Three students reached the highest academic achievement of the Kumon programme at the 10th anniversary awards ceremony held in the Menlo Park Hotel on Sunday.
Sarah Tawfick received a silver medal and framed completer certificate for finishing the English programme to university entry level, working two years ahead of her age. Abel Jeo received a gold medal and framed completer certificate for finishing the English programme working three years ahead of his age, and Hans Enrique Estremera received a gold medal and framed completer certificate for finishing the maths programme working three years ahead of his age.
Opening the ceremony, Deputy Mayor of Galway City, Cllr Donal Lyons congratulated all the students and their supporting families not just for the academic achievement but for the self-development and character development that also arises from the Kumon commitment to daily study. The Deputy Mayor also congratulated the team at Kumon Galway City West on their 10th anniversary. This Kumon franchise, operated as a not-for-profit social enterprise, has helped more than 1,000 students in Galway city, county and beyond, and paid over half a million euro in wages into the local economy. Richard Trimmer, regional manager for Kumon Ireland, presented long service awards to core team members paying tribute to their long term commitment to their students and deep experience of the programmes.
In a ceremony livestreamed by Bright Blue Productions, every student present received a certificate of their level achievement: those working six months or more ahead of their age received bronze medals, silver medals were awarded to students working two years or more ahead of their age, and those working three or more years ahead of their age were awarded gold medals.
While Kumon worksheets are traditionally worked on paper with pencil, digital worksheets have been piloted in Kumon Galway since the start of 2023, completed on compatible tablets with stylus, to retain the critical feature of writing the work. In acknowledgement of the accelerated progress many committed students have achieved due to using Digital Kumon, Terry Kelly, senior manager, Kumon Europe and Africa, announced the Kumon Connect Champion of 2023 was a tie. Trophies were presented to Abhiyan Darjee Sunam and Nicky Hegde as joint Kumon Connect Champions in 2023, each having set themselves a challenging target and overshooting it.
Each year the Stephen Hayden Trophy is presented to the student who has most inspired the Galway team with their personal excellence, perseverance and commitment, often in the face of severe challenge. This year, special guest Brendan Smith, a familiar face to most Galwegians, jointly presented the Stephen Hayden Trophy to the entire Luistro family in recognition of their outstanding perseverance in the face of severe trial, and in honour of Elaine Luistro, a wonderful Kumon mother, who was lost to us far too soon early this year.
If you would like to explore the Kumon programme for your child contact Denise Heneghan 086 8285780 or email [email protected].
