Gaisce Hike

Two weeks ago, 37 TYs headed to the Wicklow mountains to Kippure Lodge for our Gaisce Bronze Award 25 km hike. We left school at 2 pm and started the hike at around 4 pm. the first day we hiked 15 km up three mountains. It was so hard. By the end of the evening everyone was dying and just wanted to eat and sleep! We cooked our own food which included a pasta bake, two burnt pizzas, cake and half cooked half raw chips. We were all so hungry, it could've been any food and we would have eaten it!

The next day we got up at 7 and did activities like abseiling, high ropes etc. We started the second half of the hike at 12, this time 10 km. It was snowing so heavily and was so windy. The hike was all up hill up the mountain and my feet were drenched with water and mud the whole way up. When we got back to the lodge everyone was soaked to the skin.

Although the hike and weather was a tad horrible, I did enjoy the trip! Although saying that, I will not be doing the silver or gold award...

- Eve xx

Swim a Mile

Yesterday we went to the National Aquatic Centre to swim in aid of Ian Daly Swim a Mile with a Smile. This charity helps Barretstown and Crumlin Children's hospital and was set up by a man from Celbridge in honour of his son Ian who died of childhood cancer in 2003.

We could swim the mile in groups or on our own. We were in a group of four and swam 16 lengths each. I learned that I'm a pretty bad swimmer... We went to Blanchardstown for lunch after. It was a really good day!

-Eve xx

Driving

We came back after our Easter holidays on Monday. Easter was so good! I went to Montreal because my sister was in the Irish Dancing World Championships and it was an amazing trip.

On Monday our class, Ariel, went to the Leinster Driving Campus in Maynooth.We were divided into two groups. First our group learned about the drivers theory test and did the test in groups of 3. We also talked about how to get your license, how old you have to be etc. 

After lunch we got to learn the basics of driving. There were 3 of us in a car and we each got to drive for about 40 minutes. The campus has traffic lights, turns, bends, long roads and hills that we got to practise driving on. It was kind of surreal and scary but really fun! I never knew there was so much involved in driving. I can't wait to actually get my learners permit and learn to drive!

Cake Decorating Week 5

Last week in Cake Decorating we did modelling. We were shown how to do chickens, ducks, bears and rabbits. It was so fun and actually quite easy to do with a bit of imagination!

My bunny

Alison's duck!

-Eve xx

Peter Pan

Back in December when TYs went to see Elf the Musical, Eimear, Ellen, Hannah and I were on RTE 2FM to give a review of the show. We were given free tickets to go see Peter Pan on Ice in the Bord Gais. To read my blog post about Elf, click here

We went to see it on Tuesday night and brought Alison and Aoife along too. Sure we were the only people above the age of 8, but it was still a really good show. The skaters did some amazing tricks with ropes and did some crazy lifts and jumps. I wish I could figure skate!

-Eve xx

Selma

In History we are learning about the American Civil Rights movement. As part of the course, we went to see the Oscar winning film Selma yesterday. It stars David Oyelowo as Martin Luther King Jr. and tells of the march organised from Selma to Montgomery in 1965 in protest against voting restrictions for black people in Southern America. The film had an amazing cast including Oprah Winfrey, Common and Tim Roth.

I really loved this film. There were many parts that showed horrible racial violence towards innocent people. I found it shocking that this happened not too long ago. Some parts of the film were really sad and there were a lot of girls crying! I'm glad we got to go see the film and I'm more interested in learning about the American Civil Rights Movement now that I've seen it.

                                         
-Eve xx

Work Experience #3

Today was my 3rd day of work experience in Castletown Pharmacy which is the last placement for the year. I've really been enjoying it. I've been doing jobs like rearranging shelves, putting out stock on the shelves, counting pills and tablets and putting them into bottles, cleaning and throwing out out-of-date medicines. I'm getting to learn about different medicines and what it's like to be a pharmacist. The ladies I'm working with are really nice too!

-Eve xx

Jabba Jabba Jembe

Today we had a Jabba Jabba Jembe drumming workshop. Jembe drums are from west Africa. We all had a Jembe drum to play and for the whole day we learned the basics of playing the drum. We also got to learn about how it's made, about the culture of the places in Africa that the drum comes from and the different styles of drumming. I really enjoyed the workshop!

-Eve xx

Paris

On Thursday morning at 4am I went to Paris. I went with my sister and cousin on my Mom's school first year trip. We went for just one night and two days. Even though I got up at 3am, I was so excited! On Thursday we went to Disneyland which was so good. It was really sunny and quite warm. We went on all the rides and got to see the fireworks at the end of the day which were amazing!

On Friday we went sightseeing in Paris. We went to see the Eiffel tower and took a bus tour around the city and saw the Arc de Triomphe, Champs Elysees and Notre Dame Cathedral. We went on a cruise down the Seine. We also went to the Louvre and saw the Mona Lisa. Paris is such a beautiful city and it was an amazing trip!

Mona Lisa

Because I was out for two days of school, I missed the in school SciFest competition. Our project, titled An Investigation into the Factors that Affect Relative Pitch, received a highly recommended award and got through to the regional final. Tomorrow we have a Drumming Workshop in School and on Tuesday we are going to the cinema to see Selma so it's going to be a good week!

-Eve xx

All Ireland TY Drama Competition!

On Saturday class Ariel went to Macroom in Cork for the Briery Gap All Ireland TY Drama Competition final. We got on the bus at 7;30am which was just fab. It was a four hour journey so we got there and we were all a bit tired. The other drama in our class was on first so we watched them perform and we went on after lunch. It went really well! We all really enjoyed and and it was the best it had ever been. We watched one more play and then got back on the bus home. It was a lot of time on the bus but with a mini speaker blaring music and a stop in McDonald's on the way home it was fun! 

We found out on Monday that we ended up getting an adjudicators award which was great because we all worked so hard on it. I'm sad it's over!

-Eve xx

Lollipop Day

Today we went into town to sell for Lollipop Day in aid of the Oesophageal Cancer Fund. We arrived in at around 10 and had until 2 to sell as many lollipops as possible! We were given hats and t-shirts to wear and balloons and boxes/buckets to carry. 

A few of us decided to bring guitars and 'busk' for the charity on Grafton Street. We started off not too amazing... but after a while it got better and was really fun! There were loads of other schools collecting for the charity all over town all wearing pink for the charity. We were everywhere! It was a really fun day altogether.

Last night we went to see Hudson Taylor in the Olympia. They were so amazing!

                                     

-Eve xx

Un Mot en Francais

Bonjour!  A l'école, j'étude francais. Je ne suis pas trés bonne en francais mais j'adore la langue. 

Je visite la france tout le année pour mes grandes vacances. Nous restons dans un terrain de camping á Julien des Landes prés de Nantes. Cet été, j'irai à collége française. Je suis tout excité!

Mon Terrain de Camping

Semaine prochaine, je visiterai Paris. J'irai avec ma mere, ma soeur et ma cousin. Ce sera magnifique!

Á Bientot, 

-Eve xx

Cake Decorating

Because I am in TY, I decided I would try to do new things outside of school. So myself and Alison have started a cake decorating class! So far we have learned to cover a cake and base with sugar paste, crimp the edges and sides and also how to make swags and bows. We've been learning loads of tips and tricks to do with decorating tools, working with sugar paste and just baking in general! I hope that by the end of it I can make really cool cakes.

My masterpiece:))

- Eve xx

Pancake Party

Yesterday we had a pancake party in aid of the National Children's Hospital, Tallaght. In Home Ec this morning we made 180 pancakes and even got to have one to eat ourselves. The pancakes were onsale at lunch for 50c.  

We went to see Saint Raymond in the Academy last night and it was amazing!

- Eve xx

Mini Company Competition

Today we had our in school competition for Student Enterprise. Everyone set up their stands in the hall and we were judged based on our product, appearance of stand, marketing technique and business report.

Two groups got through to the county final: BamBeauty and iProtect.

Tomorrow making pancakes for the pancake party and we're off for midterm!

-Eve xx

TY so far

So far, I'm really enjoying TY! I'm so glad that I chose to do it because I've been able to get involved in so much. Some of the highlights have been our trip to Carlingford Adventure centre, writing and performing a play for English, work experience, doing gaisce and going on the various different trips. I've also been able to do interesting things outside of school like zumba and a cake decorating course. Last week we had to choose our options for 5th year, which makes me feel sad because it means TY is nearly over:( I honestly don't want it to end! The next few weeks will be busy and I'm excited for everything coming up.:))

-Eve xx

Lost in Lucan...

Today was an eventful day to say the least... It was my last day of work experience in Walton's today and There wasn't much for us to do there but I still really enjoyed it. I got to meet loads of other people there on Work Experience and got a chance to try out all of the instruments.  

This morning, I arrived in at 10. I usually finished at 4, but because the heating was broken, at 10:30 everyone on work experience was sent home! Straight away I got the bus home and stopped at Liffey Valley for lunch. After I got food I got back on the bus. Turns out I got the wrong bus and I ended up getting off on the last stop of the 25 bus outside of Lucan. I was really lost...

With the help of Eimear on the phone (shoutout to Eimear for helping me) I found my way to the motorway and had to walk for like 20 minutes until I saw a bus stop ahead. The bus was there so I had to run really fast for ages until I got to it but I made it! I only arrived home at 2 o'clock having left Liffey Valley at 12. On the plus side I got my exercise in?? Moral of the story: don't get on random buses without checking the number.

Tomorrow is the Mini Company competition in school which I am nervous but excited for!

-Eve xx

Photography

We were supposed to write a post about something we are interested for the November blog challenge woops. I guess I'm doing it now. Something that I am interested is photography.I love taking pictures of everything. I love being able to have memories of wherever I've been and who I've been with. I take photos on my iPhone and also my camera. I got a Nikon DLSR for Christmas 2 years ago and I love it so much. My favourite things to take photos of are sunsets. I think they look really pretty! Although I may not be an amazing photographer, I really enjoy photography! Here are a few of my favourite pictures I've taken:

- Eve xx