St. Mary’s College
EUROPEAN STUDIES
Twenty four lucky students from the Transition Year European Studies class have won a trip to Strasbourg, France. The class entered a competition run by the website Europarl in association with the Euroscola programme for young people.
The girls had to design a web page for European Studies which included information about projects they are due to undertake over the course of the year and more. This web page won the Overall Prize for the the Eastern Region and as a result they have won a two day subsidised trip to Strasbourg at the end of May.
On the trip they will get the chance to go to the European Parliment and discuss and vote on topical issues and European subjects with 600 other students between the ages of 16 and 18 from all twenty seven member states of the EU. The girls would like to say a big thank you to Ms.Kelleher for getting them involved in the competition and are really looking forward to the trip! School Orchestra On Saturday, December 15th the St. Mary's School Orchestra performed for two hours in Bridgewater Shopping Centre as a fundraising exercise. Under the guidance of Christine Steele, they performed a set of Christmas tunes, Strauss waltzes and the well known Pachabel Canon. The beautiful performance drew a large crowd, some of whom pulled up chairs and sat, watched and listened for the two hours. Overall the performance was an enormous success and raised almost ¤500 for the Orchestra. Many thanks to the Parents Council headed by Margaret Wolohon and Ms. Steele and the girls are also very grateful to Bridget O'Connor for transporting all the larger instruments. CHRISTMAS CONCERT
On Friday December 21st the Christmas Concert took place in the Concert Hall, a long running tradition in St. Mary's on the last day of term which celebrates the variety of talent in the school and fosters a good class spirit as each class group presents an item ranging from singing, dancing, and drama to comic sketches. The event was compered by Melanie O'Donovan and Jessica Davis, the Head and Deputy Head girl along with organiser Valerie Power.
There was a beautiful performance of Christmas Carols by the School Orchestra, traditional Irish music and dancing in the Irish cultural item, Helen Ryan's 'Uncle Vanya' dramatic monologue, a Staff item and to great surprise and applause Richard O'Connor returned to reprise his role as Maisie, the cleaner along with Sr. Maria Goretti in their by now traditional comic sketch.
The Sr. Maria Goretti Cup was awarded to the Form 5 Year group, voted on by staff and students, for their very entertaining comical sketches. Many thanks to all, especially the TY backstage crew who helped make the very enjoyable show possible. GERMAN BREAKFAST
2nd and 3rd year students took a break from their usual class routine on Dec.20th and participated in a German Breakfast.
They enjoyed typical German Breakfast foods including various breads, meats and juices. It was very much enjoyed by all and the girls would like to thank Ms Flynn and the German teachers for organising the event. (Migle Andrunaviciute F3) EMMANUEL
Rehearsals are well under way for Emmanuel 2013 which takes place at the end of February.
This is the third year the TY students have participated under the direction of Mr. Tim Hicks and are enjoying the preparations for the choral extravagnza which is Emmanuel. The group as a whole will perform the modern liturgical songs but Erin O'Connor, Jessica Foote and Bronagh Bracken have also been chosen as soloists to perform in front of the audience of 600 people in the Helix Theatre.
CDs are being played 'like mad' according to the girls on iPods, in cars and everywhere else in preparation for their performance and we wish them every success in this years event.