Ennistymon school energised by second Green Flag

THE pupils and staff of Mol an Óige Steiner National School in Ennistymon will raise the school’s second Green Flag this Friday at 2pm in the company of parents, friends and guests, as part of the school’s Harvest Festival.

The guest of honour will be school neighbour, Vera Hynes, who will raise the Energy Green Flag. A native of Ballyvaskin, Miltown Malbay, Mrs Hynes has lived at Glencree, beside the entrance to the Falls Hotel, for almost 60 years.

“Vera is a neighbour of the school and a familiar face to all the children. She is always ready to come and tell the children stories of the history of Ennistymon and we are very honoured that she has agreed to raise our Green Flag,” said Green Schools co-ordinator at Mol an Óige National School, Máire Nunan.

Mrs Hynes said she is delighted to take up the invitation.

“I am highly honoured that I was asked to do this. Five or six of the pupils and a teacher came to the house with a card made out inviting me along to raise the flag. I thanked them for the invitation and I feel very honoured,” she told The Clare Champion.

“They have invited me over to the school on different occasions. They are lovely kids and teachers. I get on very well with them. I miss them when they are on vacation. I love to hear the laughter and playing and they are all very nice,” Mrs Hynes added.

The octogenarian noted the importance of sharing information about the local area and its history with primary school children but added that she doesn’t do all the talking.

“We are always chatting. I pass the school several times a day and they come over to me and we have a chat, just children’s talk. They are great company,” Mrs Hynes said.

During the past two school years, the children have worked on the theme of energy, how to conserve energy, saving money and protecting the environment at the same time. They have also explored renewable energy, solar, wind, water and bio-fuels.

The children visited the ESB Electricity Generation Station in Kilrush and a local renewable water turbine system as part of their work on the theme.

The next Green Flag theme for the school is water and the children are already full of ideas about how they will explore this.

On Friday at 1pm, children from fifth and sixth class will demonstrate what they have learned about the rocks and geology of the Burren with some outdoor displays.

They will be joined by Eamon Doyle, geologist with the Burren and Cliffs of Moher Geopark, who helped the children in their studies using the Stone, Water and Ice educational resource published by the Burren Connect Project.

Past pupils, their families, families of current pupils, neighbours and the wider school community are invited to attend the event.