ronan fagan
Students from Athlone Community College and St Oliver Plunkett Boys National School in Moate were the chief accolade winners at the recently hosted Arcadia Creative Climate awards ceremony in TUS Athlone campus.
The awards ceremony, at which students from seven primary schools and three secondary schools in the Midlands region exhibited their detailed projects to their peers, parents and competition judges, is fast becoming an increasingly popular occasion on the academic year calendar.
Primary schools had been tasked with the creation of ideas to help the environment while their secondary school counterparts were challenged to think what Athlone will look like in 2050 and how to best prepare for these environmental changes.
The Arcadia Creative Climate Awards project is hosted in conjunction with the ‘Junior Mayor’ initiative, with its central theme of ‘giving young people a voice’.
Creator of the Junior Mayor initiative, Cllr Frankie Keena, sincerely thanked the schools who participated in the Arcadia Climate Awards event this year.
“It was fantastic to see the level of confidence and depth of knowledge of the students on the subject matter as they explained their respective projects to the judges and members of the public.
“These awards would not have taken place only for the sponsorship received from Fiachra McLoughlin, Arcadia Retail Park. The financial support from Fiachra is fantastic and he was ably assisted by Katie Gleeson and Morgan Fagg.
“We were absolutely thrilled to host the awards on the TUS Athlone campus thanks to the support of Dr Johanna Archbold. This heightened the status of the awards and created a ‘’wow’’ factor for the students and staff,” Cllr Keena commented.
Award Winners
Athlone Community College were announced as the secondary school winners for the second successive year. The team consisted of Nikka Campbell (Junior Mayor ), Fionnan Mulvey (Student Council President ), Ryan Dolan, Sean Brennan, Molly Mulvihill Wilkins, Sam Brooks and Gabriel Keane, mentored by teacher David Hughes.
The students created a website, exhibited a display and were interviewed by judges. Their project brief was to look at how climate change and environmental impacts can be planned for and mitigated at a local and global level.
This year, the team worked on issues ranging from what Athlone will look like in 2050 to transport, tourism and flooding, as well as looking into more global issues such as Black Solider Fly larvae being used for a protein source for humans.
The successful primary school team from St Oliver Plunkett Boys National Schools consisted of Michael Declan O’Donnell, John Mitchell, Conor Dwyer and Joshua Yorke.
The boys demonstrated great knowledge of recycling awareness and highlighted this issue in their school and also in homes and the local community. The boys presented their projects excellently and their interaction with judges and presentation skills was highly commended.
As well as being the Primary Schools overall winner Guardians of a Greener Earth, St Oliver Plunkett Boys National School, won the awards for “Best Community Engagement” and “Most Interactive Stand”.
Additional Award Winners
St Mary’s Savers, St Mary’s National School won “Best School Engagement” award and “Best Poster Presentation”.
Coosan Climate Warriors, Coosan National School won the award for the “Best Video”.
Milltown School, Milltown National School, won the awards for “Most Creative Project” and “Best at raising Awareness of Climate Change & Energy Use”.
Clonbonny Roots & Fruits, Clonbonny National School, won the awards for “Best in Sustainability” and “Best Team Name”.
Ageless, Ardnagrath National School, won the awards for “Best Circular Economy” and “Best Statistics”.
Coiste na Macléinn, Scoil na gCeithre Máistrí, won the awards for “Best Biodiversity” and “Best Research”.
As well as being the secondary schools overall winner, Athlone Community College Against Climate Change, Athlone Community College, won the awards for the “Best Global Impact” and “Most Imaginative Project”.
ClimeTime MCS, Moate Community College, won the awards for the “Best Global Research” and “Best Data Analysis”.
ACCA first ever international entry, St Josephs from Chateaubriant France, won the award for “Best Video”.
Concluding, Fiachra McLoughlin, Director Arcadia Retail Park, congratulated all the Arcadia Creative Climate Awards 2023. winners.
“We would also like to thank each of the schools for their participation. There was a tremendous amount of effort put in by all the teams and their teachers with the standard of entries and work done by the students continuing to be exceptionally high,” Mr McLoughlin stated.
lauded for their innovation at Arcadia Creative Climate awards ceremony
