TY Film Club: First Film Review

Mr. Coldrick has compiled an interesting and challenging list of films for the TY Film Club this year. The aim is spark interest both in film itself and in the issues raised by those shown. Harry Johnson gives his summary of the first offering of 2011.

On the 4^th October 2011 the Transition Year watched “O” in the Lower Argyle. It is a tale of trust, seduction, jealousy and betrayal based on William Shakespeare’s  Othello.

Odin and Desi are a couple but Hugo, Odin’s best friend through basketball is also in love with Desi. In his desperate jealousy of the girl, Hugo commits sins he would previously never have dreamed of. Throughout the film Hugo relies on Odin’s trust to stir up suspicion in the love relationship.

Hugo kills three times for Desi and plays the part too well so that Odin ends up killing Desi in rage and then himself. Moments before Odin’s suicide, he realises Hugo has betrayed him. The source of the information which leads to Odin’s revelation is Hugo’s third victim. At this stage, Hugo has driven two friends to their deaths and Desi, his reason for killing his friends is also dead.

Finally the police cars take Hugo away; he now has nothing, no friends, women or even any sympathy from his parents.

“O” was released in 1999 but was shelved for two years due to its similarities to the 1999 Columbine High School Massacre. Not wanting to reawaken fresh scars the film was re-released in 2001.

Team Hope

Yesterday in Chapel Ms Carol Hennessey from Team Hope spoke to the school about this project. Better known as the Christmas Shoebox Appeal the project is aimed at TY pupils who are asked to collect and fill shoeboxes with Christmas gifts for children around the world.

Ms Hennessey spoke about how much happiness these gifts bring to children and families who have very little in comparison to those in the developed world. It is a tradition now that our TY pupils engage with this project and a report will appear later.

Zumba Has Arrived!!!

Do you like to dance, keep fit and have fun? Well, look no further, Zumba has arrived. On Wednesday October 12th at 4.30pm eighteen brave girls huddled nervously in the gym, rather unsure what they were about to experience. They need not have feared as Louis our instructor was extremely friendly and immediately made the girls feel at ease. The initial warm up routine got the heart rates up as well as the group spirit and level of comfort. It was all engines go for the next 40 minutes. 

Zumba is a new fitness sensation taking over the world. It all began by chance back in 1990s when Columbian fitness instructor Alberto ‘Beto’ Perez forgot his aerobic tapes. Determined to continue with his class he raided his car tapes which consisted mainly of traditional Latin, salsa and merengue music. What followed was an improvised class using this very non-traditional aerobic music and Zumba was born. Following the success in Colombia, he took the class to the USA in 1999 and this exciting style of fitness class has infected the world ever since. 

Zumba is considered exercise in disguise, with a typical class burning between 500 and 1000 calories. The music is a mixture of slow and fast rhythms combined with aerobic resistance training with the key focus on fitness and weight loss. The music comes from a broad and varied range of dance styles including salsa, mambo, reggaeton, samba, merengue and chachacha to name a few. 

Zumba follows a very simple formula - dance, keep fit, lose weight, stay toned and have fun in a friendly atmosphere. It is for everyone, it doesn't matter how old you are, shape or fitness level, everyone is welcome. It is a great way to relieve stress, lift your mind, body and soul and burn those calories. 

The overall experience was great and the gym was buzzing after half an hour with everyone hoping for another beat bashing Latin song…so now the question….. is Columba’s ready to ZUMBA?!!!

Organic Garden - Update No. 2

On Saturday 24th of September five members of the Transition Year Biology set visited the TY Vegetable patch along with Ms. Hennessy and Ms. McNelis for an afternoon of planting in our newly established vegetable garden.
The previous week a number of other pupils had recovered what once was a vegetable patch from swarms of weeds and shrubbery that had grown over the years. 



When we arrived we got straight to work removing the final weeds, mixing compost with top soil and blending it into existing soil giving it a much needed nutrient and moisture boost.

We first planted strawberries which were kindly brought in by Alex Bisgood who has had experience in working on his family garden in Enniskerry. We then moved on to planting a variety of Autumn vegetables including cabbages, little gem lettuce & broccoli in the patch. We planted these around twelve inches in nice even rows.

During our planting we found a little friend buried in the soil. It had a cream body with a brown head and has six legs. We took some photos and looked him up on line to find out he was the larva of the Chafer beetle. These feed on the roots of plants and need to be controlled. With a little research we found one interesting method involving nematodes. The nematodes are applied to the soil and the soil is watered. The nematodes (Heterorhabditis megidis) seek out the chafer grubs and attack by entering natural body openings. Once inside, they release bacteria that stops them from feeding killing the grub. The nematodes then reproduce inside the dead pest and release a new generation of hungry infective nematodes, which disperse looking for new prey. Isn't nature wonderful?!! 

Our afternoon of activities lasted an hour and a half. All our hard work paid off and we now have the beginnings of the TY Organic Garden.

By Alex Owens 

Transition Year Information Evening

This annual event takes place on Thursday 6th October in the Big Schoolroom at 8:00pm. There will be a number of speakers: staff, current TY pupils and former TY pupils. There will be an opportunity to ask questions afterwards in the Drawing Room where refreshments will be served. We hope to see many parents there.

Transition Year House Speeches

A review of last night's event by one of the TY pupils will appear here soon but it has to be noted now, in brief, what a great night it was. The proceedings were expertly hosted by Alex Owens and interval entertainment was provided by B. Dickerson and A. Chisholm singing the Ben E. King classic 'Stand By Me'. We also witnessed the astonishing street dance of L. Schaefer and T. McLarn with a little help from S.Koethe.

The subject matter of the speeches was eclectic and yet TY co-ordinator Mr. McCarthy noted in his comments how they were all linked by a common thread: the mysterious tapestry of life. From cows, citógs, cliff-jumping and Cavan, anaphylactic shock and adoption to grandparents, gorilla boarders and Down syndrome. But it was the opening talk by Helene Peters, simply on the important things in life, that deservedly won the first place. Hollypark took the house honours. Many thanks to the college's English teachers for coaching their charges. Well done to one and all.

Open Day 2011

Our obliging and valiant TY pupils acted as guides to guests today as the rain came pouring down. Their role was to show visitors where to go for the start of their guided tour. They offered umbrellas to those who had none. From there college prefects took over.

The organic vegetable growers were going to work their patch for the morning but the inclement conditions made that an unsuitable activity. Once the bulk of the visitors had arrived members of TY were due up in the BSR (Big Schoolroom) to listen to their form mates' house speeches, a practice for Sunday night's event. The final selection of speakers has still to be announced and excitement is building.