Big names wish Killocrim National School pupils luck
SIMON HARRIS AND TONY HOLOHAN AMONGST THOSE TO WISH SIXTHCLASS PUPILS WELL ON GRADUATION
THEY may not have had the most traditional of send-offs from their school after almost eight years, but Ms O’Brien, the sixth-class teacher at Killocrim NS, ensured it would still be a moment to remember when she secured some very big names to wish her pupils well.
Amongst the high-profile figures that she got to take part a the video send-off were the now-former Minister for Health Simon Harris, Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Tony Holohan and the former Kerry footballer Darren O’Sullivan.
And how did she manage to secure such big names for the video? Well, simple really: she went out on a limb and sent them all emails and hoped for the best.
The result? Even better than she could have hoped for, with Simon Harris taking the time to thank the children for all of their hard work over the last few months.
“You have saved lives with everything that you have done,” he said.
“I wish that when I was your age, that I would have been able to say that I’d saved lives,” he said.
Going on, Mr Harris wished the kids a very enjoyable summer, although he acknowledged that it might be a little different to normal, even if the kids and the teachers deserved a nice break after the last few months. Teacher Ms O’Brien said that the message from CMO Tony Holohan was particularly lovely, especially with him taking the time to deliver a personal message about his own fond memories of Listowel and Ballybunion.
“Hi to the sixth-class pupils of Killocrim NS in Listowel. I was asked by your teacher, Ms O’Brien, to say a few words to mark the occasion of your graduation from sixth class, and I’m really happy that I get to do that today,” the CMO said in the video.
“I wish you well. It’s been a challenging few weeks and months when you haven’t been able to be in school, and maybe the things that would happen to mark your graduation are not going to be possible in the same way,” he continued.
“I know that Ms O’Brien and the rest of the staff in the school, though, will do everything they can to make it as special as it can be and to prepare you for the future. I wish you the very best for whatever you decide to do.”
Speaking to The Kerryman about the video, the Killocrim teacher behind it all was delighted with the success of her initiative. “I had done a webinar online about how to piece together a virtual graduation, and the guy that presented it, he suggested getting well-known people to contribute towards it as it would be an added bonus to the videos,” said Ms O’Brien.
“I just thought about who was in the media right now of course Tony has been a big face for everyone.
“I literally looked up their emails online and sent on a message asking them if they’d be able do something for the video. I told them what I was doing and that I wanted to do something special for my sixth-class pupils, and asked would they be interested in taking part,” she continued.
“I thought Tony’s message was just so personal and so nice for the children to hear. He didn’t have to go that far, so it was nice to see,” she said.
Kerry footballing hero Darren O’Sullivan also took the time to send a quick message, and Ms O’Brien said that it was great to have him on board as so many of the kids in her class are mad about sports.
“My landlady actually had a contact for him, so I asked her whether there was any chance she could ask him if he’d be up for it and, thankfully, she was able to get him on board which we were delighted with,” Ms O’Brien continued.