Third Years participated in Comhairle Na nÓg Workshop

On May 16th nine Third Year students travelled to Youth Work Ireland Centre in Tuam to attend a workshop with Comhairle Na nÓg. It centred on the environment and the problems caused by today’s society. 

We learned that not only are we a part of the problem, but a part of the solution as well. 

Firstly we had a talk from Mark Molloy about waste management. It benefited us because we learned how to sensibly manage resources. He taught us about alternatives to plastic and how to use less packaging. He shared pictures of turtles and other marine animals, wrapped in plastic, which has been discarded by humans. These were effective in expressing the problem in an eye-opening way. The frightening statistics made us question our actions and ourselves, on whether we are helping the environment to the best of our ability. 

We next got involved in a more hands on workshop. We got to interact with the students from different schools. We got to plant plants, which we learned helped with pollination. He encouraged us to refurbish abandoned places and small areas of land by planting plants. We got to make an outfit with scraps of old fabric. This was great fun, because we got to make a dress that we thought would not look nice at all, but we were wrong. It taught us that we can make use of unwanted materials. 

We are glad we got the opportunity to attend such a worthwhile workshop. It was a very enjoyable experience. We would be happy to attend another in the future.  Rebecca Gormley 3rd Year.