Junior Mayors assemble in Athlone for Creative Climate Awards launch
Fifteen primary and secondary schools from Westmeath were represented at the council chamber in Athlone last Thursday, as Cllr Frankie Keena welcomed representatives from each as part of his ongoing and successful Junior Mayor initiative.
Currently entering its eighth year, the Junior Mayor initiative aims to give a voice to young students to help enhance and improve facilities and services in their respective areas.
The gathering, which was also attended by Cllr Paul Hogan, marked the launch of this year's Arcadia Creative Climate Awards.
These annual awards give students an opportunity to undertake climate and environmentally-friendly projects which are then exhibited at an event in the Technological University of the Shannon (TUS).
Among the schools represented by Junior Mayors, Vice Junior Mayors and students involved in the Green Schools initiative were: Athlone Community College, Ardnagrath NS, Ballinahown NS, Baylin NS, Clonbonny NS, Coosan NS, Cornamaddy CNS, Dean Kelly Boys NS, Moate CS, Marist College, Our Lady's Bower, Scoil na gCeithre Maistri, St Mary's NS, St Oliver Plunkett Boys NS and Tubberclair NS.
Scroll through gallery here for photos of the school groups:
Image 1 of 14
Jayden McCallon, Chloe McGee, Niamh O’Connor and Jake Martin from Ardnagrath NS at the Junior Mayors gathering last Thursday. Photos: Paul Molloy.Image 2 of 14
Cllr Frankie Keena with Fiachra McLoughlin of Arcadia Retail Park, Sam Mellett, Idris Muhammed Esmail, Oran Johnston, William Heduvan and Sinead White, principal, from St Oliver Plunkett’s BNS, Moate, at the Junior Mayors gathering and launch of the Arcadia Creative Climate awards.Image 3 of 14
Cllr Frankie Keena with Fiachra McLoughlin of Arcadia Retail Park, Oliver Keating, principal, Anne Fox, teacher, and pupils Elena Laffey, Kellie O’Connor and Taragh Shine from St Clare’s National School, Tubberclair.Image 4 of 14
Cllr Frankie Keena with pupils Scott, Darragh, Liam, David, Gabriel, Alex, Noah, Bebe, Fionn, Rory, and, principal, Brid McCoy, from Dean Kelly National School, at the Junior Mayor gathering and Arcadia Creative Climate Awards launch.Image 5 of 14
Cllr Frankie Keena with Fiachra McLoughlin, Arcadia Retail Park, Deirdre Casey, teacher, and pupils Ian Nawmovski, Aadya Pathak and Nina Pereira Miley from Cornamaddy NS.Image 6 of 14
Cllr Frankie Keena with Fiachra McLoughlin of Arcadia Retail Park, Mark Lennon, teacher, and pupils Doaa Alkam, Rebeka Malati, Noel Galos, Aliza Ahmed, and Suchin Deepan from St Mary’s NS at the Junior Mayors gathering and Arcadia Creative Climate Awards launch.Image 7 of 14
Jack Gaynor, Adam O’Neill and Chloe Miley from Clonbonny NS with Cllr Frankie Keena and Fiachra McLoughlin of Arcadia Retail Park at the Junior Mayors gathering and launch of the Arcadia Creative Climate Awards. Photos: Paul Molloy.Image 8 of 14
Morgan Fagg and Fiachra McLoughlin, Arcadia Retail Park, with Cllr Frankie Keena and Athlone Community College representatives David Akahomen, Henry Osunkunle, Grace Foley, teacher, and seated: Dimercia Nyikosani, Devika Sahai, DJ Moran and Arthur Obrebski.Image 9 of 14
Cllr Frankie Keena with Fiachra McLoughlin, Arcadia Retail Park, and pupils from Scoil na gCeithre Máistri at the Junior Mayors gathering and Arcadia Creative Climate Awards launch.Image 10 of 14
Coosan NS teachers Niamh O’Flynn and Ciara Harte with pupils Neil Boyle, Bláthnaid Macken, Ismail Ahmad, Parthenia Bertilla and Lucy Leahy pictured alongside Cllr Frankie Keena with Fiachra McLoughlin and Morgan Fagg, Arcadia Retail Park.Image 11 of 14
Cllr. Frankie Keena with Fiachra McLoughlin Arcadia, Michael Fagan teacher, seated Emma Kerrigan, Leah Daly and Emma Simpson from St Colmcille's NS Ballinahown at the Junior Mayor gathering last week.Image 12 of 14
Cllr. Frankie Keena with Fiachra McLoughlin Arcadia, Deirdre Casey teacher, Ian Nawmovski, Aadya Pathak and Nina Pereira Miley from Cornamaddy NS at the Junior Mayor gathering.Image 13 of 14
Cllr. Frankie Keena with Fiachra McLoughlin Arcadia, Fionn Gosling, Nikola Kubal and Ciara McLoughlin from Baylin NS at the Junior Mayor event last week. Photos: Paul Molloy.Image 14 of 14
Cllr. Frankie Keena with Fiachra McLoughlin Arcadia, Olivia Norris teacher, Eimear Duignan, Rachel Coghlan and Isaac Downes from Moate CS at the Junior Mayor gathering last week.Both Dean Kelly NS and Tubberclair NS are welcome newcomers to the Junior Mayor initiative and Arcadia Creative Climate Awards, Cllr Keena told a large attendance.
"The concept is to give young people a meaningful and important voice, and the initiative has grown so much from year to year," said Cllr Keena. "The work carried out by student councils is fantastic and we acknowledge and thank all teachers, staff and principals for their involvement and assistance."
Arcadia Retail Park Director Fiachra McLoughlin said the main objective of the Creative Climate Awards is for young people to have fun while coming up with fresh and innovative ideas on topics such as the climate, waste management and encouraging biodiversity.
Mr McLoughlin said it had been inspiring to see the progress made by the awards since Arcadia Retail Park became involved as the sponsor of the initiative five years ago.
He said one of the most important steps taken for the awards was to move away from its original competitive format to a more inclusive exhibition-style format.
Next April, he said, many parents, friends and grandparents of those taking part will be able to view all the students' work when the exhibition is held in TUS.
Cllr Paul Hogan said it was uplifting to see so many young people gathered together in the council chamber, adding that the standard of the various projects in recent years had been extremely high.
Speaking from a teacher’s perspective, Orla Mannion of the Marist College described the Junior Mayor initiative as very positive for the schools and really inclusive for the participating students.
Among the Junior Mayors to address the meeting were Nikola Kubala (Baylin NS), Idris Muhammed Esmail (St Oliver Plunkett Boys NS), Blaithnead Macken (Coosan NS), Adam O'Neill (Clonbonny NS) and Miaya Qaiyas (Our Lady's Bower).
The event concluded with food and refreshments for all in attendance and light discussions between the young students.