Awards Day 2019 in Ardscoil Mhuire Ballinasloe
Congratulations to our students who were honoured on our Awards Day, held in the school on Monday 20th May last. Our awards were presented by Aoife Conneely, a past student, who spoke about her time as a student and her progression into the busy business world of aeroplane leasing. She wished all our exam students the best in the upcoming state exams and was also on hand to launch our school magazine “Echoes.” Awards were achieved for full attendance, academic excellence, sporting endeavours, Green Schools Committee work, Health Promoting Schools committee, Friendship/Cara awards, Creativity and Music, Public Speaking and Debating, Realt and Ceist Awards as well as the prestigious Student of the Year Award.
The Student of the Year Award is sponsored by Bank of Ireland each year and is presented to a 6th year student who has, over her years in the school, stood out as an example to all, in her commitment to her studies, her attendance, her school spirit, as well as her friendship and respect to all in our school community. This year’s very worthy winner is Angel Cunningham. The school also presented Angel with a Links pendant as a memento to mark the occasion and the contribution she has made to our school community in the 6 years she has been here.
Our All Ireland winning Senior Rugby team and the Junior and Senior Connacht Schools League winners were honoured. This year has been a momentous year for rugby in our school and this was reflected in the number of award recipients. The 1st year player of the year went to Ciara Lohan, while the Junior Player of the year went to Emma Mitchell. With a wealth of talent in the senior squad, both Hannah Gullane and Meabh Deely were chosen as the Senior Players of the year for their dedication to the sport over their six years in our school. Beibhinn Parsons was presented with a Special recognition Award for her fantastic debut on the national women’s team this year.
Volley ball continues to enjoy great success this year with all teams reaching the All-Ireland quarter or Semi-finals and our 2nd years reaching the All Ireland Finals in their group. Cliodhna Ni Annluain was awarded the first year Volleyball Award, Caitlin Malone received the 2nd Year award, while Leah Clogher and Ciara Cusack received the Cadet and Senior Awards respectively.
Football awards were presented to Nicole Ward 2nd Year, Sophie Cunningham 3rd year and Hannah Gullane 6th year, for their contribution to teams this year. Camogie Awards were presented to Emma Mitchell 2nd Year, Sarah Lyons 3rd year and Saoirse Ni Thuairisg LCert for their contribution to camogie. Holly Cafferkey 1st year was awarded the basketball prize for her commitment and skill in the sport this year.
Katelyn Keogh 5th year was honoured with the Soccer Award for her outstanding contribution to the National Ladies U17 Soccer team who made it to the European Championship qualifying tournament in Serbia in October last. The Mary Casey PE Perpetual Trophy was presented to 5th year student Toni Talip, for her positive attitude and bright outlook towards exercise and participation in class.
Creativity Awards were presented to three very talented 6th Year Art students, Stephanie O Halloran, Andrea Dunican and Deirdre Egan. The Music award was presented to the very talented Mary Cuddy, whose contribution to music and our choir over her six years in our school has been immense. The Bernie Nash Irish Traditional Music Perpetual Trophy was presented to Cora Hanrahan 6th year, a highly talented and accomplished trad musician.
Leona Donnellan 2nd year was honoured for winning the Western Region Drug and Alcohol Task Force public speaking competition, competing against schools from the entire western region. Leona gave an extremely impressive performance in the final and has a bright future ahead in public speaking. Our Senior German debating team of Laura Frehill, Eiman Raschid, Leah Clogher, Aoibhin Carty and Amy Kelly were honoured for their hard work this year. Our senior and junior English debating teams received certificates in recognition of their achievements this year. Our senior team of Alana Mulry, Aisling Hoey, Rachel Whyte, Eve McCarthy and Roisin Ni Bhroin Fahy reached the last eight in Ireland in the Concern debating competition. The Senior Gael Linn team of Alana Mulry, Roisin Ni Bhroin Fahy and Eve McCarthy were honoured for their hard work in Comortas Diospoireachta na Phiarsaigh.
The CEIST Award, sponsored by our Trustees, acknowledges the student who exemplifies dignity and respect for all. The very deserving winner was Rachel Whyte 5th year.
The Sisters of Mercy presented the school with the Mercy Award Perpetual Trophy this year to mark their ongoing commitment to education. It is presented to a student who is seen to have given spiritual leadership in the school community and this year’s inaugural winner was the very deserving Ciara Hibbitt 6th year.
Our Realt Award, which acknowledges students who have had to overcome particular challenges during the year, was presented to Sinead Carty 1st year who has shown great courage and resilience in the face of serious illness this year.
The LCA award went to Gemma Ward LCA1 while the 7A class award went to Tammy Ward. CARA awards were presented to students who were identified by their peers as being kind, friendly and helpful during the year. In 1st year Marianne Monaghan was selected, 2nd years chose Caitlin Malone, 3rd years selected Sarah Lyons, Caoimha Miller was the choice in 7A, Chloe Johnston was chosen in TY while Rachel Whyte was chosen in 5th Year.
Three very talented first year students Maria Dolan, Aisling Hardiman and Katie Curley were awarded the Science award for their excellent project for the Scifest@School Competition this year. The team was awarded the Boston Scientific Medical Devices award at the competition for their project “The science of toothpaste” and will go on to represent our school in the next round of the competition in September.
Academic awards were presented to students from 1st to 5th year for aptitude and ability in all their subjects. The Leaving Cert student who achieves the highest LCert results will be honoured on Mercy Day in September.
Cliodhna Ni Annluain, Rebecca McGuirk and Laurina Woha were the first year recipients of the academic awards. Ruth Dolan, Jessie Colleran, Ava McKeon and Rida Zardari were the second year recipients. Catherine Gately, Martina Florek, Aislinn Clifford and Lisa Naessens were the third year recipients while Maria Colohan, Katelyn Keogh and Michaela Keogh were the 5th year winners.
Our new Prefects for the school year 2019/20 were also announced and presented with their badge of office. TY’s Abby Downey and Alison Markham announced the launch of the school magazine 'ECHOES'. Huge thanks to all the TYs on the Echoes magazine committee and to Ms Lohan for the production of this wonderful magazine.
We want to wish our Junior Certificate, Leaving Certificate and LCA students the very best in the state exams in June. We wish all our students and staff a happy, safe and restful summer.
