Science is alive and well in primary education in the Westmeath with two local schools making it to the finals of the Midlands Science competition. The Midlands Science Competition was open to primary schools in Longford, Westmeath, Offaly, and Laois. The competition was organised by Tullamore-based development agency Atlantic Corridor and it is sponsored by Ericsson, the world’s leading provider of technology and services to telecom operators.
There were three categories in total for the prestigious awards – junior, middle, and senior. St Brigid’s in Moate had a finalist in each category with four in total. St Peter’s had a finalist in the middle category which did a project on electricity and built a model of the Mizen Head Lighthouse.
The judges for the competition included Dr Pat Mulhern former director of science at AIT; Dr Tim McTiernan assistant vice president with the University of Toronto, Canada; Dr Steve Cross, executive vice president for Research at the Georgia Institute of Technology; and Joe Broderick from Ericsson.
Speaking about the competition Jackie Gorman CEO of Atlantic Corridor said “Atlantic Corridor strives to promote and enhance science and science related education in the Midlands through international links. This competition sets out to raise awareness about science by showing how science is interactive and is all around us. This is a good opportunity for schools to demonstrate their commitment to the development of science as a subject in our primary schools.”
John Hennessy, managing director, Ericsson Ireland said “As sponsors, Ericsson is proud to be associated with an initiative which promotes the importance of science and environmental awareness within our schools. Ericsson is committed to sustainability and corporate responsibility, which among other things, aims to reduce our environment impact and support our customers to reduce theirs and deliver solutions which enable a smart carbon led society, such as mobile health, smart grids and smart transport.”
