Swim A Mile

On Wednesday our year took part in Swim a Mile in the National Aquatic Center. We were raising money for The Ian Daly Foundation, who work with children affected by cancer, and had had a few talks beforehand on what the organisation does. The charity is named after Ian Daly, a young boy who died of cancer age 11. To find out more about the charity and the work they do, visit http://www.mycharity.ie/event/the-daly-family-event/

A few days before the swim, I went around to my neighbours and friends asking for sponsorship. I had managed to raise 40 euro, and was excited to do the swim. On Wednesday, we arrived at the National Aquatic Center at around ten o'clock, then got changed into our swimming gear. Me and seven other girls had originally planned to split the mile between us, but when we got there we decided to do it in groups of four and rise to the challenge. I was in a group with Laura, Kathleen and Molly. We were all really excited to start.

We had planned to do sixteen lengths each, but when it came down to it, we had completed the mile well within the time limit and decided to do a second one. I was really happy with myself afterwards, and it felt great to have raised money and contributed to such a worthy cause. I'm definitely going to do it next year!



We got out of the pool and were given special t-shirts. We had our photos taken and ran back inside to get dry. Afterwards, we went to Blanchardstown for some food and shopping time. I enjoyed my day so much- it was definitely one of the highlights of the year.

Next week is a busy one- we've got Sports Day on Monday, Sci Fest on Tuesday and our TY Retreat on Wednesday. Our science group have been putting the finishing touches on our project this week. We had to develop it more as we had already entered it into the Young Scientist, so decided to find out in which type of music First Years learn better. Our Science teacher Ms Ward taught two lessons to her First Year class, one with rock music playing in the background and one with classical. She then made up a short 14 question test for them to answer on the lesson. Needless to say, they all did a lot better with the classical music! It was really interesting to see how they reacted to the tests, as it is unusual to have music playing in the background of a class.

:)

Another Week...

My last day at work experience was a great one. I start properly working there on Saturday, so Debbie, my supervisor, was showing me all the little things that have to be done in the morning and evening when the restaurant opens. I got in at nine thirty as usual and put my apron on to start work. I washed and sliced potatoes to make chips, as I usually do in the mornings. I really like this job as its not too difficult and a good skill to have. Afterwards, I washed dishes, sliced tomatoes and mushrooms, cleaned the kitchen units and the ovens, and helped prepare the food. At lunch Alan the chef made me lasagna, and I went out the front to eat it.

In the afternoon I spent most of my time waitressing,cleaning and organizing out front. Debbie told me how things were run on the weekends. She was also telling me that a lot of famous people seem to come into the cafe, as many of them fly their private jets into the airport! I cleared tables, took orders and made sure the customers were happy until four. I'm looking forward to going in on the weekend, as the staff there are so nice, and I'll have a chance to meet new people.

On Tuesday evening, me and a few other girls from my year participated in a Spanish quiz in Dublin. I had only found out about it at Tuesday lunchtime, so didn't really know what to expect. We got the bus from the school at five and Ms Macken, who came with us, brought lots of treats for the bus. We picked up King's Hospital on the way who had won the year before. They brought a very intimidating trophy with them onto the bus! 

We arrived at the school at around half six, paid our entrance fee and were led into the main hall where all the tables were laid out. We were all kind of nervous, as we didn't know what to expect. The quiz was on Spain, and there were questions on geography, history and culture. I think we all enjoyed ourselves a lot, even though our team didn't do amazingly (...) We even got refreshments in the middle, so that definitely made the night for me!

Kings Hospital won again, so on the bus on the way home we all ordered pizza and stopped off at Apache, I had a great time and will definitely go again next year, although I might prepare myself more next time!

:)

Work Experience,Projects and Hip Hop

This week was my second last week at work experience. I got it at nine thirty as usual and got to work cleaning, preparing food and waitressing. This has to be my favourite work experience , as I am never bored and always have something to do. My supervisor Debbie offered me a job as well, which I started last week. I can't wait!

This week, we've also been preparing for TY Night, which is on Monday 25th April. We've been practicing songs to perform in Irish and Music, and have been getting all our projects ready. We will be presenting them on the night, and also showing our music videos that we made a few months ago.

I'm really enjoying all the projects we have to do at the moment- especially our geography projects. Our challenge is to go on an around the world trip, spending only 12,000 per person. We must visit two First World Countries, two Second World and two Third World Countries. I'm doing my project with Michaela (so we have 24,000 to spend which is a bit better), and we have decided to go to Denmark, Hungary, Nepal, Mongolia, Japan, and Zimbabwe. I really enjoy doing this project, as we have to plan out all the flight, food and travel costs. After my trip to Nepal, I've decided to do a lot of travelling when I leave school, and maybe go back and volunteer in the hospital. The trip has definitely been my favourite experience of TY and has changed my perspective on a lot of things.

We've also been doing Hip-Hop instead of P.E. for the last few weeks. This has been an interesting experience, as I'm not the best dancer-but I've been enjoying it a lot. We're getting a dance ready for TY night, and its going really well.

:)

Last week of March

Yesterday we had the music night. Laura, Ciara, Michaela, Emma and I were performing our TY Band, and Michaela and I were given a slot at the last moment. I was also helping backstage with Michaela and Aislinn and some of the fifth years. We spent the whole day down in the hall setting the equipment and the chairs, and going through rehearsals.

I arrived at seven and went backstage to get everything organised. The clock struck 7:30,and we were off. The night flew by, and all the performances were great. My favourite was the choir who went last, as we had been practicing our piece since the beginning of the year and were very proud to perform it. Everyone enjoyed it loads and we had a really great time. I can't wait for next year!



St Wolstan's Choir performing at Wesley

This morning we had our first hip hop class. Our class Belle were split up, so we were doing it with class Aurora. I really didn't know what to expect beforehand, but ended up having a great time. We are working on a routine to perform at TY Night, and it's going really well.



:)

Scifest and Selma

This last week was a very busy one. Friday was SciFest day, which we had been looking forward to for a while. We went down to the hall at nine o'clock and started setting up our projects. As we had already done our project for the Young Scientist, all we needed to do was put a few finishing touches to our project and we were done.

The judges came into the hall and started looking around and evaluating people's projects. We had prepared what we were going to say before and had a video of us doing our tests in the primary schools. The judges seemed really interested in what we had to say. We came first in the end, which was great, and each got a 20 euro One For All voucher.

On Monday the Minor hockey finals were on (!) and all the TYs went along to support the team. We piled onto the buses at twelve and arrived in just in time for the match to start. Unfortunately, we didn't win, but the team played well and we had a really fun time supporting them.

On Tuesday, the TY's went to see Selma in Liffey Valley with our History teachers. I was looking forward to this a lot as I hadn't seen the film a lot and am doing History for Leaving Cert. The film was amazing - very hard-hitting and it really made you think. There may have been a few tears shed, but I enjoyed it a lot and thought that it should have definitely been nominated for at least one Oscar. David Oyewolo who played Martin Luther King was especially brilliant.

On Wednesday I did my third day of Work Experience at the Weston Restaurant in Lucan. I have been working as a general kitchen assistant and waitress- I basically do a lot of cleaning! As soon as I got in I had to chop and wash potatoes and make chips. I also made scones, washed dishes, scrubbed and swept the floors and cleaned the kitchen units. It was a busy day! I'm enjoying this work experience a lot as I'm never bored and I've been able to learn new things and develop skills. It's hard work, but it pays off.

:)

Update!

I didn't get to blog about it last week, but we all went to the Briory Gap Competition in Mullingar to perform our English play. We had been preparing for this for a while now and were all really excited to get going with it.

Our play was called Willow. It centered around the idea of William Shakespeare being a girl. She can't think of an idea for her new play, and get transported forward in time to World War Two. There, she sees how cruelly the Jewish people are treated, and get inspired to write the Merchant of Venice.

At 9 o'clock our year assembled in the hall and got on the bus. We had a minor crisis beforehand when we couldn't find the sound CD (gasp) but we found a spare copy and set off.

We arrived in Mullingar around ten to find that we were the first play on. After scrabbling to find costumes and get ready in time, we were ready to go. As the director, I was up in the sound box with the sound guys and had to organize that. It went by really fast, and we were really happy with it.

This week we had our Mini Company deadline and had to present our report and display in front of the judges. We all set up the displays in the hall and waited for the judges to come around and talk to us. Our group was really nervous about this, but during and afterwards we thought it went really well and ended up enjoying ourselves a lot. IProtect and BAM Beauty were the two groups chosen to get through - they will be competing in the County Final in March. Our Mini Company, Seem, had brought in all our products to display and although we didn't get through, we had loads of fun!
 
This week was also my last at JamMedia. I ended up meeting some other people on work experience there and chatting to them, which was great. I was learning how to use different video editing software- I've been using it to edit our music video as well.

This is the last day of school before the midterm- I seriously can't wait! I am going to Nepal with a charity called Nepal Leprosy Trust over Easter, so have a lot of preparation to do. I'm going out as their official photographer and will be taking photos and videos of the work they do out there. We will also be visiting villages and towns surrounding the hospital we're staying in, and spending a few nights in Kathmandu. I am ridiculously excited about this- its an incredible once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I have a feeling its going to be ten life changing days.
To find out more about NLT and the work they do, visit:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCnldfHgKzw

:)

Elf, Young Scientist and Work Experience

On the 17th of December TY went to see Elf the Musical in the Bord Gais Theatre in Dublin. I was so excited as I love musicals and haven't been to that many. I was also interested in finding out how the musical would translate to the stage, as I don't really like the movie version.
We arrived at the Bord Gais and stocked up on sweets and drinks. 

 

The place was packed. . As the curtain was raised you could cut the anticipation with a knife. As they rolled the first set into place I knew that it would be a great show. I absolutely loved it- the sets, costumes, singing and acting were all amazing. The lead actor Ben Forster who played Buddy was incredible. I had a brilliant time with my friends and can't wait to go to another musical!

On January 7th Eimear, Amy and I went to the RDS in Dublin to set up our Young Scientist Project. The project, called 'Ideal Conditions for Learning', had been months in the making. We got up at half six in the morning and drove to the Young Scientist for nine. The place was just being set up as we arrived. We were given our student passes at the door, and were handed manuals and bags as we walked in. We then found our stall number and made our way to our stall number 1538. Our poster was set up and we organised our display, then walked around to look at the other projects. There were some really good ones. In the afternoon, we went to the opening ceremony. An irish band called Street Lights were playing, a dance group performed and a gymnast did tricks on a rope.Afterwards, we had our first round of judging. That went really well and the judge was thorough and asked us loads of questions. 
On the second day we arrived at nine again. Our school was coming in to see the projects, and I had lots of fun showing my friends around and going to the shows. We also had our second round of judging in the afternoon. Friday was the closing ceremony. We got a highly commended, which we were really proud of, and we went to a karaoke night in the evening which was hilarious. We packed up our project on Saturday, and Aimee and I went to the farewell disco. Overall it was an amazing experience, and I can't wait to apply for it again next year.

Wednesday was my second day at JamMedia. I took the bus at half nine into Dublin, not wearing a uniform as there was none specified. My work experience started at half ten, so I walked around Grafton Street for a bit before heading to Kevin St. When I got in, I told the receptionist my name and she introduced me to my supervisor Kieron. He gave me a basic outline of what I would be doing, took me upstairs to the offices and gave me a computer and a tablet for drawing on. He told me that today would be about learning how to use Photoshop and getting used to drawing on a screen with an interactive pen. I spent the morning experimenting with Photoshop and drawing with the tablet. It was really interesting, as I could hear the other people in the office animating different sections of programs I was familiar, and I got to know the different jobs in the office-Art Director etc. I had lunch at one and got back at two. During the afternoon I learnt how to 'mask' objects in Photoshop- removed the background from the image. This was great fun and I was able to mess around with that for the afternoon.  I'm really excited about going back next week.

:)