THE guest of honour at the recent Schull Community College’s prizegiving event was double gold medal winning Olympian and past pupil, Fintan McCarthy.
The excitement of staff, students and their families was palpable at the arrival of the sporting legend, who had been the recipient of the Sportsperson of the Year award at the same ceremony just ten years before, in 2014.
Fintan was introduced by principal Sarah Buckley as someone who shows incredible commitment and hard work. She reminded students that Fintan was 15 before he found the thing that he was passionate about and that he has excelled in, summing up his achievements as ‘truly awe inspiring, yet possible’. In his honest, relatable address Fintan described the difference between the person he was coming into first year and the person he was when he left six years later. He credited his teachers in what he called an amazing school for much of his development. He urged students to be consistent, to keep showing up and to keep taking those baby steps in whatever area they wish to be successful in.
Schull Community College’s students were celebrated for their academic results, their sporting accolades and their input into life at the college at the prizegiving ceremony. Eden Healy was presented with the award for Best Leaving Cert for his outstanding achievement in the state exam. Eden’s consistent focus and hard work over six years now sees him studying engineering at UCC. Samantha Ross was named Student of the Year for her positive contribution to life at the college, she is now studying social science at UCC.
The Bollinger Scholarship was established at Schull Community College in 1998 and provides long-standing financial support for successful candidates for their full undergraduate programme. In recent years, Bill and Judy Bollinger extended their extraordinary generosity further, raising the sum to €4,000 and offering two scholarships per year. This year’s successful Bollinger scholars were Jane Seegers and Samantha Ross, who also addressed the audience recalling the myriad of opportunities, positive relationships and sense of community they experienced at the school.
Many other awards were presented, with TY students receiving awards for participation in programmes such as Friends of the Elderly and Gáisce. Ciarán Cifone was named TY Student of the Year. Rory Harrap was named Sportsperson of the Year for his involvement in the school basketball team throughout his six years and for his outstanding achievements in sailing.
Awards were allocated as follows: junior cycle, art award, Maria Schlotterbeck and Elvie Lewis; music, Olivia Killeen; home economics, Anna Hellen and Orla Malone; wood technology, Daniel Copithorne; engineering, Robbie Dukelow; junior Stem, Oliver Johnson; senior cycle, Mair Lewis Fenn art award, Kaya Wild; music, Rafael Wiegandt; Finola and Denis Quinlan music award, Fionn Keogh; Gradam Gaeilge, Suki Kelly; home economics, Caoimhe Griffin; construction, James McKnight; engineering, Ryan Whelton; DCG, Coey Scannell; Stem, Suki Kelly; Ursula Henzler German award, Jane Seegers; business, Oran Camier; agricultural science, Eden Healy; LCVP, Samantha Ross. Sports Awards were as follows: basketball, Rory Harrap; ladies footballer, Sarah McSweeney; male footballer, Eden Healy; sailing, Ryan O’Driscoll. General awards: TYear Student of the Year, Ciarán Cifone; nature hero, Katie Pyburn, Tadgh Murnane and Aibhe Martin; Student Council award, Tom Jenkins. Main awards: best Leaving Certificate, Eden Healy; best Junior Certificate, Maria Schlotterbeck; sportsperson of the year, Rory Harrap; Bollinger Scholarship Award, Jane Seegers and Samantha Ross and student of the year, Samantha Ross.