National prize for Bridgetown students
Bridgetown College in Wexford has won a €500 prize in the Generation Apprenticeship competition for second level schools.
Caitlin Lambert Dunne and Therese Keating, representing the school, examined the link between waste going into oceans and the impact on the natural habitat of animals, asking people to ‘Be a part of the solution, not part of the pollution’.
Emphasising that jobs need to be environmentally friends, they recommended that construction companies in Ireland use renewable sources of electricity, plant trees near building sites and develop an energy efficiency in buildings workforce.
The project won them joint third place prize with a school in Roscommon, in the competition which was organised by SOLAS. Entrants were asked to build a letter A (based on the Generation Apprenticeship brand) from supplied materials that were previously destined for landfill. The competition was judged through a two-stage process with a shortlist of 13 finalists after the first round. When assessing the work, the judges considered the design of each entry and its potential to positively influence business and society in tackling climate change and sustainability. Praising the high standard of all of the shortlisted entries, the judges chose Wicklow Youthreach as recipients of the €1500 top prize, with the Discovery Centre, Woodwork & Trades Team receiving the runner up prize of €750, and Bridgetown College and St. Nathy’s College, Roscommon each receiving €500 for finishing joint third.