Greenhills community sopositive!
POSITIVE Mental Health Week is as the pinnacle of the school year for many in Our Lady’s College Greenhills. As usual, the highly anticipated week ran seamlessly from Monday to Friday with activities and talks for the Greenhills community and was filled with laughter, high spirits and of course positivity!
Monday kicked off with a sweet and a smile as students were greeted with positive affirmations on their lockers and form teachers handed out lollipops. Every morning of the week, students from each year group had their very own breakfast club! 6th years had the first guest speaker of the week when positive psychologist (and comedian!) Shane Martin gave a hilarious and informative speech on ‘Resilience and Bouncibility’. At 10:45 am TY students received a talk from BodyWhys (The Eating Disorder Association of Ireland), while 3rd classes put on their dancing shoes and enjoyed a dance class in the assembly hall.
At lunch time on Monday, budding song writers and musicians in the school community were involved in a concert organised by the school’s music department. The great turnout of supportive friends and spectators added to the fantastic atmosphere at the event. That afternoon 1st year students got a talk from Greenhills past pupil, Shannon Winters.
Tuesday morning 1st years had their breakfast club in the cafeteria while 2nd years set off on their beach walk at 9:00 with smiles, packed lunches and rain jackets! TYs were treated to an inspirational talk from Ian Fitzpatrick (founder of Zeminar) in the library. At lunch time, the assembly hall was filled once again with music and fun as the rock and roll bingo rolled off to a great start with very happy winners and brilliant prizes. In the afternoon, 1st years and 2nd years were given a talk by Ruth Daly from Pontifical University, Maynooth.
Wednesday was busy. In the morning, TYs and 5th years had their breakfast club and 5th years were delighted to have a talk from Sinead Burke (aka Minnie Melange) on making the most of life and staying positive. 3rd years had ‘Shout Out!’ workshops throughout the day while 1st years and 2nd years got a talk from Caoimhe O’Grady-Tegart on ‘Image Confidence.’ At lunch time, there was a céilí on in the assembly hall and if the beautiful trad music couldn’t entice you to take part, the vibrancy of the entire ordeal certainly did! In the afternoon 6th years received a talk from motivational speaker Marc Mulligan.
The excitement was palpable on Thursday morning as the whole school looked forward to the epic Teacher Lip-Sync Battle at lunch time. In the morning there was a mental health EXPO for TYs and 5th years all while 1st years had a very active day with skipping in the gym with Mark McCabe all day. 3rd years were treated a talk from nutritionist Dara Morgan in the library. In terms of amusement and laughter, the teacher Lip-Sync Battle was the zenith of the entire week.
After a great battle, Miss Ni Donovan was declared the winner.
On Friday, 5th year students had a talk from Shane Carthy (Dublin footballer) at 9:30am in the assembly hall. The week closed with an excellent fair day on the green where all students and staff took part. The whole school, stepping away from the usual scheme of wearing different t-shirt colours for the different year groups, wore red in support of ‘Hannah the Warrior Princess’. Donations were raised for Hannah Donnolly who underwent spinal surgery in March 2017 and has since been in Temple Street Hospital. The donations are going toward funding round the clock care and adaptations and as usual, the school community showed great generosity.
The Positive Mental Health Committee would like to thank everyone who made this week possible. A special thanks must go to all our visiting guests and speakers: Shane Martin, BodyWhys, Shannon Winters, Ian Fitzpatrick, Ruth Daly, Shout Out, Sinead Burke, Caoimhe O’Grady-Tegart, Marc Mulligan,Mark McCabe, Dara Morgan and Shane Carthy.
The week would not have been possible without the kindness and generosity shown by all of our sponsors: Aldi (Donore Road) Drogheda, Lidl (Donore Road) Drogheda, Tesco Drogheda, Dunnes Stores Drogheda, Fyffes, McCloskey’s Bakery, Value Centre Drogheda, JF Travel, Bank of Ireland, Smith’s Ice Cream, Drogheda Youth Bank, Premier Periclase, OLC Parent’s Council, East Coast Bakehouse and Glanbia.