Bag Packing!

When I heard the opportunity to bag pack for the Irish Cancer Society, I jumped at it! The girls who organised it did a great job as what I saw when I was there was that it ran smoothly. I got the bus into Celbridge and then walked from the village to Tesco's. I was on the slot from 2-4. I had a great time doing it as many people were very nice and let us pack their bags. We also spent a half an hour selling raffle tickets and badges. We first sat down but we found that people didn't come over,so instead we stood up at the front of the entrance. And then we got lots of customers, and we sold lots of tickets. I liked this part of selling as it was fun and funny how people pretended not to hear you when they walked by. I felt really happy after helping out that day and it felt like I had done my good deed for the day. :) 

Fashion Show

The fashion show was on Friday and everyone was nervous but still so excited for it! We had our dress ready weeks before the show , so we thought we were prepared until when we were getting ready for the show we noticed we need a few items as our dress was not staying together. Thanks to quick thinking, we ran to reception and got a stapler! it saved the day! We had great fun getting our model ready, we did her hair,makeup and prepared our mood board, music and speech. Everyones dresses were amazing. I found it amazing how they were just a shirt and jeans a few weeks ago. All the models strutted there stuff on the catwalk and then we waited for the results. I didn't expect to win anything so when our groups name was called out I was shocked. As I thought our dress didn't look near as good as the other dresses. But I was also so surprised when one of our teachers said that our dress was her favorite!! I was so proud of our team afterwards and we then split out the chocolates evenly. The show was amazing even though I was disappointed for the teams that didn't win anything as before the shows I picked three teams that I thought would win but in the end none of them won anything!!! Overall it was a great day and it was an event that made me love being in TY even  more :)

Snow days!!

On Monday, we were back to school from 4 days off . The snow was amazing! I love snow and when I see it I feel like a five year old! The snow was constantly pouring down over the week and soon the place became a winter wonderland.The snow was so thick that when I walked through it my foot sunk deeply down. The snow was so fluffy too and I took lots of pictures as I never want to forget I thought we were never going to see the green grass again. I made a snow man and had several snowball fights. I was frozen in about two minutes of being outside but it was all worth it. I enjoyed all the days we had off school as the roads and path we so dangerous that I wouldn't have liked to go to school anyway.

Podcasting!

Podcasting was a great way to start a Friday! It was great fun and the men who did it with us were so funny! We had to be creative, funny but witty to come up with a podcast. Our podcast was called 'Im a faker' it was based on the idea that on reality tv people act differently and put on a persona. For our podcast we did an interview with Gillian Mc Keith who a girl in our group acted perfectly. When we recored it we had to be so silent as even the turning of a page would be picked up on the microphone. I didn't have my phone with me that day so I couldn't Bluetooth it onto my phone, so sadly this blog wont have our podcast on it :( . So after an hour we all gathered back into a room and listened to everyones podcasts. Everyone went for a funny style so I was in stitches of laughter listening to all them. It was a great day and everyone was ranting and raving about it afterwards and many people said they would definitely try make a podcast at home. It was a great day and it was an experience that I learnt a lot from!! :D

Geography Presentation.

On Thursday, I presented my Geography project on Spain. I was quite nervous so I brought up notes to the presentation with me , but in the end I didn't use them at all. I loved researching Spain and I found it to be an amazing and such an interesting country. But when I was doing my presentation I talked for like 15 minutes! This surprised me, but I was happy I got through the presentation without having a total blank. I am not used to presenting projects as I get nervous so I found this to be a great experience because the more I do it the less nervous and the more confident I will get. I sadly didn't have food (chocolate) for everyone but instead I had a flamenco dress! My friend brought that in for me and I was very happy to have it even though I nearly forgot to show everyone at the end of my presentation. I found the project was so interesting and I think everyone should do it as I learned so much and also had so much fun learning it!! :)

Self Help Africa, Carlow

On Tuesday, we went to Carlow to the Self Help Africa Work-shop , We left at 9 on the dot and surprising it only took around an hour to get there which was strange because I have always perceived Carlow to be far away. So when we got there I was surprised to see there was other schools there, CBS in Carlow and Scoil Muire, Clane. So we were then mixed up into around five groups and brought to different rooms. In the first room we talked about sectarianism  in different places around the world and opinions of us and other people. We talked about what we thought conflict was and what flags mean. The next room we went to we found a young girl who spoke to us about the development and how she invented items to help others. She was so naturally smart and I really looked up to her. I was really interested in what she was talking about . She also spoke how she was in the Young Scientist and how she made a pressured cooker as she found out that the second biggest killer in poorer countries was of cooking spoke, so with her cooker she solved this problem. Then we had lunch and then in the last room we learned all about HIV and AIDS. It was a interesting talk and it contained some shocking facts and statistics. After that we went on the bus home which was quite funny as many people fell asleep after the long day. It was a good day and it was fun to meet with other schools.

Visit to the State Laboratory

When we arrived in to the entrance of the Labs I was really impressed the area was gorgeous, the grass and bushes were perfected cut and the paths were spot less. When we went into the actually building that too was amazing, we were then led into a cosy room where we watched a power point presentation about what they do in the Labs for example they test food like baby milk to make sure they dont have too muxh bactraia that could kill the children . There work is clearly really important. We were then brought around the Labs in a guided tour, they were very organised as were went to different places for exactly 20 minutes. We visited places were we tested food for food poisoning  bacteria like Salmonella or E-Coli etc.  We also went to another section were we met a vet that works in the Labs. He tests dead animals for there cause of death, so this means he will find new diseases like the Swine Flu .We had a good day there but I found with no breaks and constantly walking around it became tiring. But I learned lots and I found it quite ironic how I go to school in Celbridge but I never knew these Labs were even there! :)

Last visit to the Moate Theatre.

Today was our last time to the Moate and indeed the last time to Mac Donald's :( . We were late and we hurried in when Orla was in mid - speech. CBS in Naas was the other school there! They had great ideas (which means there are competition :P ) and one group is already making hundreds, this meant we need to get our skates on! This time in Moate we spoke about making our business report. This as Orla said is the less interesting part to business. We took down notes as she showed us a power point on making a plan. Then she called on random people to find out the companies progress. She remembered us and called us 'the pin girls', she was interested in our progress and when we showed her the prototypes she was impressed but she said we need to start selling soon. And she was right. We also watched videos on working as a team and on communication. They videos were over acted which made it quite funny but they were also helpful as it showed us how to communication effectively. The Moate overall was extremely helpful experience as I have never done business before but it gave me a real idea of how to run our business and think like a business person.

Work Experience

 For my work experience I spent the week in the Electronic Engineering Department of National University of Ireland.  When I went in on Monday I was quite anxious as the building was huge and I was worried I would be wandering around forever. But I asked a person for directions to my supervisors office and after that everything went smoothly . I was relieved that my supervisors was so nice and he made me feel very comfortable. I was set to work straight away and at first everything they told me was so overwhelming, it felt like a total crash course of years of engineering in a half an hour. It was amazing how intelligent my supervisor and his college were. Everything they told me I tried to hold in my head, as it was very interesting. I spent the week opening mutli-meter and changing the battery and fuse in the battery. I also set up media wiki, changed software on a computer and rearranged components. I had a great experience and the working world is now that I often think about as I had never been treated as an employee with responsibility. It was definite a fun and a learinig experience that I have already benefited from.

Work Experience Talk

On the 5th of Friday, Mr. Corcoran gathered all TY ’s into the library for a talk. We all each stood up and talked about where we would be going for work experience.  Some people were going to really interesting places like modelling agencies and radio stations. Then Mr. Corcoran showed us a power-point  the had prepared about employers and employees and why a student on work experience would be an advantage to them.  We also were given a hand out on health and safety in the workplace. On the handout, we and to circle any signs of danger in the workplace eg, books falling off a table. Then we were split into groups and each given a problem in relation to work experience. We had the problem that a student was given a tip when doing work experience and we and to solve what they should do. We said that they should go up to the manager/supervisor and see what the normal routine is for workers when given tips! The day calmed my nerves as I knew what to do if any awkward situations arose.  This day was really helpful and as a result I was more relaxed when I went on work experience on Monday.

Colour Me Beautiful

On the 15th October, two ladies from Colour Me Beautiful came in to talk to us and to give us advice on what colors suit us best. The talk was brilliant, they first divided us into different categories. I thought that a few of my friends would categories under 'darks' but surprising they did not. I couldn't believe how the ladies categorized us as I couldn’t work out why some people were in different groups! I was put under the 'warm' category. I found out that colours like moss green and brown suit me best. A girl from my category was picked to be used as a model in front of the class, the ladies put the 'light' colors on her and I saw that the colors did not suit her as they drained her skin and did not look nice. But then when they placed the 'warm colors' on her hair looked like it lit up and her face stood out more. The difference was crazy! The colours that I was most suited to are some of my favourite colours. We also talked about fashion style and I loved how easily the little quiz knew what type of style I had. It knew that I had a casual and relaxed style to dressing. They also talked about body shape and how to look the best with what you had. I was quite weary of the subject at the beginning but the ladies were so nice that they made everyone feel comfortable and at ease. I had a great day that day and when I came out of the demo room I felt confident. Now when I go to shop I look at the color first instead of the price! :)

Mini Company :D

In Mini Company class this year, we have set up our own company called 'Knot A Problem'. Our product is going to help a wide range of people to un-tangle there knots. There are eight members in our team and my role is of Production Manager, this means I have to get all the resources and manufactures to produce our product. In Technology class we have been creating our product using CAD (computer aided design), this software lets us view our product in 3-D. Our product looks so professional on the laptop and we are hoping it will look that well when it is produced. Our first step in producing our project is to produce a pro-type and I have contacted several people in relation to this and many manufactures seem hopeful. A pro-type will allow us to see if the product works and how we can fix it. We have carried out our market research within the school and outside it. On Sunday, a few of the girls from the company and I went outside Tesco's and handed out our surveys, many people were very helpful but a few people (embarrassingly) help out theirs hands like a stop sign when we approached them. It was a funny day and in the end the results were great! Overall our company is great were are working together well and are having fun in the meantime !! J

In Mini Company class this year, we have set up our own company called 'Knot A Problem'. Our product is going to help a wide range of people to un-tangle there knots. There are eight members in our team and my role is of Production Manager, this means I have to get all the resources and manufactures to produce our product. In Technology class we have been creating our product using CAD (computer aided design), this software lets us view our product in 3-D. Our product looks so professional on the laptop and we are hoping it will look that well when it is produced. Our first step in producing our project is to produce a pro-type and I have contacted several people in relation to this and many manufactures seem hopeful. A pro-type will allow us to see if the product works and how we can fix it. We have carried out our market research within the school and outside it. On Sunday, a few of the girls from the company and I went outside Tesco's and handed out our surveys, many people were very helpful but a few people (embarrassingly) help out theirs hands like a stop sign when we approached them. It was a funny day and in the end the results were great! Overall our company is great were are working together well and are having fun in the meantime !! :)

To find out the latest with our company click HERE

Water!!! :)

I believe water is something we take advantage of and we expect to have it every time we turn on a tap. Water is the most vital thing that we need to live and without it we would die.
How far do we have to walk to get clean water? To the sink? To the bathroom, even? But imagine walking miles over hills and across barren lands in 45 degrees heat for seven for seven a half hours to get DIRTY water. This is what a women in Sudan has to do daily! In the first world, each person on average uses 466 liters daily. When we brush our teeth with the tap left running we waste 5 liters. Brushing our teeth twice for two days with the tap running.. wastes enough water for a women in Sudan to do all her house hold chores (washing clothes,dishes..) for her family.
Next time I turn on a tap to brush my teeth i will think about the women who walks for one hour and 50 mins just to get the amount of water that gushes from the tap and the next time I will turn off my tap straight away.
We walk for less than a minute to get clean water and that women walks for (est.) 420 mins to get dirty water.. how is that fair?

English Class :)

In English this year we are creating a play. Our play is based on a road crash that has outstanding affects on the teenagers that were involed in it. The play shows just how peer pressure and under-age drinking can have huge affects on the lives of others. The play convies this by the death of one of the main characters, her one innocent death led to life changing results for the other people who were invoved.
Whilst this play is dealing with a very serious topic, we are having great fun acting it. Our class has been spilt into two, so our group practises in the meditation room. When we are reciting our lines we are constantly trying not to laugh, we try hold our toungues but it is challenging. I am playing the Father of the girl who died, my character has to come to terms with this and to accept that no was to blame. He also then changes and sees every day as a gift. We have great fun rehearsing but I know that as soon as we stand on the stage in January there will be no laughing.

Around the World Trip!!!!

At the start of the year, we were assigned a Geography project. I had to pick two countries from the first world to present my project on. I chose Spain!! As I researched this country I found out that there was more to it then the gorgeous weather and golden beaches. I found out that in Castrillo de Murcia they hold a Baby Jumping Festival!!  Thats right and it is real festival!!! Every year newborn babies are dressed in swaddling clothes and put on a mattress while grown men dressed in a devils outfit jumps over them. The idea is a scary one for all the babies parents concerned but many people flock to the event to watch this exhilarating event. The idea of the festival is that when the men (dressed as devils) jump over the babies they rid them of any wrong doings that they may do in their future life! Heres a picture ->


For sourcre click here