This morning, TY were delighted to welcome writer and editor Claire Hennessy in to talk to the year group on feminism and gender stereotypes in popular culture. The visit was organised by YSI group "Equal People" – made up of students Molly Gervin, Ben Newman, Rhiannon Kelly, Jack Pitman, Fiachra Healy, Patrick O'Connor, Sarah Lawlor, Katherine Ward, Chloe Scott and Lauren Mannion. Equal People focus on LGBT equality, gender equality and rape culture awareness. Claire marks the second speaker Equal People have organised, having welcomed androgynous model and queer rights activist Ivan Fahy before Christmas. Claire Hennessy is a YA writer, editor and self-proclaimed "ranty feminist". However, she made it clear that she wasn't there to lecture us: "I don't want to be here talking down to you. I want to have a proper discussion". The result of which ended up being a very informative and eye-opening hour long discussion, which really got the whole year involved. Claire debunked many rumours of feminism – that all feminists are "men haters", that men can't be feminists, that gender inequality only affects women. The discussion was very comfortable and at times, entertaining. Claire believes humour is one of the best tools you can use to highlight issues and get points across . The discussion was also very inclusive – Claire welcomed all opinions and made the topic very comfortable for those who mightn't have understood what feminism really is all about very well. I think we all learned valuable lessons from Claire's talk, and it's very refreshing that we can have such mature discussions in TY. Equal People are certainly having a successful campaign. They are opening the minds of their fellow peers and changing a few things for the better. It is also very impressive that a group of fifteen and sixteen-year-olds can organise so well the visit of two high profile rights activists. A massive congratulations is due to all involved. Best of luck with the rest of your campaign. Claire is pictured with students from the YSI group as well as some others from the year group. (Written by Cathal McMahon, Photography by Ms. Groome) On the 22nd of January a concert, "Drumming for Crumlin" was held by a 3rd year class as part of their junior cert action project for CSPE. Practice for the concert was vigorous all day so that it ran as smoothly as possible when it was held during the day's last three classes. It was held for both 2nd and 3rd years and the entery price was €2. A number of different bands played including Resistor which consists of TY blog admin Robert Talbot, his brother Conor Talbot and friend, Tadhg Flinter. Resistor played second last and they played with all their energy. Robert, who plays the drums, ended up losing one of sticks at the end of his first song because he was playing so hard. Tadhg carried on with the hard playing in second song, losing a string in the process. All three of them played with so much dedication and passion, it kept everyone entertained. At the end of their set, Tadhg knocked over the mic with his guitar and in turn sent himself sliding across the stage. Resistor's set was definitely not a boring one and you could tell everyone enjoyed it. The concert ended with a mashup of songs played by Mr O' Toole and Mr Dolan along with two other students. All in all, around €400 was raised for Crumlin!
(Written by Rhiannon Kelly, Photography by Aine Budds) On Monday, the 25th of January, each class group in TY were treated to an African drumming workshop, hosted by Tribal Spirit Drumming. African drumming has become a growing trend in Ireland, and drumming workshops have become an annual part of CPC's Transition Year Program.
The drumming workshop was hosted by a lovely woman named Deirdre. The group organising the workshop brought a number of different drums and small percussion instruments with them for us to try out. Each student had the chance to play a Djeme drum, a rope-tuned skin-covered drum that originates from West Africa. Deirdre gave us a brief talk on the history of the drums and how they produce their sound. She taught us how to hold the drum properly, and how to make slightly different sounds and pitches by striking different parts of the drum. She then went through a number of different rhythms for us to play together. We even did a small bit of African tribal singing, which was really fun! African drumming is becoming quite popular, with different classes and workshops popping up around the country. From first hand experience, it is very fun and very therapeutic. The drums produced a rich and satisfying noise, which was very relaxing to both listen to and tap out with your hands. All our stresses melted away as we filled the room with beautiful African beats and songs. For more information on African drumming classes and workshops, check out: www.tribalspiritdrumming.org (Written by Cathal McMahon, Photography by Áine Budds) With only 47 more days until the opening night of the musical, rehearsals for the musical are getting more and more intense but more fun! Run throughs of all the dances of all the dances and songs covered so far were done this Thursday, getting as far as "Video Killed the Radio Star".
If anyone has any pictures of musical rehearsals and would like them featured on the blog, please send them to [email protected]. Make sure to include who took the pictures so that credit can be given! (Written by Rhiannon Kelly) Questions
1. When did you find out about the Paris attacks? 2. How did you find out/who told you? 3. What was your immediate reaction? 4. What do you feel should be done about what has happened? 5. What are your feelings about what has happened now? 6. What did you think about the amount of media coverage? 7. Sum up your feelings on the attacks in one word |
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