Barcelona

We are going on a school trip to Barcelona soon and I cannot wait to go. We're going over easter which will be really good. Some of my friends are going also. We will be going to Port Aventura, cathedrals, and many other tourist attractions and I cannot wait!!

Gymnastics!

Yesterday we did our first P.E. class of gymnastics in Excel Gymnastics for 2 hours. I did gymnastics for over 7 years there as a child so it brought back great memories. We warmed up with some exercises and did the splits and then did some  jumping and tumbling exercises. After that was the vault which was a lot of fun. I even flipped off the vault! (into mats of course). Then we did some balance work on the beam which was good and then chin ups and beats on the barres.

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How we looked doing our exercises ;)

Its the next day and my shoulders and arms are pretty stiff from the push ups and chin ups as I'm not used to that kinda work (#chickenarms ;p ) but it was so worth it I had a great time and cant wait for next week!

Whip Crack AWAY!

Last week was the week of our school musical, Calamity Jane, and as Calamity, it was one of the best weeks of my life. It was such a fantastic experience.

Monday evening was the first rehearsal in the GAA and we tested the mics and stuff which made me so excited because it hit me then how the musical was the next day and I started to get really excited to show off our hard work.

On Tuesday we rehearsed all day at the GAA which went well. By the time showtime came around that evening, everyone was excited, nervous, and anxious but there was a great buzz around the place. After going home for over an hour i went back to get my hair and makeup done by Ms. L (who did a fabulous job) and to get my mic on. I had a few friends  and family members there so I was a bit nervous but as soon as I stepped out onto the stage the nerves went away and I started to enjoy myself. There were a few 'saves' that we made but no major mistakes which was fantastic for an opening night. There were some lovely pictures taken on the night by Lola

Wednesday went really well also, although there was a bit of anxiety towards this show as we now had a standard to uphold and wanted to keep the good streak going. It went well again and although there were a few blunders in the first act, the second act was spectacular and we finished on a high.

The Thursday show was fantastic and we really enjoyed ourselves. Everyone did brilliantly and I was so excited after it I could hardly sleep and then Friday went even better.

I have enjoyed this whole experience thoroughly and feel I have gained from it confidence wise and also I met some really great people that I hope to stay in touch with. All the songs in it are so beautiful and are constantly in my head (ill have everyone driven mad from singing them). I hope everyone who went enjoyed it and thanks so much for coming and supporting us. Well done to everyone involved, either on stage or backstage or in the orchestra and all the teachers and prefects who helped out along the way too.

That's all for now,

Lauren

Scifest

Last Friday Transition Years participated in Scifest! Although Scifest was stressful at times, it was nice to see it all come together. At the start of the year we were all put into groups and began preparing our titles. It was difficult to come up with a title to explore but after a lot of research we decided on Stain Removal: Natural vs Synthetic. We aimed to explore which stain remover was the best and tested:

• Lemon Juice
• Vinegar
• Acetone (in nail varnish remover)
• Baking Powder 
• Vanish

We scrubbed stains like dirt, berries and ketchup on white t-shirts and found that the best remover was baking powder which made the whites whiter.

Scrubbing

Vanish

So we are now through to the next round so watch this space!

Lauren :)

Empower Girls For Change

In religion class we have been working on our mini NGO which is promoting girls education In developing countries, and everywhere. Giving girls an education can break the chain of poverty for future generations.

• Educated girls grow into educated women, who have healthier babies and are more likely to educate their children.
• They will be able to have a career and therefore pay for their child's education.
• When a girl in the developing world receives an education, she marries four years later and has 2.2 fewer children.

We made videos in I.T. class to promote this issue. Here is mine:

I hope you enjoyed my video and that you help us to promote education for girls worldwide. I want them to have the opportunities that I am so fortunate to have, and I'm sure you will too.

Thanks guys,

Stay tuned for more,

Lauren

Calamity jane update!

Hi guys! So as the lead of Calamity Jane, I thought I'd let you know how we're getting on, as showtime draws nearer and nearer!

So we have rehearsed the whole show at this stage which is brilliant and all songs are covered of course! I'm having so much fun rehearsing; singing, acting and dancing. I'm really getting into the character now and i'm enjoying it :)

We've started trying on costumes which was so fun, some of them were really funny because they were frilly but they'll look so cool on stage. Also the drag costume was by far the funniest! If you wanna know what that's all about, make sure to get your ticket to Calamity Jane in the GAA in the school reception! :)

Tomorrow we're going around to all the local primary schools in costume to sing and dance and tell them what the musical is about. I'm really looking forward to that, it should be great fun :)

Here's the song Calamity and Katie sing after a bit of pampering!


Anyway, that's all for now, I shall let you know how I get on tomorrow,

Stay tuned for all the craic and pictures!

Lauren :)

Birthday Banter

Tuesday was my 16th birthday and saying I had a brilliant day would be an understatement. I woke up to presents from my family and notifications from my friends wishing me happy birthday. Claire and Melissa had pictures and messages posted at bang on midnight, thank u girls :) when I went in to my lunch room in the morning everyone sang happy birthday to me which was lovely.

A collage Melissa made

Lunch time was so much fun, with more singing, presents and claire made me a lovely poster with pics and private jokes and things on it! Aideen made a yummy train cake aswell!

The cake Aideen made

Cakes, presents, posters and cards. Thank u all!

When I went home, I had family over and more cake! I really enjoyed my birthday and I can't thank all my friends and family enough for making my day so special. I had a lovely get together that saturday too with all my friends :) 

Me and Aideen

That's all for now,

Lauren :)

Nerds

"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."

Albert Einstein

Yesterday we went to the BT Young scientist exhibition which was brilliant. There were some really interesting projects from around the country such as how to prepare for an earthquake in third world countries and a light for your bicycle that lights up when a car approaches. These are just some of the many amazing projects that were competing in the young scientist. 

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It was the 50th young scientist exhibition so there was a special 3D show about space which was very interesting. It gave me perspective in relation to how small we are. They compared the size of earth with the sun and then the sun with other stars and it looked minute! It was really fascinating and I would definitely recommend visiting it if you are at the exhibition. 

However with the sciences aside, the highlight of my day was definitely meeting Ryan Tubridy and taking a selfie with him (below)

After that I got to present the weather! We stood in front of the blue screen and Aideen pointed to the map and Melissa clicked for the prompter to change. I really enjoyed reading it and made me consider news reporting.. Sadly they didn't ask to hire me right there on the spot but I'm sure they were just too in awe.... ;)

Overall we had a brilliant day, thanks to all the science teachers and Mrs L for organising it :)

Stay tuned for even more TY antics and pictures,

Have a good weekend! 

Lauren :)