< PreviousMarch 2017 The Meath Coaster ©10Drogheda Grammar School NewsHealth promotion weekThe Grammar mile was extremely successful during health promotion week. A total of 395 miles were walked/ran by students on their lunch time. Many of the students completed 1-2 miles each day. Mena Feeney-Martin in 1st year com-pleted a total of 11 miles through the course of the week. The students of Form 1 Marsh over the course of the week com-pleted a total of 94.5 miles between them. Past pupil Shelley Allen spoke to the 3rd year students on good nutrition healthy eating for exams. Shelley discussed the importance of a well balanced diet, outlin-ing the use of whole foods for obtaining essential vitamins and minerals.Sharon Courtney, an All Star footballer and a nutrition lecturer from Dundalk IT came to the school to talk to the 4th and 5th year classes. Sharon covered many topics such as basics of healthy eating, the food pyramid and also the importance of Physi-cal Activity. Sharon kept the students en-gaged by asking them to complete small tasks, such as completing a daily food di-ary. The students seemed to enjoy the talk and responded well, many of the students had interesting questions to ask at the end of the talk.A personal trainer from Dublin who spe-cialises in body transformations came to talk to the 6th year students. Mr Flye dis-cussed his own personal experience, from battling bulimia to becoming one of the most successful personal trainers in Ire-land. He discussed basic healthy eating and then he also targeted the students who were interested in sport and spoke briefly about appropriate sporting nutrition.Mental Health Workshop: Dr Lynette Hughes, Mental Health Researcher: Dr Lynette Hughes spoke with all classes and gave a very informative session. It was a wonderful way for students to focus on their own mental health and wellbeing.Book weekThe first week back after mid-term saw the school build on their Well Read award from earlier in the year and celebrate book week. Visiting authors included Osin Mc-Gannn, Ruth Long, Natasha Mac a Bhaird and Nicola Pearce who we welcome back. Nicola took our creative writing group last year and it was great for the students to hear from her again. The week also included book swaps, quiz-zes and reading periods. It was great to see the library being so active and busy throughout the week. Many thanks to the literacy group for putting the programme together for a very successful week. TY Sky SportsOur TY Sky Sports team had Carla Rowe Dublin Ladies Gaelic footballer visit our school on Tuesday 31st January. This was an excellent day for all students participating and we hope to continue to plan an end of year event where Carla will also attend.Girls BasketballBoth the first year and second year teams are playing extremely well this season, with both teams qualifying for the quarter March 2017 The Meath Coaster ©11LOCAL CLINIC TIMEAlverno House, Laytown.2nd & 4th Monday, 3.30pm - 4.30pmPhone 041 987 3823 for appointmentLouth & East Meath T.D. Imelda MunsterWorking with Cllr Eimear FergusonFor an appointment please contact me atSinn Féin Constituency Office84 West St., DroghedaMonday - Friday 9.30 - 5pmTel: 041 987 3823Email: sfdrogheda@eircom.netCONGRATULATIONS TO St COLMCILLES CLG FOR THEIR GREAT CAMPAIGNfinals in their leagues. The 1st year team are unbeaten while the second year team have won 3 out of their 4 league games to date.RugbyThe senior team finished top of their league and now face the winners of the metro league, St Columba’s College in the semi final. Ski TripThe February Mid term saw a group of 60 students and staff take off to Italy where they enjoyed a week skiing together. They all returned home happy, healthy and tired. Many thanks to the teachers who or-ganised the whole trip and gave up their time to take them, it was really appreci-ated by all involved. §March 2017 The Meath Coaster ©12Le Chéile Educate Together National SchoolMornington Road, Drogheda Co. Louthwww.lecheileetns.comMornington Road, Drogheda, Co. MeathKindness Week at Le ChéileThe brain child of Le Chéile teacher Nicola Kelly and a great idea as it reminded children and adults alike of the importance to take that extra moment to be thoughtful and kind. Compliments were flowing, politeness was everywhere evi-dent and moments of reflection abounded. Nicola even placed a little token daily in the teachers’ pigeon holes.ten minutes out at 10 a.m. to do ten min-utes exercise on the 10th of February. This is commonly done by various teach-ers in the school in their own time but it was a first for everybody to do it at the same time! Children were running, playing chasing, dancing, moving along with “Go Noodle” and a number of other 10 minute workouts were undertaken. All agreed it was great fun and we must do it again!Trying our hand at St. Brigid’s CrossesWednesday 1st February marked the first official day of Spring and the Christian feast of St. Brigid. Given that St. Brigid is said to have been born in Co. Louth, we in 6th class thought it was important to keep the cross-making tradition going. 3 hours, lots of team-work and a very messy class-room later, we had 26 beautiful crosses!St. Colmcilles at All Ireland Final!For the past 5 years all students from 1st Operation Transformation 10@10We were prompted by RTÉ to get involved in the Operation Transformation 10@10 activity day. Everybody in the school took March 2017 The Meath Coaster ©13class upwards have taken part in Gaelic training with the great trainers from St. Colmcille’s sharing their skills and tal-ents with our football team. This years first class (below) couldn’t contain their excitement as they chanted their support in the school corridors in advance of the exciting All Ireland Final! § March 2017 The Meath Coaster ©14The Stamullen Roundup By Grace TierneyCongratulations to all the light-footed dancers for Stamullen FC who held their glitzy fundraiser recently and raised an amazing total for the club. Well done to Simon and Adele Treacy, the champion dancers on the night. If you missed attend-ing, you can find a video on the Stamullen Football Club facebook page.Another huge achievement in our com-munity was Sean O’Donovan’s seven day challenge to climb Mount Kilimanjaro (the highest mountain in Africa) and raise funds for Friends of Calcutta and Stamullen Tidy Towns. Sean, from Atomic Fitness in the village, pushed the limits to climb the 5895m (19,340 feet) mountain. Apparently it even rained, just to remind him of home. Living at sea level makes altitude a tough challenge, regardless of fitness, but he made it to the summit on the 4th of February and raised €1,230 in the process.There was a brilliant turnout at the launch of the new coffee dock in St. Patrick’s GAA on the 18th. The free coffee and scones were flowing and it was a worth-while reminder of the great resource the centre is for the whole community. The facility is buzzing with activities all week – Gaelic football, hurling, Irish dancing, badminton, Scouts, adult danc-ing, baton twirling, taekwondo, basket-ball, indoor bowls, running, and gymnas-tics. It’s easy to imagine people enjoying the wifiand newspapers with a cuppa March 2017 The Meath Coaster ©15while the kids are doing their activities.With the slight stretch in the evening the Stamullen Scouts have been “putting the out into scout”. The Cubs spent two nights in a hostel in Cavan and learned survival skills in local woods. The Ventures built shelters and hiked in the snow. The Scouts are hiking and orienteering in the Dublin mountains this weekend. An-nual camps are being planned for Cork, Wicklow and Waterford.Lightning Taekwondo Club are open to new members, male and female, age five and up. It’s €5 per class on Mondays and Thursdays 7-8p.m. in GAA. Contact Brian at 086-061-7849 for details.Good luck to those making their Confir-mation on the 29th of March in Stamullen and Whitecross schools.Got Stamullen news? Send it to Grace (087-9074145) or grace@meathcoaster.com §COMMUNITY GRANT SCHEME 2017Applications are invited from Community Groups, Tidy Towns / Village Com-mittees, Residents Associations and other organisations, to assist with actions and projects being undertaken in their local area. The range of grants available under the Community Grant Scheme 2017 are:• Residents Association • Tidy Towns • Community Involvement • Active Elderly • Children & Youth • Equality & Social Inclusion • Recreation & Sport • Festivals & Events • Streetscape Paint Scheme • Burial Ground Further details and application forms can be obtained from the Community Depart-ment, Meath County Council, Buvinda House, Dublin Road, Navan, Co. Meath C15 Y201 or by email communitygrants@meathcoco.ie or on our website www.meath.ie/Community/CommunityInformation/CommunityGrants/CommunityGrantsScheme/Closing date for receipt of completed applications is 5.00p.m., Friday, 31st March, 2017March 2017 The Meath Coaster ©16Coláiste na hInseCNI Students to Stage The Lonesome West on March 3rd and 4thColáiste na hInse, through their annual Lady Gregory Project, are proud to present Martin McDonagh’s acclaimed and award winning play, The Lonesome West. Set around the fortunes and misfor-tunes of brothers Coleman and Valene, The Lonesome West tells a dark and twist-ed story of flirtation, despair and murder along Ireland’s West Coast. Directed by Lydia Keogh, produced by Medb Brere-ton Hurley and starring a stellar group of CNI students, this show of brotherly turmoil will provide a gripping evening’s entertainment. The show will be performed at the Droichead Arts Centre in Drogheda on March 3rd & 4th at 8pm on both evenings.Tickets avail-able at: www.droichead.com/show/ 873568285Remarkable Success for Debating Teams in Coláiste na hInseFebruary is always a busy month at the business end of national debating competi-tions and CNI are in the thick of it. First of all, huge congratulations to Emer, Eabha (both first years!), Harry, Liam, Eve and Aoife who have all progressed to the Jun-ior Schools Octo Finals in UCD. We look forward to seeing them challenge in the knock out stages over the coming weeks. Best of luck to our eight senior daltaí who are going to compete in the inaugural, Na-tional Mace Debating Competition also in UCD over the midterm break. Finally and most significantly, well done to senior daltaí Eolain Downey, Eoghan Boland and Calem Martin who have all progressed to the Leinster Final of the All Ireland Schools' Debating competi-tion. Competing against Gonzaga, Loreto Beaufort, Castleknock Community Col-lege and CUS, the gents will have their work cut out on March 13th in Trinity to take home the title. Calem is hoping to be only the second speaker in the com-petition history to retain their title, while Eoghan is hoping to avenge last year's fi-nal defeat with first time speaker Eolain as CNI Dáltaí at IMMAMarch 2017 The Meath Coaster ©17 Continued over....his teammate. Best of luck to all!recipe of their choice which would be then made by their partner class. Rang Corri-gan will follow up by producing a video of their efforts and sharing this with their European classmates along with feedback on the experience.eTwinning offers a platform for teachers working in a school in one of the Euro-pean countries involved, to communicate, collaborate, develop projects, share and, in short, feel and be part of the most ex-citing learning community in Europe. To find out more visit www.etwinning.netLeaving Certificate Dáltaí Visit the IMMAAs part of the Leaving Certificate cur-riculum, fifth and sixth year dáltaí had the opportunity to visit the Irish Musum of Modern Art in Kilmainham to enjoy the work of Lucian Freud.Rang Corrigan Baking Macaroons as part of their eTwinning ProjectMacaroons à la françaiseColáiste na hInse’s Rang Corrigan brought France to the classroom this week as they took another step forward in their eTwin-ning project. The class is twinned with a class from Angres in north-eastern France and their latest collaborative project was called the “Recipe Challenge”. The idea was for each class to send the other class a 041 98 444 98 041 98 111 98086 838 4444www.eastcoastcabs.comEAST COAST CABSEAST COAST CABS SERVICING MEATH COAST & DROGHEDA REGIONS CABS - 4, 6 & 8 SEATERSNEW RANGE OF MINI-VANSCOACHES - 16, 24, 36 & 54 SEATERS AVAILABLEMarch 2017 The Meath Coaster ©18Coláiste na hInse Careers ExpoThe Coláiste na hInse Careers Expo took place on 26th January and was a huge suc-cess. We welcomed over 700 people on the night. It was a unique opportunity for our daltai and parents to research the sen-ior cylce subjects available in the Coláiste and to speak to over 50 representatives from colleges, universities and career ar-eas. All the major colleges and universi-ties attended on the night including Trin-ity, UCD, DCU, Maynooth and DKIT, as well as DIFE, Colaiste Dhulaigh and O'Fiaich. We were delighted to have the National Ambulance Service, the Defence Forces and the Gardaí there on the night to highlight careers in their areas. Our teach-ers were also on hand to explain the Sen-ior Cycle options here in the Coláiste.Blue Shield Initiative Launched in CNIMonica Rowe of the ISPCC visited Coláiste na hInse on Monday, January 30th to officially launch the school’s Blue Shield Initiative. The CNI Student Coun-cil are working with the ISPCC to pro-mote anti-bullying workshops within the school, with the aim of supporting stu-dents and reducing incidents of bullying. As part of this, there is now a tab on the school website, the “Stand Up Bullying Report Tool” that allows students to re-port bullying. See www.ispcc.ie for more information.Chemistry Students visit NUI, May-noothLeaving Certificate dáltaí enjoyed the op-portunity to visit Maynooth University recently. The dáltaí conducted a number of experiments in the University labs. §CNI Students in Chemisty Labs at NUI, MaynoothCrowds at the CNI Careers ExpoLaunch of the Blue Shield Initiative in CNIMarch 2017 The Meath Coaster ©19Have you visited recently? Why not head down to Sonairte for a love-ly spring walk, the daffodils are out and nature is waking up. Our organic walled garden is getting ready for sowing and growing and will include a wide range of organic vegetables.Sonairte Potato Day Saturday 18th March. Traditionally the first early potatoes are planted in Ireland on St Patrick’s Day, so come down and enjoy a day with our ex-perts. Potato Planting demonstrations are on between 11-12pm and 2-3pm; a wide variety of seed potatoes will be available for sale on the day plus family activities and plant sales. Potato varieties include: Vitabella, Lilly Blue Danube and we are taking orders so please contact us for your requests on 041 982 7572 email info@sonairte.ieSonairte Needs your HelpSonairte provides a unique and free local amenity in which to educate and increase awareness of nature. As a not-for-profit charity Sonairte relies on your voluntary support, donations and sponsorship, we would be delighted to hear from you if you would be able to help us in anyway.Sonairte School Tours ProgrammeSonairte is getting ready for its very busy school tours season and is now taking bookings for all primary school tours; we have an early booking offer of a free raised bed to each school who books before the end of March.Email: info@sonairte.ie Web:www.sonairte.ie A new addition this year will be a foraging hedgerow area which we have invites lo-cal schools to support and sponsor. Plans for the coming monthsYou may be interested in the plans we are making here in Sonairte to provide a wider range of events and camps over the coming months. 3 Day Easter Garden Camp 12-14th April from 10-1pm @ €15 per day. All our camps will promote eco-logical awareness, nature and the arts. We are looking at new opportunity to work with the ECO-UNESCO’s Youth and Sus-tainable Development Club…would you be interested in getting involved?Please follow us for all updates on: ht-tps://www.facebook.com/Sonairte Shopping in SonairteThe Watt Footprint Eco Shop and Granny’s Attic are open with lots of new and interesting items so do call in and take a look, you can also enjoy the Sunflower Café with its delicious seasonal menu available Tue-Sun.Le Château de Ballet have classes are available in Sonairte Friday and Saturday. Contact Paula 086 225 5541and Evening Meditations is available Tuesday evening 8pm to 9pm contact Ann 085 208 3466 Room Hire and Events @ Sonairte Room hire is available for private events; christen-ings, wedding parties and family gatherings.Grow Your Own. We are looking at a new opportunity to give support, skills and the confidence to grow vegetables and fruit successfully…would you be interest-ed in a new group in Sonairte? §Next >