Swim a Mile with a Smile!

On Friday, the 19th of April 2013 all us TY's and the LCVP students participated in the Ian Daly, Swim a Mile with a Smile! It is a charity swim for Child Cancer Care and half the money raised from Sponsorship goes to Our Lady's Children's Hospital, Crumlin and Barretstown. This year marked the 10th Anniversary for the swim.   

That morning we all came into school with our P.E tracksuits on and ready to swim! We organised ourselves into different groups and each group had a counter, to count the amount of lengths every team does. Our team was myself, Juliette, Ciara and Lauren was our counter. When we arrived at the National Aquatic Centre we had a brief talk from Brian Daly and then it was time to swim, swim, swim!! 

When we got out onto the banks of the pool we all began our swim, we all did really well and had a really great time! I was so tired after the first few (I'm not the fittest!) but then took a quick break and got into the groove of it! We did a good bit over a mile and we were all delighted! After the swim, we all got Swim a Mile t-shirts and got a big group picture.

After a change of clothes( some quicker than others) we headed over to Blanchardstown Shopping Centre for a bit of shopping and some food! It was really good fun! We all had a great time.

I really enjoyed Swim a Mile and it made you feel really good because you are doing something good for charity and it helps you get fit too!

Ho Hey, Hall of Fame and I Follow Rivers ....

                       St. Wolstan's Community School presents its Annual Music Night!

This week, we had quite a busy week! We had our Music Night! Which always promises to be a great night full of music and fun! As TY's we all wanted to do our Music teachers proud and raise the roof! Us, Class Síocháin had a medley of songs to sing. It began with Ho Hey by The Lumineers, then it went into The Hall of Fame by The Script and then finally into I Follow Rivers by Lykke Li! I was personally very excited to this medley because I love The Lumineers and I like the song I Follow Rivers(it's so catchy!) The other two classes were really good too! Cairdeas sang the song Hello, but it was really cool because they put in claps and stamps which was really amazing! Cinealtas had an Ed Sheeran medley to sing, it was really beautiful to listen too. I really love Ed Sheeran so I especially enjoyed that! The week coming up to the Music Night was filled with rehearsal rehearsal rehearsal! Especially the Thursday, just a matter of hours before the show was on! We were all told the dress-code, black appropriate clothing. We were not on til the second half so we had some time to hang around the first year mall and have a sing-song, which was personally my favourite part of the night but poor Ms.H had to endure our singing which I am afraid to say was probably out of tune at best, but it was fun none the less.  When we took to the stage all went well and we did great if I do say so myself! I was glad to have the opportunity to partake in the Night and had a great night!

Over and Out,

Corrie!

A Week of Fun!

Another week of TY has flown by in a flash! It began with double Art, first class on a Monday morning! Ms.O'S had us work on our cassette pictures. Mine isn't very good to be perfectly honest, Art is not my strong point at all! We played badminton in P.E too, I was kinda bad at that too! Later that day in double Science we got a new teacher, Ms.K, we are doing a Biology module now and it sounds like fun, we will be learning about  Genetics and Evolution! 

On Tuesday we had double Tech. with Mr.W and it was really fun! We had a great discussion about Les Misérables, it was quite fascinating really!  We had English too and we looked at The Artist, it is such a good movie! I love it so much!  I also had double Home Ec. and we made Thai Curry! It was so nice and really tasty!

Thursday, we had a trip to Trinity College for a talk by Intel. It was really good and fun! We learned about engineers and how in the future 75% of all jobs will be in either Tech or Science! I found this really cool as I want to go into the Science field when I'm older! When we got back we had Mini. Co. and we watched The Apprentice, it was really good and we saw how the other people branded there cereals!

Then it was Friday and so far today we had Maths which was fun because we are going things on Statistics so we got to count sweets and then eat them! I enjoyed the second part immensely!! We also found out we got awards for our drama, we got the adjudicators award for best atmosphere and  we we came runner up too! We also finished watching the Pursuit of Happiness! It was class! We got a talk from Ian Daly too, it was about how Swim a Mile came about, it was a sad story but it was quite inspirational too!

To Macroom and Beyond .... !!

Well, our drama get through to the Cork Finals of The Briery Gap Drama Competition. Our play was about Homelessness in today's society, how quickly life can change and karma. Basically, a really rich family that look down on homeless people end up on the streets. But disaster struck, the Wesley Choir Competition and Sci-Fest in Schools was on the same day! People had to decide which one they were going to attend and a lot of changing and swapping roles happened with just a small about of panic. In the end we had enough people to fill the roles! It was quite an experience in itself! We practiced everyday and got lots of great advice off all the teachers. So, at just after half eleven on Friday, we packed up the mini bus and we off to Macroom in Cork. It was a long journey but we had sugar and our i-pods so it was really fun, we all felt sorry for Ms.G and Ms.C who  very kindly agreed to accompany us because they had to listen to our out of tune and quite awful singing! When we arrived in the Briery Gap theater some of the girls got a bit nervous, it was really funny (at the time it wasn't funny but thinking back on it now it is!) we had a mini crisis with the music and lighting but it all went grand thanks to the lads from KH who helped us out in our little panic. Also, Ms. C helped us greatly with our transitions and which side of the stage we had to be on! The play itself went good (I think, I hope) after our drama it was time to hit the road again! It was a good bus journey home! We stopped in McDonald's and everything! As well, Ciara, Ciara and I told ghost stories as it was dark, it was really funny and to be one hundred per cent honest I was a tinchy bit freaked out, but I am kinda a coward when it comes to things like that! When we finally got into Kildare, we hit traffic and had to go the back roads back to Celbridge! We arrived home at about eight thirty! It was such a great day and one of the best experiences of TY, I would recommend anyone to try and enter if they can! It's just the best!
Over and Out,
Corrie!!

From Djembe to Lollipops!

It's Monday, the first day back after Mid-Term and we had a Djembe Workshop! It was the best fun ever! Dave, the instructor showed us all different types of Djembe drums and how to play the Djembe drum! It was really fun to get to see different West African culture. We started off with how to hit the skin of the drum properly without getting our hands sore, its all about making a triangle with your hands! Then we did a call and drummed out a rhythm and did cool little hand movements! After that we got a more difficult rhythm and added more instruments into the mix and Dave gave out traditional West African hats! It was a really great day and we all had a blast!

On Friday, we had another brilliant day! We got to collect for Lollipop Day, who are campaigning for the Oesphagael  Cancer Fund in Ireland. It was really good to do because we got to help a great cause. Myself, Ciara and Juliette we together in a group. We were kitted out in a Lollipop Day t-shirt and a Cap we also had two buckets that had pink balloons on them! We were then sent out, our group was on the corner of Molesworth Street and Dawson Street! People were so generous and friendly towards us! It was really nice to see people give money to such  a worthy cause. 

Mullingar and More!

The week began on Monday, with a double class Art with Ms.O'S that morning. We drew horses , to try and show us that we can actually draw. I found this very challenging!  In Irish with Ms.B we looked at a poem called "Mo Ghra -Sa" it was a really interesting poem! It is a bit of a mock of love poems, it talks about how he isn't beautiful looking but it's okay! We had double Science too and we looked at our Sci-Fest Project. We had History too and we looked at the American Civil War.

Tuesday was when the real fun began! We had worked for weeks on our Drama in Religion and the day had finally come for us to perform our play! We arrived in school at the usual time with all our props in tow! We got on the bus and about 40 minutes later we had arrived at Mullingar Arts Centre for the Briery Gap Drama Competition! There was a mix of nervous and excited energy in the air. When we got there we were shown to our room and we all got changed into our costumes and checked out the stage! Next up, we headed to McDonalds as a class and it was really nice as it was good to have some time as a class but not in school the whole time! We also saw the Joe Dolan statue! When we got back, we watched another schools drama, it was about Murder! Then we all got together and practiced, practiced, practiced! In our class there was 2 separate dramas, the one on the effects of war and homelessness in society! First up, was the War drama The girls did so well and we were all so proud of them! Then our group was up, I had to introduce the play and because a girl was absent I filled in for her! It was a small bit scary but we all enjoyed it immensely! After our drama, the judge gave us a bit of feedback and then we all got changed back into our uniforms. Then some of the girls went to the park but some of us decided to say  behind, we watched the other schools dramas and talked to all the people from different schools and some drama society's too! At about 2 we loaded up the bus and headed home, but on the way to the bus we all get drenched a the sky opened above us! All in all it was a pretty epic day and we all really enjoyed it!!


Wednesday we had work experience!

On Thursday, we started to watch The Pursuit of Happyness, to highlight poverty in life. We also had a Mini Co, meeting and have decided it's time to close up shop and just be happy with the stuff we have done so far! We also had English with Ms.W and she brought us down to the library to have a reading session!


Friday, We watched Contaigon in Geography and we were all freaked out by the amount of germs everywhere! We had double Design too and we worked on our our Teddy Bears! It was great!

Over and Out,
Corrie!

The BT Young Scientist and Technologist Exhibition 2013!

On Wednesday the 9th of January 2013 until Saturday the 12th, Myself, Aisling and Lauren competed in the BT Young Scientist and Technologist Exhibition. Our project was on The Effects of School Bags on the Shoulders, Neck and Spine.

The lead up to the Exhibition was a bit hectic! On the Monday we had a bit of a mishap, we had misplaced the results of one of our experiments! Luckily, we were able to re-do our experiment so our mini-crisis was averted! Then on Tuesday we put the finishing touches to our display!

Wednesday was when the real fun began! It was our first day in the RDS! When we arrived there we had our first task, which was to set up our display! The lovely Red Coats helped us stick up our A0 poster, we also had a bag filled with books, a tablet and the best part of our display was a skeleton, we named Ed, who had a Kermit the Frog school bag on! Next up, we had the Opening Ceremony! It was really cool because there was a performance by The Heather's and Colm O'Neill(the CEO of BT) gave a speech too!We also had our first judging which was a bit scary but we got through it! Later on that day we just scoped the place out and meet lots of new people. For the Entertainment later on there was a disco in the Concert Hall.

Thursday was an epic day! All the TYs and Second Years from Wolstan's came to the RDS and it was great  getting to see everyone! We also had our second judging which was nerve wracking but it was all okay! We had several interviews with different newspapers and radio stations and talked to different politicians! For a while we walked around the whole Exhibition and we got lots of free goodies! We got yo-yo's from EPA, we got notebooks, wrist bands, rulers, folders and stickers from Foras na Gaeilge and so many other things! There was also a cool stand set up by the Irish Medicines Board and it was about the dangers of buying tablets over the internet! It was really interesting! We also looked at loads of projects too! Later on that night  as part of our Entertainment we had a massive table quiz! Our team came fourth!

On Friday we had an exciting day! We had an interview with RTE and we were on the news! It was quite embarrassing to see it back! But it was so fun to do! We also got our photo taken with Michael Martin whci was fun! And Of Course, the Awards Ceremony was on Friday too! The girls from Kinsale won overall and I have to say they deserved it! Their project was incredible and if I'm completely honest I don't really understand it! After the Ceremony we found out we got a little Display award (I think Ed did it for us) Later on that night for our Students Entertainment Club we had karaoke and a disco! It was really fun !

Saturday was the last day of the BTYSE, we went to go see Titan the Robot in the Robot show! He was so cool! He even squirted water out of his eyes! Our Science teacher Ms. W even popped into to say hello and see how we were doing, which was really nice of her! I have to say we were all sad to see the Young Scientist end and we all had to say goodbye! It was really saddening! When we were leaving we all got BT stickers! We also had a big farewell disco in the BT Arena! It was amazing!

The Young Scientist really was the most incredible experience of my life! I had such a good time and have made so many new friends from all across the country! Its something I will never forget, even in a million years! 

Thank you to all the people that helped us with our project, especially Ms.W for all her encouragement and help!

Over and Out,

Corrie! :D