TY students have had recent action-packed weeks of fun and learning recently.
“TYs just Wanna Have Fun” – TY Comedy Club Activity Day
“The Comedy Club workshop was a two-hour activity that all TYs got to enjoy. The room was professionally set up with chairs in rows, green lights, music and microphones at the top of the classroom! We started off by being introduced to the comedians, one of whom also happened to be a bit of a “magician” A few magic tricks were shown to kick start it all, with five euro-notes disappearing in one place and appearing elsewhere; and fingers and thumbs being taken off! We saw it all! Lots of laughs were had! As long as you didn’t mind dislocated fingers!
Then the comedians introduced themselves and showed us how to present ourselves on stage. It was then time for us, the TY’s to get up in front of the audience. You introduced yourself, told where you were from and described the people in your life that made you laugh. Friends and dads were at the top of everyone’s list!
After that the TY’s took a break from the mic, and some mind reading was done. One of the comedians was miraculously able to read the mind of one of a student as she read a book, guessing the page number and the words written on the page. How did he do it? Well, that would be telling!! Soon after that, TY’s were back to the mic. This time telling the audience the funniest or most embarrassing thing that has happened them and their biggest pet hate (or just ick) Boys seemed to be at the receiving end of it all! We finished off with a few more laughs. The comedy club definitely won’t be forgotten for the girls that took part”
Written by: A. Kane
Develop Me Activity Day
“Develop Me is a three-hour activity that TY class got to experience during the two activity days.
We were all separated into six teams, each team then took part in an activity called The Lost Dutchman’s Gold Mine, this is an activity requiring clear objective setting, planning, collaboration, and plan execution.
Each team must plan how they can both reach the mine and have enough resources to mine as much gold as possible. The longer you stay in the mine, the more gold you get. The team with the most gold in the end wins.
You could really see each team’s competitive side showing after they realised that they might not have enough resources to get them back in time, this is where collaboration and problem-solving skills kicked in.
This activity taught us about planning ahead, goal setting and teamwork. It was a really fun and useful activity to take part in, which everyone really enjoyed.”
Written by: A O’Reilly
Bodhrán Making Activity Day
“What an amazing activity! In my wildest dreams, I never thought I would ever make a musical instrument, but I am now the proud owner of my very own bodhran. But not only me, but everyone in TY also got to make their very own unique drum! This activity was spread out over two days.
On the first day, each form started from scratch, the enthusiastic presenter Michael, gave us the wood and the sticks but then the rest was up to ourselves. We first had to sand down the wood for the bodhráns and then we hammered the sticks inside.
Once that was done, we grabbed the goat skin which was already prepared and shaped, and we soaked it in water. After it was wet enough, we stretched it and moulded it tightly over the wooden frame. An elastic band held everything together and then we started hammering in thumb tacks so that the goatskin stayed on the wood, and they also added a nice design to it. Once we had constructed the bodhran, we left it to dry overnight.
The next day everyone was excited to see how their bodhráns had turned out and were eager to start decorating them. Many people had done a lot of research and planning and had come up with an array of fantastic, colourful designs, from Disney characters to Celtic knots. After much hard work, each instrument was a beautiful work of art.
After everyone had completed their Bodhráns we all learned how to drum to a few songs that we sang along to together. This was a fantastic activity to take part in and we made something beautiful and unique, that will be a cherished memory of Transition Year forever.”
Written by: A. O’Reilly
