Badges 2 uroo

Today we went into town to collect money for Holly Days. We sold holly badges for €2 in aid of the ISPCC. We put ourselves into pairs and were stationed all around Grafton Street and St. Stephen's Green. We were given boxes to collect money in and to hold the badges, yellow bibs and Santa hats. Ellen and I were stationed outside the Gaiety Theatre. As it wasn't a very busy street we didn't sell many badges. I was tempted to sing Christmas songs to see if it would help but decided against that idea. People would've been annoyed... Although we didn't collect much money, some pairs collected up to €80 euro which was great.

Me and Ellen outside St. Stephen's Green Christmas Market

As there was a protest today against the Water Charges, we only sold badges for an hour and a half. By the time we left the ISPCC hall, the protest was in full swing. There were thousands of people marching from Leinster house and through town. There were groups from every county with signs to say so. As there were so many people it was difficult to get to our two buses and to get 86 TY's out of town. We ended up walking through, and sometimes with the protest to Trinity and then to the Quays to try find the bus. Loads of the protesters wanted us to join them and half of our year joined them in chanting "No way, We won't pay!". Eventually after a while we got to the buses and made our way home. It was an eventful day to say the least!

We got a half day after town so a few of us went to do some Christmas shopping. It was a good day! Tomorrow we are going to Punchestown to a road safety talk and on Friday we have a Christmas dress up day.

-Eve xx

Christmas is coming

TY's weren't in school many days this week. On Monday morning we had a workshop about a video competition we are entering in IT. For the competition we have to create a 3 minute video in teams about income inequality and how 'Decent Work' can address it. In the workshop we were told about income inequality and what we should include and show in our video.

Youth Connect video competition

On Tuesday there was a strike for teachers so we had the day off. I went into town so it was a good day :) Wednesday was our last day of work experience after 10 weeks in the same place. It was a great experience working in Avoca and interacting with customers. I was sad to be going but am excited for my next work experience. I was given some carrot cake (my favourite) to say thanks but annoyingly my dog ate it so I didn't get to enjoy it.

On Friday we went on a Maths trip to Rathbeggan Lakes in Co. Meath. It was FREEZING. I don't think I've ever been as cold to be honest. At least we could buy tea there to keep our hands warm. We did maths puzzles using different equipment we were given. Groups walked around the lake with trundle wheels or measure heights of trees etc. After we went to Blanchardstown for lunch and we got Ginzeng :))

Us being cold at the lake :)

     

There's only one full week left of school and on Wednesday we're collecting money in town for the ISPCC. Then there's just a week of Christmas exams and then Christmas holidays. I'm so excited!

-Eve xx

Fashion Show!

After weeks of practising, the Fashion Show in Celbridge Manor was on this Tuesday and Wednesday. It was so fun! I did modelling, Irish dancing and music in it. On Friday, we all practised our ‘model walk’.

Our Modelling group. Dearbhla, me, Aimee and Ella

My group modelled for Born in Naas. On Monday we all went out to the shop to pick the clothes we would wear in the Fashion Show. The shop was so nice! There were loads of Christmassy clothes. We each got a casual outfit and a dressy outfit to wear in the show. Besides some stressful quick changes, the modelling went well and I enjoyed it!

I performed in a TY music group with Sadhbh, Hannah, Clara, Dearbhla, Eimear and Aoife. We did a Bastille medley with songs like Pompeii, Laura Palmer and Of the Night. I played my box drum and the other girls sang and played guitar. I also sang in a Christmas Carols choir with girls from 2nd year to 5th year. We got to wear Christmas jumpers from Dunne Stores which were cute. :)

Christmas carols

TY Music Group

For the Irish Dancing we danced to a song called ‘Cry of the Celts’. There were light dancers and Heavy dancers (Just means different shoes for non-dancers). Ms. H made us sparkly waistbands for our costumes. The dance went well both nights. It was extremely tiring though because it was very long! We nearly broke the stage apparently because we jumped so much, but I guess that’s a good thing? The dancing was probably one of my favourite parts of the night.

Irish Dancing practice

Our Mini Companies were allowed to set up stalls and sell. We were taking orders for Canvases both nights and we did quite well! For more information about our Mini Company look at my blog post http://evemcmahonty.blogspot.ie/2014/11/photobeau.html

Our Mini Company stall at the fashion show

In between my times on stage I did get to see the rest of the show. I really enjoyed the Ballerinas who danced to an Ed Sheeran song, and the Bridal section. The teachers appeared loads throughout the show and they were great. I loved seeing the Debs section because the dresses were gorgeous, although I only got to see it through a tiny opening in the door as I was waiting to go on stage! You can see other photos and information on the school website if you would like to see more: http://www.stwolstans.ie/

Now that the fashion show is over, I have so much free time as there aren't any after school rehearsals anymore. As much as it was fun, I can't wait to go home tonight and just watch a lot of TV and catch up on I'm a Celebrity…

-Eve xx

Animoto

It was part of our October blog challenge (I know I'm late soz) to make an Animoto video so heres mine with my photos of Autumn:

-Eve xx

Art Trip

Yesterday afternoon, TYs went on a trip to Carton House to see the 'Vanishing Art' sculptor exhibition. We had to look around at the different sculptors and answer a worksheet on them. Here are some:

After hearing that the Irish Rugby team were training at Carton, everyone was so excited and went running trying to find them. They were in the gym and people were screaming in at them and taking pictures. It was kind of embarrassing to be honest ahah... But Johnny Sexton and Tommy Bowe came out and took pictures with everyone which was nice of them. I'm not a very big rugby fan so I didn't bother :))

We have Fashion show rehearsals on Saturday. Mockingjay comes out tomorrow and I'm excited to see it this weekend!

-Eve xx

PhotoBeau

It's November, so that means it's nearly Christmas :))) well close enough! We have been very busy with loads of projects this month but our main focus has been on getting our Mini Company up and running.

Our Mini Company is called PhotoBeau meaning 'Beautiful Picture' in French (Cocky but confident;)) We're creating personalised canvases using our customers photographs, artwork and collages. We have normal A4 canvases for sale but also smaller square canvases to put instagram photographs on. We also are selling mini canvases to put letters or smaller images for eg. bedroom wall. We are making magnet versions of these mini canvases also!

Here are some examples of our canvases:

Eimear and I

We will be selling these canvases for around €10 and will be taking orders during the week. For more information contact photobeauwolstans@gmail.com, or look at www.facebook.com/photobeaucanvas, www.twitter.com/photobeaucanvas or www.instagram.com/photobeaucanvas and don't forget to like and follow us!

- Eve xx

Busy October

The past two weeks have been busy in St. Wolstan's. Last month it was announced that St. Wolstan's would host a Fashion Show in the Celbridge Manor Hotel on the 25th & 26th of November. I will be dancing in the Irish dance in the fashion show and will also be involved in the 'Christmas choir.' We have been busy rehearsing for the fashion show at lunch the past two weeks.

                 

Yesterday was our fifth week at work experience which means that we have reached the halfway point. I am really enjoying doing mine at Avoca and have become really comfortable working in the cafe.

           

We have all been working at getting our second work experience placements and I am doing mine in Walton's music shop in town. The second work experience will start in January. Last Tuesday I went to see Jake Bugg play at the Olympia and it was so good!

Tomorrow is our Halloween dress up day. Our theme as TYs is 'Zombies'. I'm SO excited for Midterm tomorrow and I'm also excited for Halloween!

Source

-Eve xx

Millennium Development Goals

In Religion this month we are learning and researching about the Millennium Development Goals.The MDGs are eight international development goals that were established in 200 and were hoped to be achieved by 2015. These are the MDGs:

1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger. 
2. Achieve universal primary education.
3. Promote gender equality and empower women.
4. Reduce child mortality.
5. Improve maternal health.
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases.
7. Ensure environmental sustainability.
8. Develop a global partnership for development.

We were put into eight groups and each group was given a development goal to research in detail. Our group researched MDG no. 4 'Reducing Child Mortality'. The target for this goal was to reduce by two-thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the under-5 mortality. We found out that:

• One child in seven dies before the age of seven in Uganda.
• A child dies every 3 seconds.
• 6.3 million children under the age of five died in 2013.
• Children in sub-Saharan Africa are more than 15 times more likely to die before the age of five than children in developed regions.

Globally, significant progress has been made in reducing mortality in children under 5 years of age. In 2012 , 6.6 million children under-5 died, compared with 12.6 million in 1990. Between 1990 and 2012, under-5 mortality declined by 47%.

If you would like to find out more about the Millennium Development Goals click here: Unfortunately, despite these improvements, the world is unlikely to achieve the MDG target of a two-thirds reduction in 1990 mortality levels by 2015. 

Millennium Development Goals 

- Eve xx

A picture is worth a thousand words...

Here is my sentence using only images:

- Eve xx

Walk in My Shoes

Today our school had a non - uniform day for the 'Walk in My Shoes' campaign. We were asked to make a donation of €2 and also encouraged to wear 'funky' shoes to support teenagers and young adults with mental health difficulties.

Text "Shoes" to 57802 to donate €2 to Walk in My Shoes.

We also had our third Home Ec cooking class today. We made raspberry and lemon cupcakes:))

-Eve x

Digital Dossier

I never knew what a my Digital Dossier was until I watched this video >>  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79IYZVYIVLA&feature=youtu.be

I learnt that your Digital Dossier is your 'Digital Footprint' on the Internet. It is about any post you've made, image or video you've shared and even Google searches online. Most of our Digital Dossier is because of social media sites like Facebook, Instagram etc. Your digital dossier starts before you are even born and as a baby.

When I learnt what my Digital Dossier is, I realised that mine is extremely big. I am most social media sites; Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Tumblr and more. I have been on these social media sites for a few years. Any post I have made on these sites have been added to my Digital Dossier. Everyday my Digital Dossier is growing. This blog post is just another part of my Digital Footprint that will continue to grow throughout my life.


-Eve xx

Fun Walk and Ed!

On Thursday we had our annual Fun Walk for friendship week. Each year had to dress in a colour and each class had to do a dance. Our colour as TYs was yellow. It was so hard to find something yellow to wear.. Who even wears yellow?

Fun Walk.. Sadhbh, Lauren

As we are class Ariel we did our dance with The Little Mermaid as our theme. We all dressed as flounders with Mr. L dressed in a homemade shark costume and we wheeled Sarah Mc out in a wheel barrow as Ariel. Although it was stressful trying to organise the dance the morning of the Fun Walk, it turned out great! We should have won, just saying... TYs led the walk and we were stationed around Celbridge. It was a good day.:)

On Friday, a few of us left school early and went to see Ed Sheeran play at the 3Arena. We waited for three and a half hours in the lashing rain with crappy umbrellas and got soaked, but we got to the very front of the standing section at the barrier. It was absolutely amazing! We were so close and it was a brilliant concert. It was so worth getting drenched! :))

Ed <3

Today was my third day of Work Experience in Avoca and it's going really well. I now know my way around the cafe really well and am enjoying it!

-Eve xx

Work Experience

Last Wednesday was the first day of work experience and we got to see where we would be working for the next 10 weeks. I'm doing my work experience in the Birdcage Self Service Cafe in Avoca in Rathcoole. Honestly I was extremely nervous. I had never had a job before and didn't know what to expect!

After arriving I realised there was no need to be nervous because everyone was so friendly. I met with the manager and workers who showed me around the cafe. Eimhear S. is also working in the cafe so we were shown everything together. In the morning I worked at the hot food counter, serving food to customers. We took a break in the morning and afternoon for a half an hour and we were allowed free food. :) In between our breaks I worked on the floor, cleaning tables and collecting trays. At the end of the day I worked at the cakes counter serving cake and coffee. The cakes were amazing! I literally wanted to eat all of them. Luckily we both were allowed take home a free cake at the end of the day. It definitely tasted as good as it looked!

I'm looking forward to the next few Wednesdays of work experience in Avoca because the first day was really good and I want to see what other jobs I will be doing!

-Eve xx

Carlingforddd

"You miss one hundred percent of the shots you don't take."

On Monday the TYs went to Carlingford Adventure Centre for the night. We were all extremely excited. The bus was leaving at 7 so most of us had to get up at 6 or earlier (wooh) but everyone arrived to get the bus with loads of energy, most girls with a bag filled with food!

The journey was around two hours long. When we arrived we were divided into our rooms. There were 9 of us in our room ... but only eight beds. We had to make a bed on the floor with extra duvets for Emer (Thanks Emer :))  Straight away we started our first activity. We went down to the beach to do kayaking. We changed into our swimsuits and wet suits and put on life jackets and helmets. We looked just fab!

After kayaking and eating lunch we went out for the second activity which was laser tag in the forest. To get to the laser tag we had to basically hike the huge hill. I swear I nearly died it was so hard! Laser tag was so much fun. The instructor Martin told us loads of 'inspirational' quotes to get us pumped for the laser tag (like the one at the top of the post). We were split up into two groups and played different games like capture the flag and sniper school. I felt like I was in Call of Duty or something!    

That night we went out for an activity called Night line after dinner. We went back up the huge hill again, luckily taking an easier route this time. We put on blindfolds as it was getting dark out and formed a conga line with our hands on each other's shoulders. We had to hold onto a rope and walk through the dark in the forest. We could see nothing but all we could hear is each other screaming "Tree!"

That night we had cake in our room for Lauren's birthday. We had a disco in a room upstairs and all of us danced around in our pyjamas. It was like a cheesy movie! For the rest of the night we ate and ate but didn't really even make a dent in the huge pile of food everyone brought. 

The next morning you could hear loads of groans as we were woken up by a wakeup call at half 7. We were wrecked! Our first activity was Canadian Canoeing which is three canoes tied together. We went out into the middle of the water and jumped it. We also went on a water trampoline and jumped into the water from it. The water was freezing!

The instructors brought us through a tunnel on the the land on the other side of the water. There was a fountain of fresh water that supposedly gave you an extra day of life. We were each shoved under and held there for 10 seconds and the water was colder than the sea! Canoeing was definitely my favourite thing that we did on the whole trip.

The last activity of the trip was a challenge course. We were put into teams and had to solve different puzzles and were rewarded gems. Our team came last... but we were still the best :)) We packed our bags to go home but we wished we could've stayed longer. Everyone was extremely tired on the bus home. It was an amazing trip!

Our Room :)

-Eve x