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Ennistymon VEC marks halfa century

This article is from page 13 of the 2007-12-11 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 13 JPG

SINCE its foundation in 1957, En- nistymon Vocational School, the town and the country have experi- enced much change but, for all of that, the school has continued to provide a much-needed and valuable education to many of the people of

the locality. That was the overview of Clare Vocational Education Commit-

tee’s chief executive officer, George O’Callaghan, as he took part in a 50th anniversary function in the Falls Hotel last week.

Former and present staff and pupils, with a host of others involved with the school, filled the banqueting room of the hotel for a night of celebration, nostalgia and a fresh look into educa- tion in Ireland as it stands today.

A multi-sectional exhibition of pho- tographs and other memorabilia of the school’s 50 years drew great at- tention in the function room through- out the evening.

Idols of the occasion were the two Surviving members of the original teaching staff, Norma Christie (nee Boland), now living in Edinburgh in her native Scotland, first teacher of home economics in Ennistymon, and Mamie Egan (nee Smyth), teacher of commerce subjects, now living in Ferbane, County Offaly.

O’Callaghan began by congratu- lating all present pupils, past pupils, parents, principal Enda Byrt and all teachers present and past, and a host of others associated with the school down through the years, embracing caretakers, secretaries and other sup- port staff.

He reminded the guests that in its mission statement, the school

firstly recognises the individual- ity of each student and through the comprehensive nature of its curricu- lum combined with the professional competence, initiative and caring of its staff, seeks to maximise each individual’s academic, practical and social talents in a safe and support- ive environment, to prepare them to cope with life after school, where they may better contribute to family, community and society in a positive per-peb Alea

Change was with them all the time and challenged them to rise to the

occasion when needed. The school continued to face the challenge of the future with vision and courage. The proposed new community school, of which the vocational school will be an integral part, offered the opportu- nity of new directions. The quality of teaching and learning that is so much part of the vocational school would be a significant building block in the community school.

Cllr Flan Garvey, as chairman of the school’s board of management, formally welcomed the guests to celebrate the wonderful past of the

school which had been achieved by outstanding principals, teaching and support staffs. It was a great pleasure for him to chair the board of man- agement of such an academy, he said, more so even than being chairman of the governing body of Tralee Insti- tute of Technology or vice-president of the Irish Vocational Education Association, the administrative body for county and city vocational educa- tion committees.

He continued by saying that the worth of vocational education was still not fully appreciated in Ireland,

nor what it had brought about for the country. For instance, the Celtic Ti- ger would not have emerged were it not for the business and profession- al men and women who had come through the vocational system armed with a practical and business back- eround that enabled them to succeed magnificently and provide example for others.

Enda Byrt had a special welcome for Norma Christie and Mamie Egan and informed the guests that another first teacher, Joe McCaw, who was called from this life earlier in the year, had been insisting, once the an- niversary began to be planned, that he had to be at the main celebratory function.

Announcing the publication next spring of a school history, he invited as many past students and staff as possible to contribute. They could do so in a variety of small but 1m- portant ways, such as how they trav- elled to school, life in the school, what they did at lunchtime, involve- ment in sport or any other activities, fond memories of favourite teachers, school trips, what they did for recrea- tion in those times, what things cost at the time and so on.

Kevin Duggan, Corofin, of the class of 1969, rolled back the years as he recalled memories of his time in the school and spoke with great emotion of the wonderful teachers it was his privilege to have and how their ex- ample and advice stood him in such good stead throughout later life.

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