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Irish Independent
26-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Independent
Ramsgrange Community School honours students with awards in sport, academia and life-changing projects
As always, the awards ceremony marks a high point in the school year and in opening the proceedings, Ms. Tracey Edwards, School Principal, welcomed those in attendance and spoke of her great pride each year at Awards Day. In particular, this year she highlighted the many ways in which the school's values of Respect, Community and Success, were encompassed by all members of the school community. She put a particular emphasis on the many successes achieved by students in the school across a wide range of areas including sport, enterprise, YSI and Rotary, amongst many others. This was very fitting with the school appearing on RTE's Nationwide that evening, where a group of Transition Year students demonstrated their award winning Jack it Up ramp, which was designed to support their classmate, Jack Wickham in helping him overcome daily challenges. Awards were given across over 80 categories, which a testament to the many and varied activities which take place throughout the year. Certificates of Achievement were also awarded across a variety of areas, such as Student Enterprise, Spelling, Linguistics and Science to name just a few. The student council of the 2024 academic year were recognised and thanked for their great work, as were the outgoing Meitheal Leaders. The first buzz of excitement rippled through the school as the new Meitheal Team for the 2025 academic year was announced, with 25 incoming sixth year and LCA2 students about to undergo the mentoring role. Awards were also given across many subjects for the best projects in LCVP, Art, Metalwork, Engineering, Wood Technology, DCG, TG, Construction, Needlework, Science, and language subjects German, French and Gaeilge. The much anticipated Sports Awards were up next, where trophies were awarded to the school's best basketball players, male and female at 1st, 2nd, U16 and Senior categories, as were trophies for the best players in soccer, rugby, ladies football, camogie, hurling and football. The Junior Sports Person Cup was awarded to a second year student, Isabelle Aspel, for her excellence in sport across many codes and for her brilliant approach and attitude to competing, but particularly for how she has displayed her passion for her specialist field of athletics where she has medalled in a variety of disciplines in different competitions for both school and club this year. The brilliant all-rounder, sixth year student, Dan Nolan, was awarded the prestigious Senior Sports Persons Cup. Dan has represented the school for soccer, Gaelic football, hurling and basketball, and was most recently joint-captain of the school soccer team which won the u19 Wexford/Wicklow league. Excellence in academia was also recognised on the night. Kevin Voinea, a past pupil, was awarded the Best Leaving Certificate Results Shield for 2024. Padraic Barry, a transition year student, was presented with a shield for Best Junior Cycle results for 2024. Those in attendance heard an emotional and heartfelt speech from outgoing Head Boy, Dan Nolan, and Head Girl, Sarah Assinder, as they shared their favourite memoirs of Ramsgrange Community School, and gave some great insight and parting wisdom to the student cohort. This led to one of the biggest highlights of the afternoon, where the announcement was made for the school's incoming Head Boy and Girl. Ben Cassidy and Aoibhinn Doyle were popular choices after a hotly-contested selection process. They will be ably assisted by Assistant Head Boy and Girl, Evan Brennan and Louise Byrne. Year Heads then stepped forward to announce the winners of each year's Student of the Year award, while also presenting certificates to the nominees. The most prestigious award to be presented was left until the end of the ceremony, where the winner is chosen by a vote from students and staff. The very popular winner this year was outgoing Head Boy, Dan Nolan, who demonstrated to others how to be a brilliant all-rounder and a perfect example of the best of Ramsgrange Community School. 'All in all, it was an outstanding day where the many successes and accomplishments of the school community were celebrated,' said a spokesperson for the school. "We wish all the third and sixth year students the very best of luck in the upcoming State Exams,' they added.
Irish Independent
13-05-2025
- Science
- Irish Independent
Students from Co Offaly win top prize at Young Social Innovators' Awards with sustainable alternative to paper
Tullamore College pupils Ryan Plunkett and Killian Farrell won gold with their idea to create "Grass Sheets", a paper made from repurposed grass clippings. The pair collaborated with Offaly County Council and Tullamore Pitch and Putt Club to source discarded grass for their project, which aimed to reduce deforestation, carbon emissions and waste, and showed how diverse their invention is by creating paper bags, pouches for wildflowers and even a jacket from their grass paper. Tullamore College teacher Emma Bradley said their project is a clear sign that "the future is bright", with the school "delighted" for Ryan and Killian as they lifted the top prize at the Aviva Stadium today. Speaking to the Irish Independent, Ms Bradley said she was immediately stuck by how "creative" and "different" their idea was when they first brought it to her in the school corridor some months ago. They plan to explore new uses for the product and continue to collaborate with local businesses following their win. Ms Bradley and her colleague Ian Feighery worked with 84 transition year students this year as they dreamed up their project ideas, with three projects from Tullamore College making it to the final. "When you see the those groups, you would definitely say the future is bright," she said. "YSI has definitely opened an awful lot of doors for the kids. We do a brief afterwards and ask, 'How did you find (doing the YSI project)?' And they say, 'I would never have stood up on a stage if you had asked me in September.' They do a load of little projects that made them go out into the public, into the community, and do it." Students from St Brendan's College in Killarney, Co Kerry, took home the silver award for their project "Comparison is the Thief of Joy", which teaches people how to identify filtered or deep fake videos and highlights how unrealistic social media standards can be. The bronze award went to Rosses Community School in Dungloe, Co Donegal, for its "Tick Tack Go" project, which aims to raise awareness of Lyme Disease and saw student create tick removal kits to protect people living in high risk places. Schools from across the country also took home prizes for sustainability, health and other subjects with their innovative projects, with YSI CEO Roger Warnock congratulating the students on their work. "The cutting-edge social issues being addressed in the projects by our 2025 YSI Awards' winners and their commitment to finding solutions demonstrates how important social innovation education is for empowering our young people," he said. There were 42 finalists shortlisted out of around 300 teams who took part in the YSI programme in their secondary schools this year. Junior minister Jerry Buttimer said the work displayed by young people at the YSI Awards was "nothing short of inspiring".
