words. She thanked the many people who had helped to make the evening such a success and also the many who contribute to the school in a variety of ways through the school year. I am very proud of our students and their achievements she said. I am proud of our staff who not only prepare our students so well in an academic sense for their adult life, but also offer such a wonderfully broad range of extra- curricular activities which enrich our students lives and enhance their self- esteem and self-confidence. We enjoy working together and I thank everyone for the valuable contribution they continue to make. She also paid generous tribute to the many sponsors without whom the ceremony would have been far less elaborate. The evening concluded with excellent refreshments provided by the Parents Council. |
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