Scoil Mhuire girls scoop President’s Award

MINISTER for Defence Tony Killeen visited Scoil Mhuire Ennistymon recently as 30 transition-year students were presented with bronze President’s Award at their end-of-year celebrations.

This award is Ireland’s National Challenge Award, the country’s most prestigious and respected individual award programme, and a challenge from the President of Ireland to young people between 15 and 25 years of age. There are three different types of award that can be earned – bronze, silver and gold. The bronze award, achieved by the girls, was earned over a six-month period.
To earn the awards, the students had to take part in four different activity areas and agree a challenge in each. The skill they chose was computers, in the category of community they chose helping the elderly, swimming was their physical challenge and they organised a two-day hike under the heading of adventure.
There is no competition involved. Once the challenge is successfully achieved, the participant earns an award. Each participant is striving to achieve her personal best and the hours of endeavour and effort to earn the award are measured. The purpose of the award is to encourage a young person to set a demanding challenge and then to persevere with achieving this challenge. The award challenges young people to examine what they are capable of achieving during a given time period. Perseverance and dedication were the personal qualities the girls called on in order to earn the award and as a result, they have been encouraged to better themselves and others.
Scoil Mhuire transition years, Aoife Shannon and Kristine Callinan, were selected from Clare to take part in a four-day adventure journey as part of the Gaisce Awards. They will be taken by the Defence Forces along with 26 other students from around Ireland to the Wicklow Mountains.
Minister Killeen told the girls that they were very lucky to have had such a wide and varied range of activities and opportunities open to them in the Scoil Mhuire transition-year programme and he assured them that it would stand to them in their Leaving Cert preparation.