School’s special friends in Rathdrum for awards
THE EXCITEMENT was palpable as students, parents and friends of Avondale Community College spilled in to the Sports Hall on Wednesday last for the annual evening of Excellence Awards.
The awards night allows the school to pay tribute to the great commitment of its students, as individuals and as team players in all aspects of school life and to celebrate events which have brought great pride to the school during the current academic year.
The evening celebrated the gifts and talents of students across a myriad of areas including academic excellence, BT Young Scientist, young writers and positive contribution to school life awards.
The school welcomed back Gerard Hughes, Education Consultant specialising in STEM, who has a long association with Sentinus, the Northern Ireland equivalent of the BT Young Scientist. Mr Hughes was delighted to present awards in the areas of Science and Mathematics.
An array of guests presented awards during the course of the evening. Young athletes from the Rathdrum school were enthralled to have Fionnuala McCormack acknowledge their achievements in athletics.
TV3 sports reporter and Irish Independent columnist Sinéad Kissane complimented the school on the wealth of talent in so many areas of achievement. She praised the endeavour of students complimenting them on working hard on a daily basis to achieve this level of success.
As the evening drew to a close, Marty Morrissey, sports commentator and television presenter stepped onto the stage to compliment the school on a wonderful evening. Like the other speakers he was generous in his praise for the young award winners and their school.
One of the highlights of the evening was his presentation of an Outstanding Sporting Achievement Award to student Thomas Moylan who received a standing ovation from the floor. Mr Morrissey assured students that each one of them has a special talent. His good humour won over his audience and his speech was met with rapturous applause.
The Student of the Year in each year group was announced during the evening. James Murphy was named the winner of the Bank of Ireland Sixth Year Student of the Year Award. James was delighted to accept his trophy from Orla Carey, from Bank of Ireland, Rathdrum.
The final highlight of the evening was the announcement of the incoming Heads of School, Eimear Annesley, Olivia Ward, Michael Fahy and Sam Arslan,
As always the Excellence Awards were truly one of the highlights of Avondale Community College’s school year.
Award winners included: 1st Year Students of the Year – Ciara Olohan, Conor Lancaster, Luke Doyle, Cathay Baker and Niall Sheehan; 2nd Year Students of the Year – Ava Carter, Ava Whelan, Lubna Azmat and Fransceo John Conosa; 3rd Year Student of the Year – Daniel Hagan; 4th Year Student of the Year – Sean Byrne; 5th Year Students of the Year – Abbie White, Ailis Cullen and Ben Kinsella; 6th Year Bank of Ireland Student of the Year – James Murphy; The Dowling’s Cup Sports Star of the Year Joint winners – James Murphy and Conor Byrne.