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Ard Scoil na nDéise "Reaching our Potential with Respect, Care and Friendship" |
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All-Ireland Medals, Lucy Holmes to Represent Ireland, Etiquette, Grow It Yourself, Academic Scholarship 7th March 2016
All-Ireland Cross Country Championship Medals Friday last 12 students along with Miss Flavin travelled to Sligo to compete in the All-Ireland Schools Cross Country Championships. It is a huge achievement in itself to qualify, as the standard of Cross Country is so high. Many of the girls’ heroes such as Sonia o Sullivan and Catherina McKiernan first made their name in this competition. The first race of the day was the Minor girls’ race. We had one competitor in this race and Mary Kate Prendergast had one of her best races this season to finish 25th out of 130 athletes. Well done Mary Kate! The senior girls’ team suffered a setback during the week with Kate Mc Grath obtaining an injury playing a match. We wish Kate a speedy recovery. Well done to Sinead O’ Brien, Laura Cusack, Grace Heffernan and Melissa Gallant on yet another marvellous run. It really was one of the toughest courses the girls have run to date. Last but no means least our Junior girls’ team stole the show on the day. This Junior team had just won Munster 2 weeks ago, so high hopes were set on the team doing well. Each and every member of the team upped their game and ran the race of their lives. The team finished 2nd overall, just missing out on 1st place by 7 points. The team was made up of Lucy Holmes, Kate Hickey, Sarah Lacey, Aoife O’ Brien, Aoife Dee and Orla Keane. Anne McGrath was on stand-by as substitute, just in case! To top the day off the medals were presented to the girls by Sonia O Sullivan. Congratulations girls! This was truly a marvellous achievement. The girls were the only Munster team to receive medals on the day. That in itself shows what a high standard the girls were running at and what an achievement it is to receive an All-Ireland Medal.
Lucy Holmes to Represent Ireland Lucy Holmes finished 5th overall in Cross Country and she now goes on to represent Ireland in Scotland in 2 weeks’ time. Congratulations Lucy, your hard work and training truly paid off.
We wish Lucy the very best of luck in Scotland in 2 weeks’ time. You have done us all proud! We are most grateful to Ms Flavin who has put in so much time helping the girls and accompanying them on the long trip to Sligo, Mrs Ashe who organised the accommodation and all the parents who travelled such a long distance to support the students. The Parents’ Council sponsored a set of beautiful half-zips for each of the students, to mark their special achievement. Etiquette
Kate Breslin and Brenda Hyland Beirne of BKInniÚ came to our school on Wednesday 2nd and Thursday 3rd of March to help us improve our life skills, manners and style. The morning consisted of an ice-breaker to help us settle in and get to know Kate and Brenda better. After that, we learned about etiquette in life, such as respect in a relationship and how to behave in a restaurant. We also learned how to set a table for fine dining and how to fold a napkin. After lunch, we moved to the style section of the day. We learned about dress code, such as black tie events. We also learned about unofficial dress codes, such as what to wear to an interview. They also trained us in deportment; how to walk with your shoulders back and your feet turned out and how to sit properly with your ankles crossed. We brought in high heels and were taught how to walk properly in them. To make things more exciting, we had to place a book on our head and walk without it falling off. This encouraged us to keep our shoulders back and our head up. At the end of the day, we found out about our individual skin tone and what colours suit each skin tone. We learned how to look after our skin and how to apply makeup the correct way to suit each person’s skin. We had a chance to paint our nails and we received tips on nail care. To finish the day off, we received a really nice exfoliating hand moisturiser that left our hands feeling unbelievably smooth and soft. It was a really beneficial and interesting and not what we expected at all! Kate and Brenda gave us tips that we will carry through life with us! Denise Murray & Amy Reynolds, Transition Year Grow It Yourself What is social enterprise? Social Enterprise is any organization that uses interactive tactics to help improve our world today. This is developed by people within a community, or amongst people with a shared interest. This Friday March 4th we were lucky enough to have Michael Kelly from Waterford to speak to us about his business called Grow It Yourself. Both Transition Year classes already know It was very interesting and beneficial to our knowledge of the business. Michael told us that after he finished school he went to University of Limerick to study Business for four years. Afterwards he went to work in I.T. for ten years, but he didn’t like his job. He didn’t wake up in the morning and get excited about work, he couldn’t wait to come home at 5:30 every evening. Michael had an inner voice that told him he wanted to do something to help society or make an impact of some sort on the world, but he didn’t quite know exactly what it was that he wanted to focus on. When Michael was speaking to us about his inner voice he told us that he admires Wayne Dyer and a quote by him: “Don’t die with your music still in you” Michael encouraged us to fulfil our life goals and dreams and said that if you are passionate about something, do it. His passion started when one day Michael was grocery shopping and he saw some garlic. It was Chinese garlic and it played on his mind how something so small was imported to Ireland from China. He thought why isn’t the garlic produced in Ireland? Michael got his inspiration from this to start his “Jobby” (Job/Hobby). Michael decided to start growing garlic at home even though he knew absolutely nothing about growing food. On Michael’s first attempt he actually planted the bulb of garlic upside-down On his second attempt he planted them correctly and let them grow for six months until he saw the leaves turn brown and dug them up assuming they were dead, only to find ten lovely garlic bulbs under the compost! He felt a great sense of achievement when he saw he had successfully grown his own garlic. Michael put two and two together, he wanted to make a difference to society and start getting people to eat food grown in Ireland, not just imported goods. Michael set up a business called Grow It Yourself (GIY) in different communities around the South East area. It was difficult at first because Michael and the few other members did not know how to spread the business idea, how would they get the money to set it up? They had two options; set GIY up as a charity or set it up as a business. Michael got sponsorship from Woodies DIY and slowly started the business. They started to sell seeds, tools and books on their online website. GIY not only wanted to benefit the older groups but also helped the young. Michael went to primary schools around the South East to help them grow fruit and vegetables in their classrooms, to help youngsters understand where food comes from, that it doesn’t just appear in the supermarkets. This was all sponsored by Innocent Drinks. Michael showed us how to think of Business in a more passionate way and we admire his self motivation skills and being a success in making a change to society. If I took anything away from this it would be that everyone’s idea is a good idea no matter how small, it can grow. Rachel Bumster, Transition Year Academic Scholarship Congratulations to Laura Duggan who sat her Leaving Certificate at Ard Scoil na nDéise in 2015. Laura, who is studying for a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Sports Rehabilitation and Athletic Therapy, has been awarded an Academic Scholarship for 2015/2016 by the Institute of Technology, Carlow. Well done, Laura! |
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