Hard work recognised at Gorey Adult Education awards night
MORE than 150 people attended Gorey Community School’s Adult Education Awards Ceremony in the Amber Springs Hotel on Friday night.
Night class participants were presented with Full and Intermediate awards in QQI Level 5 Childcare, Healthcare Support, Business Studies, Community Care, Animal Care as well as QQI Level 6 Childcare and QQI Level 6 Training and Development.
Successful Accounting Technician students also received parchments on the night, and those who completed their second year will now become members of Accounting Technicians Ireland.
The awards were presented by Cllr John Hegarty, chairman of Gorey Municipal District.
‘If you’re determined to learn, no one can stop you,’ he said while highlighting the importance of education in empowering people.
The keynote speaker, Joan O’Flynn, former President and CEO of the Camogie Association, congratulated the night class students for the self-motivation involved in completing their two-year courses.
She cited the examples of how athlete Sonia O’Sullivan and the All-Ireland winning Dublin football team used ‘intrinsic motivation’ – focusing on being their best in each individual race and match respectively, to gain long-term success.
‘Your awards are your gold medals, your All-Irelands and will impact you in your jobs or in your wider lives,’ said Ms O’Flynn.
Gorey Community School principal Michael Finn said the commitment shown by night class students given their work, home, community and family responsibilities added to their achievements.
‘The Awards Ceremony and the number of people receiving awards showed that Gorey Community School served the entire community from 7.45 a.m. when the first bus arrives until 10 p.m. when night classes finish,’ added Mr Finn.
MC for the night was Fintan Kemple, Director of Adult Education in Gorey Community School, who highlighted how over 1200 people attended night classes in the 2017 to 2018 autumn and spring terms. He paid tribute to those receiving accreditation on their lifelong learning journey.
Special Awards were presented on the night in Childcare (Helen Moorehouse, Magdalene Kuc-Salamonczyk, Francine Morhill, Ann Marie O’Connor), Healthcare Support (Clare Monaghan), Business Studies (Muireann Cushe), Animal Care (Roisin Leonard, Ivette Harsanyi), Training and Development (Marion O’Toole) and in the Accounting Technician course (Caitriona Fortune, Karen O’Toole, Fiadhnait Ni Lionain).
Karolina Musial was named QQI Student of the Year and Lorraine Bodell received the Lifelong Learning award
Also working hard on the Gorey Adult Education awards night were Assistant Directors of Adult Education Noel Murphy and Aideen Connaughton and administrator Pauline Connolly.