TWO groups from Mercy Mounthawk are taking part in the Young Social Innovators competition this year.

The project entries from the Transition Year students are ‘Sunny Souls’ and ‘Measure Your Pressure’ teams. Young Social Innovators (YSI) is a Social Innovation Education Programme that inspires and empowers young people to become “active citizens” in their local communities and beyond.

The Mounthawk students are taking part in the national YSI competition working on projects that aim to explore, educate and raise awareness around the social issues of “isolation of the elderly” and “teenage peer pressure”.

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The TY YSI “Sunny Souls” team have been working on raising awareness around the isolation of the elderly since September 2023.

They have organised a highly successful bake sale and Christmas themed table quiz which raised over €400 for Friends of The Elderly Ireland.

Students have visited Baile Mhuire care centre and spent time with the elderly residents and have recorded a podcast with the 2023 Cork Rose of Tralee Kate Shaghnessy (who works in a care home) about her experiences working so closely with elderly people.

This will be shared on the Sunny Souls Instagram and Tik Tok pages for anyone who would like to listen back.  Follow their project journey on social media:  Instagram: @sunny_souls_ and Tiktok: @sunny_souls_

The TY YSI “Measure Your Pressure” team have dedicated their year to educating, raising awareness and encouraging their fellow peers to “recognise”, “measure” and “evaluate” social and peer pressure that exists in their lives.

The project aims to support and enable their peers in understanding that it is ok “say no and let your confidence grow” when it comes to peer pressure- essential tools in building resilience and safeguarding a young person’s wellbeing- something which the team hopes will contribute to changing future attitudes, perspectives and culture around this social issue.

Through a series of innovative actions such as conducting research surveys, delivering “Wellbeing Workshops”, coordinating fundraising events and creating a TikTok  “campaign clips” video series, the group hope to empower their fellow students to seek out and surround themselves with supportive peers who contribute to and influence their daily lives in a healthy and positive way.

Follow their project journey on social media:  Instagram: @measureyourpressure.ysi and on Tiktok: @measureyourpressure.ysi

Both YSI teams will be heading to Cork next week to present their project ‘Speak Out Showcase’ before a panel of YSI judges and other competing schools.

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MERCY Mounthawk students were among winners of Young Social Innovators of the Year Awards earlier this week.

The YSI awards, which took place in Croke Park on Tuesday, celebrate excellence in youth-led social innovation.

The winner of the YSI Make Our World Safer Challenge Award was a YSI team from Mercy Secondary School, Mounthawk, Tralee, Co. Kerry, for a project titled ‘Catch My Drift: Water Safety’, highlighting essential water safety and drowning prevention awareness in their school and local communities.

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They weren’t the only Kerry winner as the YSI Make Our World Healthier: Mental Health Challenge Award, in partnership with HSE Healthy Ireland, was won by a YSI team from Killorglin Community College, Killorglin, Co. Kerry for a project titled ‘Bridging the Generation’.

The goal of the project is to give secondary school students tools to help them handle negative emotions and build rapport with staff at school.

Other awards were presented, too, and a team from St. Brendan’s College, Killarney won a YSI Advocacy Award for their ‘SEM for Inclusion’ project, which aims to raise awareness of and reduce exclusion faced by people with a disability.

A team from Castleisland Community College, Castleisland, Co Kerry were highly commended in the YSI Digital Innovators Award, in partnership with Virgin Media.

For their project, titled ‘You Know What Gets on my Nerves? MS’, the team developed an app providing information and support for people diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

Now in their twenty-second year, this year’s national finals event was the first live, in-person Young Social Innovators of the Year Awards since 2019.

The awards ceremony was co-presented by broadcaster Zara King and former Hometown boyband member Dayl Cronin, in front of an audience of around 600 young people from secondary schools the length and breadth of the country.

Thirty-four teams of shortlisted Senior Cycle students competed live in a range of challenges in front of three expert judging panels.

For more information about Young Social Innovators, see www.youngsocialinnovators.ie

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IT was a miserable Friday night with the rain spitting down, but well done to those who showed up for an event organised by students from Mercy Mounthawk.

Family First, a group of Young Social Innovators from the school, organised the family fun walk by the canal. While it was hoped people would turn up in fancy dress, it was a bit cold and wet for that, but prizes were given out nonetheless.

Before setting off, Karen O’Carroll from the group explained the reason for the walk.

“The Catholic theme for Mercy Mounthawk this year is families, so we decided to have a project in line with that. It’s so important that we show community spirit and show how important families are how lovely something like this can be.” Scroll down for photos…