Banada AbbeyBanada Abbey
Here is a sample of some of the recent and upcoming happenings here at Banada Abbey.
BANADA ABBEY - CHAMPION IN THE CLASSROOM
Reporters:SHEILA WHITE, DAVID COLLINS, LAURA WALSH & RUTH GANNON.
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CROSS-BORDER VISITORS FOR TAIN PRODUCTION
The long awaited Tain is finally being staged on Thursday the 11th and Friday the 12th of December. A lot of work has been put into the production both backstage and upfront. The show is shaping up to be a great success. A special feature of the show is that our counterpart Northern schools, Dean Brian Maguire High school from Carrickmore in Co. Tyrone and Fivemiletown High School also from Tyrone, are joining us to attend the show on the Friday night. Various people have helped out in the preparations. Scriptwriter and Director: Rita Normanley, Project Co-ordinator: Mrs. Walsh, Production Manager; Mrs. Groarke, Musical Director: Mrs. Keane, Choreography: Miss. Kelly, Set Design: Breda Burns, Set Construction: Mr. Roache, Mr. Christie and Peter Molloy, Costume Design: Jacqueline Towey, Mrs. Mulligan and Mrs. Fahy, Programme Design: Mr. McConway and Miss. McDonnell.
Football
With the terms fixture list completed, we can look back with great satisfaction on the success achieved to date by all the school's teams. Both our Junior and Senior girls teams managed by Miss. Johnston are undefeated, and will be strong contenders for the provincial honours in the new year.Our First Year Boys managed by Mr. McMenamon and the Juvenile Team managed by Mr. Maye are still in contention for their respective championships. The Junior team managed by Mr. Christie and Mr. Gilmore, have qualified for the semi-final of the championship by virtue of a great win over Garbally College after extra time.The Senior team have a very busy schedule in the new year. They have qualified for the league semi-final, the "B" championship semi-final and the "A" championship quarter-final.On Wednesday last, they scored a very impressive 2-10 to 0-7 victory over Ballinrobe C.S. in the championship. This team is managed by Mr. Gilligan and coached by Anthony Brennan.We look forward to many successes in 1998 on the football fields.
Public Speaking and Debating
The Public Speaking team will take part in a competition in Sligo, sponsored by the Mental Health Association. The team is made up of Transition Years, Oliver Taheny, David Collins, Orla Seery and Karen Dunne. Each member has a different topic - all of which are to be associated with Mental Health. The topics are "education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten", "Technology owes Ecology an Apology" and " The Education System is failing the young". Each speech must be 7 minutes long. We wish them all the best of luck.The Gael Linn debate will take place on December the 10th at 5:30 in Kiltimagh. The team - Sheila White, Laura Walsh and Ruth Gannon will be competing against Beil-a-Mhuirse in the Regional finals. The motion is "Ta meadu tionscal na Turasoireacht ar leas na Tire seo" (An increase in tourism is for the benefit of this country) and our team is agreeing with the motion. Preparations are underway and all are looking forward to the competition.
Second Year Trip to Belfast
Early on Monday morning November, 24, six of our Second Year students, Niamh Kelly, Fergus Leonard, Margaret Leonard, Brian Collins, Caroline Marren and Catherine Brennan under the supervision of Ms. Kelly set out on a trip to Belfast where they had been invited to attend a science seminar and partake in a science project. They were accompanied by students from Easkey Vocational School and Sligo Grammar School. In total there were 12 schools, six from the North and six from the south. Each school in the south was 'twinned' with a school in the North. Benada's partner in the project was St. MacNissi School from Antrim.
They arrived in Belfast at 5.oopm Monday evening and stayed overnight in the Fort Post House Hotel in Dunmurray. The students (up at the crack of dawn, no doubt) visited the Craigavan Civic Centre
that morning where, five stands were on exhibition, from each, concerning a different topic, electricity, the Armagh Planetarium, Tatyo, the Environment and energy conservation.
The official launch was at 12.00 noon which was attended by many dignitaries. The students then had a meal and later set out for the Navan Centre of Archaeology in Armagh. From there they travelled to Enniskillen for some shopping, and then home.
Benada and their twin school will l now co-operate through the Internet and complete a project between them. The topic of their project is "Energy in Motion". The students have until May '98 to complete the project. Then all 12 schools will be invited to Dublin to display and present their project with their twin school in a celebration event.
We wish the best of luck to everyone involved. No doubt they will do themselves and the school proud.
Work Experience
Our Transition Year students join the workforce this Monday as they participate in their first work experience placements. Transition Year co-ordinator, Mrs. Walsh has been busy trying to organise some sixty placements in various locations to satisfy the year's first or second choices. Among the positions taken are the Garda Station, Castlebar, Pathology and Pharmacy Labs in Sligo General, NWR studies in Sligo, Cregg House, NCF, Accountants offices, solicitors offices, factories in the area and various National Schools in the area. Work experience is regarded as a very important aspect of Transition Year as it gives students true insight into areas of work in which their interests lie.
We wish all the best of luck.
Tain Workshop
On Friday, November 21 Transition Year Students attended a Percussion and Dance Workshop given by a workshop team from Dublin. The aim of the workshop was to teach students the basic arts of percussion and dance to be used in the forth coming production of the Tain.
The class was divided into two groups in the morning, one for dance, and one for percussion . Students were offered the opportunity to try both during the course of the day. Then the two final groups were picked and began rehearsing both dance and percussion together - these outstanding performance were all captured on camera by other Transition Year students.
All agreed that the Workshop was a huge success and we look forward to performing on stage of the Tain.
Basketball
On Monday November, 24 last the Cadette Basketball team travelled to the Regional Sports Centre in Sligo to contest the County Final against the Ursaline College, Sligo. A huge crowd of Banada supporters also travelled to the game to cheer on the team who are under the management of Mrs. Marren and Mrs. Keneally. It was a highly competitive game and when the final whistle blew, the scoreline was in favour of the Benada team, who won on a very tight margin. The team deserved the victory as they have trained very hard since September. The team now go on to the semi - final of North West Competition. We wish them the best of luck.
On Thursday November, 27 last the senior team travelled to the Mercy College, Sligo to play Ballisodare in the County Semi - final.
Christmas Exams
This year the Christmas exams start early for the Third Years with their exams starting on Friday, December 12. The other year's exams will all begin on Monday the 15th and all exams will end on December, 19.