Courtney McGrailMairead Miller describes a school project that is giving back to the local community
Founded in 1908 by the Presentation Sisters, Presentation College Athenry in Co. Galway has grown rapidly in recent years with 1,133 students enrolled at present. The school offers an optional Transition Year Programme to students who have sat their Junior Certificate examinations and the uptake is extremely high with 150 students currently involved in the one-year programme.
The TY programme, which is coordinated by Emer Kilgannon and Joe Kelly, provides students with an opportunity to learn new skills and develop their personal qualities in a supportive environment.
There are numerous opportunities available to the students and many are engaged in voluntary projects with the Athenry Tidy Town’s Committee and the Brothers of Charity’s Skylark and Swan Centres as part of their Gaisce Award and Pope John Paul II Award activities.
The Skylark Centre opened in March 2003 with 11 service users with intellectual disabilities and four staff members to take care of their needs.
Active role
The organisation is a religious institute and caters for people in need of education and healthcare. In recent years the centre has grown immensely and now provides residential and day care programmes to 35 service users ranging in age from 18 to 79 years old. The centre plays an active role in the community with many service users engaging in parades and various activities in the local area.
Five years ago, Sr Leo Hackett of the Presentation Sisters, who is a volunteer at the centre, approached a small group of Transition Year music students and invited them to join her in her voluntary work. Students who sing, dance or play a musical instrument are required to sign up to the volunteering programme at the start of each school year.
Having started out with five students in the initial years of the programme where students volunteered once a week, this has steadily grown to 30 students today. With so many willing volunteers the students are now able to visit the centre twice a week, on Monday and Thursday mornings.
Speaking at one of the music sessions about the initiative, Transition Year Coordinator, Ms Emer Kilgannon said: “The service users seem to respond well to the Transition Year students. It’s very good for the students to link with the community.”
The groups involved have set up a Ceilí band with singers from the Transition Year choir and set dancers from the school set dancing group. Two of the Irish dancers who volunteer have competed in the world championships. The students entertain service users for an hour at each of their musical sessions and enjoy dancing along with the group.
Opportunity
Newly appointed school principal, Mr Cathal Moore, said he thought it is “a great opportunity for our Transition Year students to develop their interpersonal skills. It offers them an opportunity to link in with the wider community. This is particularly important to students who are not from Athenry, to inform themselves with the local parish.”
The volunteers play a variety of songs from traditional Irish folksongs to modern chart music to appeal to the mixed age groups within the centre. Their choice of song varies from week to week, as their sessions are uniquely themed. For example, when the Easter Rising centenary was coming up, they recited songs that are associated with the 1916 Rising.
One of the service users said: “There’s nothing better than a bit of music on a Monday morning. The musical talent of the students is brilliant. It is really brilliant and they are much better than Daniel O’Donnell! We’ll miss them on Mondays.”
The service users need not worry, as thanks to the efforts of Sr Leo Hackett, there is already a large group of students who have signed up to continue the weekly music sessions.
Mairead Miller is a student in Presentation College Athenry, Co. Galway – one of 110 voluntary Catholic secondary schools managed by CEIST (Catholic Education an Irish Schools’ Trust).