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Darren Smith, Hugh Crean (left), with Kevin O’Donnell, Mary Hennessy and Mikey Moynihan, all students from Mean Scoil Nua an Leith Triuigh in Castlegregory, won the ‘Senior ECO-Community Development Award’ at the Young Environmentalist Awards in the Royal Convention Centre last week. Photo: Michelle Breen Crean Photography
MEÁN Scoil Nua an Leith Triuigh students came home victorious winning two national awards at the Eco-UNESCO Young Environmentalist Awards ceremony which was held at the Royal Convention Centre in Dublin on Wednesday May 15.
Fixing Fashion, Cop Castlegregory, Solar Soldiers and Eco-Empire-Expanded were chosen and invited to showcase their projects at the event and present to a panel of judges on the day.
250 projects entered the competition last October, and 150 were shortlisted after the semi-finals and invited to attend the national finals in Dublin. There were 12 categories, and a Junior and Senior winner in each category.
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Ms O’Dowd who helped the students prepare for the competition revealed, ‘two of our teams came first in the senior category, and we are so proud of their achievements’.
Katie Crean, Ciara Ferriter, Ciara Butler, Emma Garvey, Stephanie Reid, Reuben Wall, Daniel O’Mahony and Charlie Gillan came home with the senior award for Fixing Fashion.
Students from Mean Scoil Nua an Leith Triuigh in Castlegregory, Emma Garvey, Ciara Butler, Ciara Ferriter, Stephanie Reid and Katie Crean, are national award winners after successfully taking the ‘Senior Waste Award’ title with their ‘Fixing Fashion’ project at the Young Environmentalist Awards in the Royal Convention Centre, Dublin last week. Photo: Michelle Breen Crean Photography
Ms O’Dowd explained that the group spent the past year holding swap shops in school and raising awareness about fast fashion and the harmful impact for our environment. They also held a shoe-drive in which they collected pre-loved shoes for export for children in Africa.
Agricultural science teacher, Mr. Begley, commended the students for their dedication and commitment to sustainability and conservation.
Hugh Crean, Darren Smith, Dylan Harrington, Kevin O’Donnell, Mary Francis Hennessy, Michael Moynihan, Luke Power and Calvin Griffin won the senior award for Eco-Community Development.
This past year the students have built a pond for wildlife, secured a container to store all of our gardening equipment and they took care of the polytunnel, repairing storm damage and adding three raised beds for ease of use for students to grow vegetables.
Solar Soldiers and Cop Castlegregory were also finalists at the awards and represented the school and themselves on the national stage with confidence and poise.
Solar Soldiers made up of Lucy Finn, Máire Flynn, Alanah Whelan, Kelly O’Connor, and Lily O’Connor, Ronan Harty, Abbie O’Neill and Caoimhe Ní Shuilleabhain secured the first batch of solar panels for our school, while Cop Castlegregory, Chloe Fitzgerald, Saoirse McCarthy and Anna Roberts advised local businesses on how to become more environmentally friendly by introducing new initiatives and ideas to their premises.
Principal, Ms Karen Blennerhassett pointed out the significance of the win. “We are a small school in rural West Kerry, and yet we came home with two out of 12 senior titles in a competition which was open to the entire island of Ireland. The work that went on this year and the variety of projects just shows the passion and dedication of our students and our teaching staff, who go above and beyond the call of duty for our students. Our school is small but has a big heart and soul. Our students have shown true diligence and passion for our environment, and the future is very bright for these young individuals.”
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