SNOW SCHOOL MEANS NO SCHOOL
An article by Roisin Fitzpatrick
6th class

On the 6th of January St Andrews pupils received a text to say that the school would be open the next day.We were getting ready to go to bed when we received a text to say there would be no school due to snow and worsening weather. We all thought the snow would come and go so we were all surprised when we woke up to what could only be described as a white wonderland.Nearly everywhere you went there were snowmen grinning at you. But with loads more snow forecast to come, the school was closed again on Friday. During the weekend the snow that came down on Friday froze which made it excellent for sledging. My house is on a hill so we got out a sledge and went sledging for most of the day. Only three cars went by my house that day. A popular place (if you could get up to it) was The Hill of Tara. People used everything from boogie boards to big cooking dishes. The weekend came and went and on rolled on Monday. The weather slightly improved so on Monday we received a text that school would be reopened on Tuesday. We all were glad to be back with our friends.

 We didn’t get a white Christmas but we got a white New Years.

 

A tribute to Ms. Deering
An article by Mark Phelan
5th class

On Friday last, January 22nd, we had a first anniversary mass for our former teacher Ms. Miriam Deering, who died suddenly in January 2009. We were all shocked and saddened when we heard of her death at such a young age.

Ms.Deering came to our school to teach in September 2008 but we all knew her before then as sometimes she came in as a sub teacher. We all loved that because when she came in she would teach us art. That was always a welcome change from the usual school work!! She was very gifted and talented at art. She would always give her big smile and tell us our art work was brilliant.

Ms. Deering taught 1st and 2nd class but she taught art to all the classes in the school. In November 2008 we held an art exhibition in our school hall with at least one painting by each pupil on display. We had our very own exhibition!! Our parents and friends came to the exhibition and bought the paintings. It was a great night for everyone and especially for Ms.Deering who worked so hard to make it a success.

Just two months later, in January 2009, we were all shocked and saddened to hear that Ms.Deering had died. It was so hard to believe. She was so full of life when we last saw her. We were also sad for her husband Paul and her three little girls. There was a huge gap left by her passing.

The anniversary mass on Friday was a celebration of her great life and talents. It was an opportunity to show how much we appreciated Ms.Deering and that she will not be forgotten in our school. The readings, prayers and hymns were specially chosen to reflect her kindness and love for life and everyone. Before mass ended a brilliant ray of sunshine shone through the church window. Her bright smile shone on us all once more.

When mass ended everybody went into the school grounds where Ms.Deering’s husband Paul, and her mother Mrs.Houlihan, planted a cherry blossom tree in her honour. We then had refreshments in the school hall and lots of the paintings that we did with Ms.Deering were again on display.

I am reminded of Ms.Deering especially when I see the painting I did for the art exhibition. I think of her when I see a brilliantly coloured sky or a bright rainbow and wonder does she still paint. I hope she does.