Presentation pupils celebrate diversity at multi-cultural day
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Doing a presentation on India were Adam Archibald, Albtool Ali Abdulsalam, Cassie Crichton, Bianca Russu, Conor Carey, Rafael Rijo, and Kashinadhan Kozhippillil.Image 2 of 8
Estonia – Victoria Buinenko and Abbie McKeon.Image 3 of 8
Pat Nevin,Ned Ward and Britney Nevin.Image 4 of 8
Eva Bagdonaviciute and Layla McNamee.Image 5 of 8
Poland – Sarah Kud, Mya Boyd and Estere Skrastina.Image 6 of 8
Slovenia – Isac Roche and Tilly Eivers.Image 7 of 8
Cyprus – Braylee Fitzpatrick, Sarah Cave and Patsy Nevin.Image 8 of 8
Minister Peter Burke with teacher Peter Kelly.The hall at Presentation Senior School was filled with colour as students presented projects on EU countries and other cultures for a multicultural day as part of the Communicating Europe initiative.
Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Peter Burke visited, as he had worked closely on the project during his time as junior minister, when he had the responsibility for EU Affairs.
The Communicating Europe initiative provides funding to voluntary organisations, educational bodies and civil society groups and bodies for projects intended to raise public awareness of the role of the European Union, and improve the quality and accessibility of public information on European issues, at local, regional or national level.
Speaking to the Westmeath Examiner at the event, teacher Peter Kelly said the entire school “really enjoyed” working on the project. “The whole initiative is to educate people about the EU and inform the students and wider school community about the history and the benefits of Ireland’s membership.
“We put forward a proposal to be a part of the scheme and we were delighted that it was accepted. We initially decided to celebrate the enlargement of the European Union in 2004 and we then broadened the theme as we have such a diverse school, we wanted to celebrate that diversity in the school, so we decided we’d have a culture day.
“We have pupils from lots of different backgrounds in this school and our culture day was aimed at celebrating their heritage. Each class was given a country either from the European Union or of their own heritage and they could do a little project on that and present it in the hall. We were delighted to invite the parents and the wider school community to come in and have a look,” he said.
With the assistance of Minister Burke, the school secured funding to run the project and make the wider public aware of what they learned.
“We are grateful to Minister Peter Burke and the Department of Foreign Affairs, who provided funding for this initiative. It is an invaluable resource and the students learned a lot from the project,” Mr Kelly concluded.