St Peter"s awarded for global development project

St Peter"s National School received a highly commended award in the 2009 Our World Irish Aid Awards last week, one of only 12 schools nationwide to receive recognition. The annual Our World awards is a national competition that encourages pupils to become more aware about the lives of children in developing countries and learn about the Millennium Development Goals. The principal, teacher and the sixth class pupils of St Peter"s attended the ceremony in Dublin Castle last week, to receive their prize, after over 500 schools nationwide took part in the competition. The Minister of State for Overseas Development, Peter Power, spoke with the winning schools at the prizegiving ceremony while the awards were presented by Athlone"s favourite TV presenter, Rob Ross. 'We are delighted,' said principal Darina Dolan. 'It was a great achievement for Ms Kilgannon and the pupils.' For their project, the sixth class girls, along with teacher Bríd Kilgannon, developed a board game based on sustainability and the environment. The game asks questions such as 'how much water do you use' and players are then punished or rewarded depending on their answers. The students also gave a power point presentation about global development to the local Active Age Group and to their fellow pupils. 'This year we had the highest number of entries ever for the Our World Irish Aid Awards, with over 500 primary schools taking part from all over Ireland. The entries show the huge interest among Irish children in learning about the world around them and their concern for children in developing countries who are deprived of their most basic rights because of poverty,' said Minister Power. Three hundred pupils and teachers attended the awards ceremony at Dublin Castle last Tuesday.