Summerhill College

Champion in the Classroom

Summerhill College staff and students are delighted with the achievement of Thomas Endersby in winning the Senior Individual section in the Chemical, Physical and Mathematical Science category of the 2011 BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition in the RDS Dublin.

Thomas’s project was concerned with Increasing the rate of Methangenesis in an Anaerobic Digester and /or the Quantity of Methane produced.

The prestigious award is a great source of pride to Summerhilll College and a really impressive addition to Thomas’s already impressive c.v.

Well done to Thomas and to his Physics teacher Mr. John Mc Getrick.

Public Speaking Success
Congratulations to the Summerhill Public Speaking team on winning the County Final of the Mental Health Public Speaking Project held in the Sligo Park Hotel on January 19. Summerhill overcame opposition from Mercy College Sligo and St. Attracta’s College Tubbercurry to take the county title.

The Summerhill team featured recent Young Scientist Category winner, Thomas Endersby along with Cian Tuohy and Barry Brennan.

The substitute was Anthony Mc Donagh but on this occasion he was not required. On the night the team was mentored by Ms. Kathleen Noonan , who had stepped in for Rev. Gerard Cryan, who had been during the week.
In previous years Ms Noonan had enjoyed great success as a coach in the same competition. Well done to the boys and the best of luck in the next stage of the competition.

Science Olympiad Champion
Tanzeel Ahmed was recently presented with his bronze medal at the Irish Science Olympiad. He was the first Summerhill student to be so recognised.

Tanzeel qualifed for the Junior section of the Olympiad on the basis of his Science results in the Junior Cert this year.
Two other Summerhill pupils, Ciaran Mc Closkey and Mohammad Rasheed also qualified.

Out of the one hundred and six students who qualified for the National Olynpiad, Tanzeel finished in seventh position.

Tanzeel was a reserve on that team which travelled to the World Junior Olympiad, which was held in Nigeria
Pic shows Tanzeel Ahmed with his medal with Summerhill Deputy Principal, Ms. Margaret Dowd.

Certificates of Achievement
The JE Cairnes School of Business and Economics in National University of Ireland, Galway (NUIG) made a presentation to six Summerhill College students to mark their achievement in securing A grades on Higher Level Business Studied paper in the Junior Certificate 2010. The certificates are awarded in conjunction with the Business Studies Teachers’ Association of Ireland.
The students are James Flanagan, Matthew Davey, Mark Comerford, Brian Tobin, James Noonan and Mohammad Rasheed.

Class Time Clawed Back
In order to restore teaching time, which was lost as a result of the enforced closure before Christmas, the Summerhill staff and management have decided to cancel the scheduled staff in –service day scheduled for February . They also agreed to hold the recent Leaving Cert. Parent /Teacher meeting on January 19th after school, rather than during the school day. The postponed Christmas tests have since been completed since re-opening.

The Third year retreats took place last week. These are organized by College Chaplain, Mr Paul Keogh and his colleagues in the Religious Education Department.

Guidance Counsellor, Mr. David Mc Neive is currently educating First Year students on the subject of Study Skills. It is hoped that these skills will be beneficial to the students as they progress through Second Level Education.

League Final
The Summerhill College senior Gaelic team is currently preparing for the upcoming Connacht League final appearance. Mr. Conneely’s charges won their semi-final encounter against St. Colman’s Claremorris to earn the right to face the mighty St. Jarlath’s Tuam in the league final.

Last week they played St. Michael’s Enniskillen opposition in a friendly and this week they practice their skills against Ulster opposition again, in the form of St. Patrick’s, Dungannon. We wish the boys well in the final. The game against St. Jarlath’s was arranged for Curry on Wednesday but the Tuam side have requested a postponement.

The Junior team, managed by Mr. Joe Neary enjoyed a very convincing win over St. Attracta’s Tubbercurry on Monday January 24th. On the Tuesday the 2nd Year team scored an emphatic victory over St. Muredach’s from Ballina. Well done to the lads and their managers Mr. Kenny Donagher and Mr. Damian Keenan.

In Soccer Mr. Tivnan’s Under-16 team eventually got to play their quarter final encounter. The team had already travelled to Clifton, only to have the pitch declared to be unplayable. When they eventually got their hands on the Galway opposition they beat the Clifton boys by nine clear goals. The team has since finished its league campaign undefeated. It is proving to be a truly successful year for the boys.

TG4 Visit
A television crew from TG4 visited Summerhill last week to record a segment for their Thar an Trasnán (Over the Bar) sport’s prgramme. The Irish language programme features competition among a number of selected schools from around the country to see how good the boys are at scoring points in gaelic foot ball. The chosen students introduce themselves through Irish, state their on-field position and take a long range effort at point scoring. Summerhill did not let Sligo down and were well up to the task.

Field Trip
The Leaving Cert Geography students enjoyed a pleasant afternoon in Rosses Point as they prepared for the Field Study option in their exam course. The trip was organized by Geography teachers, Mr. Leo Hegarty and Ms. Adrian Barrett.

Rovers Signed Jersey
The 2L 4 CSPE class are selling tickets for a signed Sligo Rover’s jersey in a charity fund raising draw. The jersey, signed by the double cup-winning players is a really terrific prize and tickets are priced at €2 each.