Our Experience in a CEIST School
We are both currently Leaving Certificate students in the Sacred Heart School in Westport, Co. Mayo. Throughout our education in this school, we have learned so much about ourselves, our faith and religion.
Being a part of a CEIST school has provided us with ample opportunities. For example, we took part in the Pope John Paul II awards in Transition Year. We were selected by our school chaplain, Margaret Hession, to participate in the Young Mercy Leader Programme in July 2017. As a result of this, we were able to partake in the Papal Cross Awards, which we received at the ceremony in Knock on November 15th.
To qualify for these awards, we spent 80 hours doing voluntary work. This included things such as, being leaders for our local religious groups and girl club, reading at mass and making artwork for our school. We were honoured when our artwork was chosen to be given as tokens to the Pope John Paul II award leaders last year.
To get our Papal Cross, we carried out workshops with the 1st Year students in our school on various topics such as Mindfulness, Catherine McCauley and human trafficking.
Growing up in a CEIST school has had a huge impact on who we are today. We have been provided with an opportunity we never would have imagined. We have learned so much and experienced so many things that we will carry with us forever. This would not have been possible without our school chaplain and religion teachers.
By Aoife Roache and Aoife Lavelle