DAVIS COLLEGE NEWSLETTE

This January, Davis College students undertook their annual pilgrimage to England to bask in the warm glow of Premiership floodlights.
  47 Davis College students (minus a few Liverpool fans) looked on in awe and delight as Bolton trounced the scousers at the Reebok.
The following morning it was onto the fascinating Imperial War Museum.  This whet the appetite for the afternoon’s battle, a real six pointer between Man City and Spurs.
Some incredible goals including a Gareth Bale special and the usual Balotelli antics had the Davis College Crew singing Blue Moon all the way to the final whistle. A whistle that was narrowly preceded by a Ballotelli penalty that clinched a 3-2 win for the Sky Blues.
Mr R O’Sullivan who organised the excursion reported that it was one of the most satisfying and action packed trips he had experienced.
An incredible time was had by all.

Davis College students continue earning international reputation at volleyball

Thanks to Davis College’s students, volleyball and Spikeball are not unknown sports any more. Last year seven students had the honour to represent Ireland internationally in Belfast.
This year five players were selected for the Irish Under-17 team: Darren Lynch, Stephen McEvoy, Adam Finnegan, Brendan Corrigan, and Paul Radon. On 5th January 2012 the national squad travelled to France to take part in a volleyball camp and tournament..They watched French professional league matches and also had the opportunity to talk with volleyballers from Cambrai, Martigues, Torcoing and Paris.
The head coach of the Irish team, Laurent Cauet said: “The trip was a great success; I am pleased about the behaviour at individual and team level. We got a very warm welcome everywhere we went and gave an excellent impression of ourselves. We can be really proud about what we have done in Northern France.”
Students of Davis College would like to thank all sponsors from Mallow and Kanturk and their school coach who made their trip so worthwhile

Davis College proved yet again that they can indeed talk the talk and walk the walk at the Interschools Speakeasy Toastmasters Competition held in the Hibernian on Wednesday last. The annual competition which sees Transition Year students battleit out to win the coveted title of Best School saw a record entry of six schools this year. The Davis team comprised Eilis O’ Callaghan and Aidan O’ Flynn with two very different speeches. Aidan’s speech entitled “Ambition – mankind’s propensity to begrudge”  was indeed a very well crafted piece with a lot of substance and food for thought! Eilis on the other hand spoke about the hassle that visitors cause and how they can upset the plan of your day. With a speech entitled “Visitors – the universal code of customary procedures” Eilis entertained no end with her hilarious account of this common occurrence. Eilis was commended on her delivery by neutral observer Pat Sexton when he evaluated the performances of the night. Moreover, Eilis also was placed second in the best individual category. Winning best school makes it two in a row for Davis College and we wish them the very best in making it a hat trick next year

On the 19th of November six students from North Cork SCP in Davis College travelled to Dublin with Deirdre Foley as part of a training day for O2’s Think Big project.
Think Big is a programme designed by O2 and Headstrong to enable young people to do projects in their community that make a difference to young peoples’ mental health. Six students in Davis College have come together to form a group called Positive Power. The first project the group will undertake is called “Smiles All Round”.  As part of this the students recently received a grant for 300 euro for the project.  They have now launched a board game drive in the school and community. Any games that will not be used in Davis College will be donated to other North Cork SCP schools for Christmas. They will then run tournaments at lunch time in Room 4. Positive Power would appreciate any board games, dart boards, darts, jigsaws, books or any gaming equipment that is in good condition be dropped into Davis College or given to any student in Davis College. We will enter everyone that drops in a board game into a draw that will be held at Christmas.
We would appeal to the local community to donate any games that they are not using to us or to any local charities in the area.

DavisCollege Transition Year students gained national coverage for their innovative and heartfelt campaign on TV3 thisweek.Barry O'Neill in 5th year and his YS Iteachers Kathy Kilgallon and Siobhan Murray were interviewed on Monday7th Nov by the Ireland Am team.Their "Forget Me Not" campaign raises awareness for missing people in Ireland,providessupportfor families of the missing and raises funds to continue to search for those who are missing. It has recieved much support since it began in September 2010 and Michael Deely the father of missing Kildare man Trevor Deely joined them on theshow to commend them on their initiative. The topic of Young SocialImnovator encourages students to be active citizens within their community by identifying problems in society and suggesting solutions. Given the interest in this campaign to date, ourstudents have had many fantastic opportunities topromote their interest in this issue. Should you wish to support this worthycampaign please purchase a "Forget Me Not" calendar from the selectedTesco stores nationwide.

2011 has seen another successful link with European schools. Mr. R O' Sullivan has flown the Irish Flag abroad forthe second year in a row. Following the recent seminar in Dresden, Davis College is now linked with five schools through the Comenius European Project. The countries involved are Spain, Italy, Germany,Croatia, Norway,and of course Ireland. For more information logon to moodle.

Davis college ‘Breakfast Together Week’ in aid of childline
Class 3Grainne and their teacher Ms.Vereker hosted a breakfast on Tuesday October 4th in aid of childline/I.S.P.C.C (Irish society for prevention of cruelty to children).Over 320 students took part in the event and all money goes directly to
Childline. A big thank you must go to Cheerios, Spar and Dano’s supervalu for sponsoring the event. Without the help of our sponsors, it would not have been possible to host this event.Thanks to all students who baked cakes and donated milk for cheerios childline breakfast together week.Well done class 3Grainne.

Davis College, Mallow is honoured to again host the national volleyball trials. National coach Laurent Cauet is coordinating the trials along with Vincent Fahey, volleyball coach for UCC. On Saturday, October 1st, Davis College hosted players from Galway, Laois and Dublin. All participants enjoyed and benefited from the trials. 

L. Cauet said: ‘I was very pleased to come back to Davis College, it’s a great venue for training and we spot new talent. At the moment it’s a building process, we try to run trials nationwide. We will also be offering training sessions for those who don’t make the cut the first time. It’s important that each student reaches their potential. I am thankful to Davis College for the opportunity to run the sessions here.’

Last season seven players from Davis College were honoured to play on the U17 and U20 national teams. Their goal is to be on the panel this time again.
Students and staff of Davis College and their coach Ms. Radon wish them luck in their endeavours.

Culture Week-History Field Trip!
As part of cultural heritage week the transition year class of Davis College visited a ring fort, standing stones and a holy well, in the Glantane/Dromahane. We learned many new things from listening to Pat O’ Callaghan and our teacher Mrs. Stanton.
The Ring fort:
Our first stop was the fairy fort. It is located in the town land of Knocksweeny. The fort in Knocksweeny is a three ring fort, standing on that fort you can view four other forts. From this fort you can also see down into the galtee mountains and back to rockchapel. There was a source of water within twenty meters of the fort and we don’t know weather there are any caverns there or not.
 Ring forts are very common in some parts of the country. In  Glantane/Dromahane area there are thirteen ring forts within a three mile radius. Some of these ring forts are single walled forts, some are doubled walled and very few ring forts have three walls. Most of these forts were built on high ground for fortification. These forts were used for safe-guarding the people and animals within the pound. In Ireland long ago these forts were necessary because wild animals and tribesmen roamed the countryside. Underground caverns and passage ways can be found in some forts today. Some of these passage ways linked one fort to another. When one fort was attacked the villagers could retreat to the other fort. All of these forts were sited near a water source.
Caverns:
Were places where food was stored underground to keep it cool and to keep it fresh.

Standing stones:
Our second stop were the standing stones located in the townland of Gurranes. The sight is about three quarters of a kilometre from the road. Access to the sight by a passage way and across two fields. On this sight there were three standing stones, 1 fallen stone and 1 fallen stone that was broken in half. These stones would be in the region of 12-15 feet high.
We learned from Pat that there are seven different sets of standing stones in area. Some of these sights are single stone, double stone, or some sites have three up to five stones on a siite. Some of these sights would have stones 4 feet high to the tallest being about 15 feet high. Most of these alignments, orientation are east, north east. These belong to the stone age around 2-4 BC. It is said these stones were burial sights by some people and more people claim they were land devisions.

Saint Gobnait’s Well:
Our last historical stop on our trip today(23/9/11) was saint Gobnait’s well. We visited Abbey’s well and the graveyard. Saint Gobnait’s well is known locally as saint Abbey’s well. This well is situated in the townland of Kilgobnet. The ground around this well was used as a burial ground. Grave stones here date back to 1765. The patron saint of the locality is saint Abbey. The feast day of saint Abbey is the 11th of February, this day used to be a day of prayer and celebration. The rounds of the well consists of two rosary’s, starting at the front of the well and stopping five times as you go around the well. When the rounds are completed people usually take water from the well and drink it, and also take a bottle of water home to the sick. The cure’s of the well are many, for example eye sores, pains and aches, skin disease, lameness and infertility. With the prayers concluded people follow on to the Well House Bar.
Having examined the well for ourselves and read the notice at the entrance, which gave us an insight to the history of the well, we walked around the graveyard for a while examining the dates on the headstones along with the names to see if we could recognise any of the inscriptions. It was exciting to see names that you wouldn’t recognise in the parish today.

A sincere thank you to Pat O’ Callaghan for his time, dedication and in-depth knowledge of the areas we visited. A wonderful morning was enjoyed by all.

In September 2010 the Transition Year students of Davis College, Mallow, set about identifying an issue within their community that they could suggest a solution for. The Young Social Innovator challenge has been running for 10 years now and calls on secondary school students to be active citizens within their community. After an extensive brainstorming session which highlighted many of the social problems that they felt passionate about, they came to the decision that they wanted to raise awareness for missingpeople. The next 10 months saw our students’ small idea grow into a national campaign that would win 2ndplace nationally.

We held a missing persons remembrance ceremony in the local church in Mallow in December of last year. It was at this event that we really saw the need for something more proactive to be done to support these families.

Over the course of the next few months we came up with a 3 step approach...
1). create a bumper sticker for haulage trucks to promote the organisations which work nationally to search for missing people andprovide their families with support and advice.

2). create a phone application to inform people of what to do should someone they know go missing.

3). to create a calendar to document Ireland's missing people and to allow families of these people the chance to pay tribute to their loved ones while getting their image and story back out there in an appeal for information.

Our students worked with Mr. Joe Blake of Trace, attending a Training Day with his cadaver dogs. They carried out a search of a local forest and were given the skills to become fully trained searchers in March 2011. At the regional finals we pitched our idea by role playing some of the cases the public would be more familiar with. This allowed the people to put themselves in the shoes of the families who deal with this issue every day.

We brought our plan to the YSI Dragon’s Den in April. There our students pitched the plan for their calendar to the KPMG investors and were questioned intensely about their research, financing and the links they had established with the organisations in this field and the families involved. Having already secured a deal with Tesco to retail the calendar nationally the Dragons were highly impressed and awarded the top investment of the day to Davis College. These vital funds would go towards printing the first batch of calendars and bumper stickers.

We attended the national finals in May of 2011 and were the only school to be asked to present our project at the VIP reception attended by Sean Gallagher, Mary Kennedy etc... As mentioned previously we were awarded 2nd place nationally for our campaign, a first for our college.

We had convinced the relevant individuals that our idea was viable, now we had to convert this idea into reality. Sponsorship and support had to be drummed up. Hopkins Communications agreed to design our calendar for free given that it was such a worthy cause, and so months of research and the compilation of the calendar began.

On September 26th we once again held our missing person’s remembrance ceremony. On this occasion however we would launch the “Forget Me Not” calendar. Joined by 5 families of the missing, Mr. Michael Martin, Mr David Stanton, Lord Mayor Dan Joe Reilly and the various organisations with which we had now forged strong links, we unveiled the emotional tributes.

 This calendar is a unique and innovative means of sharing family photographs and letters from the families of missing people to their loved ones. It allows the public to gain a greater insight and understanding into the troubled journey that these families have travelled. All proceeds from the calendar will be fed back into the organisations that work to help families in this position and will be used to continue to search for answers to the many questions that haunt them daily. Ever since this event we have been inundated with calls congratulating us on our success and placing orders. Also present on the day were a camera crew from TG4 who will be using footage from our vigil for a four part series about unidentified bodies in Ireland due to air in January.

 As the teacher of a bunch of very eager students I never dreamed our brainstorming sessions would culminate in the opportunity to retail our product nationally and in doing so support so many people. When asked recently in a TG4 interview what advice I would give to other students and teachers undertaking a YSI challenge I said to “dream big”...we have achieved so much in 10 months and have offered so much support to the families involved that all the hard work has been worthwhile. It has been a wonderful lesson for our students...as a group we can achieve wonderful things...”Unity in Strength”...”Ni neart go cur le ceile”.

Davis Student Speakers in Demand!
Aidan O' Connell, Amy Curtin and Eoin O' Connor, 5th year students from Davis College are very busy these days making guest appearances at various summits and conferences. On April 15th they were invited to attend the National Youth Entrepreneurship Summit in Dublin Castle where they were guests of Young Social Innovators Ireland. Although YSI work with hundreds of post-primary schools, they chose the three Davis Student to represent them. Keynote speaker on the day was An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny who met with the three Mallow students and spent a considerable time speaking with them. Following on from that appearance the students were approached by Emer Nowlan, Head of Education at Educate Together and asked to address a conference in Limerick, the theme being re-imagining learning - curriculum integration in the early secondary years. The conference which ran on May 13th and 14th was hosted by Educate Together, the University of Limerick and the NCCA, The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment. The keynote speaker was Professor John Portelli, University of Toronto and other speakers included Professors all the way from North Carolina State University to the University of Brighton. The Davis students were the only students to partake in the conference and were chosen based on a project they undertook in Transition Year, which conference organisers thought offered an excellent example of a locally-inspired, student-led project which offered enormous potential for learning across the curriculum, from maths and technology, to literacy and business studies and beyond.

Discover Cork Schools Heritage Project
2011 marks the ninth year of the Discover Cork Schools Heritage Project. The aim of this project is to encourage students to appreciate their cultural heritage.  Research and creativity are encouraged  to create awareness of the past. Since 2001 Davis College has entered and have been successful each year. 2011 is no exception, having received top awards in the individual and group sections. Their teacher Carmel Stanton is very proud of her students achievements
Leaving Certificate Individual:
1.      Radek Zuk, Roots in Gryfow, Branches in Mallow, Davis College, Mallow
2.      Orla O’Connor, The History of the O’Keeffe Family, Davis College, Mallow
3.      Ciaran McCarthy, Guide to the Boggeragh Mountains, Davis College, Mallow
 Leaving Certificate Group:
1.      Jamie O’Sullivan, Barry O’Neil, Ballyclough, Davis College, Mallow
2.      Cathal McGrath, Stuart Dineen, Peter Doyle, Finbarr Carroll, The Building and Areas of Mallow, Davis College, Mallow

On Friday April 1st, the staff and students of Davis College Mallow were treated to a visit by Sean Gallagher, Investor and Dragon. A group of Davis College students had previously met Sean last year in the KPMG offices in Dublin as part of their Young Social Innovators project. One student in particular, Eoin O' Connor, made a lasting impression on Sean and they exchanged contact details. Recently Eoin contacted Sean to invite him to visit Davis College and Sean gladly accepted. 
Sean after being given a tour of the school, including the state of the art fully equipped gym, spoke to the students and staff about how he himself had overcome adversity in his life and how "if you believe it,  you can become it!" Sean captivated his audience and had each individual hanging on his every word. Sean is one of the most sought after motivational speakers in all of Ireland and there was no doubt in anyones' mind as to why after his performance.
Sean also took time out to speak to the Transition Year Students about their Young Social Innovators Project which focuses on Missing Persons. This project, which is three pronged so to speak, has received huge media interest to date. The students have launched a bumper campaign with hauliers and drivers alike displaying bumper stickers which raise awareness of the existing support organisations in place. They in turn have launched a phone app displaying the profile of missing persons and have indeed designed and produced a calendar which commemorates those who are missing. In actual fact, Tesco Ireland have agreed to sell this 2012 calendar in each and every Tesco Store nationwide, which I'm sure you'll agree is no mean feat.
Sean too took time to speak to the students of the very successful Student Enterprise "On Hold" which recently won the Regional Finals of the North Cork Enterprise Board Student Awards and also made an appearance on the Late Late Show. The students actually presented him with his own personalised "On Hold" and one for each of the other four Dragons. Who knows, there may be an investment made yet

Mallow girl honored with volunteer award
By Kerrie Kennedy
A SIXTH-YEAR student from north Cork, known for her voluntary and charity work, was one of two teenagers named All Ireland Youth Volunteers of the Year.
Seoighe Kearney, 18, from Mallow and Megan Fahy, 17, from Sligo were honoured with the award at the fifth annual Pramerica Spirit of Community Awards in Galway
Seoighe is a sixth-year student at Davis College with a dedication to charity work, having so far raised €25,000 for various organisations.
Each of the 20 finalists were honoured at the event and received a personal award of €500 and an engraved silver medallion presented by Ireland rugby coach Declan Kidney. Mr.  Kidney said it was more than inspiring to see youth step forward and volunteer in so many great ways, especially in times where people are most in need.
"They bring hope and optimism for the future and do so smiling. Well done to Seoighe and Megan and indeed to the other 18 finalists," he added.

Multicultural Fun Day Out.

Davis Colleges` Local Education Committee (LEC) enjoyed a great day out in fantastic facilities of Mallow GAA. All second year students attended the event which saw students taking part in Tag Rugby, Soccer, Spike ball and novelty games. To keep law and order the local gardai under the watchful eye of community garda Liam Doyle referred all four games simultaneously. The event was organised to promote integration and social awareness in our community. Thanks to all who helped out on the day and hopefully this event will become an annual outing.

Strasbourg beckons for Davis College students:Aidan O'Connell, a Fifth Year student in Davis College Mallow, is this week enjoying the experience of a lifetime.  Aidan emerged victorious from the recent Rotary Youth Leadership competition, earning a trip to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, commencing on Wednesday 9th March.  Over the following four days, Aidan will represent Ireland and engage with some 600 young people from various European countries in relation to issues affecting their lives.

Before heading for Europe, Aidan will visit the Stormont Assembly and Dáil Eireann, where he will meet with some political leaders along with other Irish students.  The Dáil visit will also encompass a question and answer session with ambassadors from two European nations, preparing the students for the interaction that will follow in Strasbourg.  Aidan will also receive a guided tour of the parliament before beginning work on a particular theme, which he will then present to his peers.  The themes he has chosen to work on are: “freedom of information” and “active citizenship”.

Aidan is excited at the prospect that awaits him: “Having met with young people like myself from around Munster during the Munster competition, I know how passionate young people are about political issues and the future of Europe, especially during these difficult economic times.  I can’t wait to talk about these themes to people from all over Europe, and to make new friends”.  Aidan, who will sit his Leaving Certificate in Davis College next year, hopes to become a lawyer, and would love to work in the European Court of Human Rights. 

Davis College Principal Denis Healy, in wishing Aidan well, praised him as a credit to the college and to his family, and said that the Davis College community was proud of his achievements.  He also noted that Aidan had emulated the achievements of past pupil Aoife Murphy, who also won the Rotary competition and visited Strasbourg in 2007.

Davis College Spike Ball Team:
For the last three years spikeball, known as mini volleyball or J4, has played an important role among the students in DavisCollege, Mallow.
The first season 2008/ 2009, when the game was introduced to the school, finished with the spectacular success since the 1st year boys’ team won the All Ireland Championship. The achievement was repeated in April 2010 and the final match Davis College vs. St. Raphael’s (Loghrea, Co. Galway) was named the best event of that day.
This year the 1st year boys’ team decided to follow their older schoolmates’ path and they won all matches from Round 1 to the final game vs. St. Raphael’s (Loghrea, Co. Galway) which took place on the 1 March 2011, in UCD.
Many thanks for bringing cup home, boys…
Congratulations to the players and their mentor, Ms. J. Radon.

The Transition Year Students from Davis College Mallow held a vigil on Thursday 9th December to commemorate Missing Persons in Ireland. The vigil was held in the Church of the Resurrection. A number of organisations were in attendance including www.searchingforthemissing.net, www.missingpersons.ie, www.missing.ws and Barnardos. Mr Barry Cummins fromRTE spoke of his new book ‘Without Trace’ and highlighted the sad reality that some found bodies have not been identified and are buried in unmarked graves. Mr Tosh Lavery, a retired member of An Garda Siochana, and co-ordinator of searchingforthemissing.net gave a very poignantspeech about the families of missing people and how he has dedicated his life in the search for missing people. The highlight ofthe vigil was when Mr Bob Shanahan spoke about thedisappearance and continued search for his son Gussie who is missing eleven years in February. Gussie, twenty years old, was out for a night with his friend and to use Mr Shanahan’s own words ‘it was like the ground opened up and swallowed him’. There has been no sighting of Gussie since that cold February night. Mr Shanahan explained how his life is on hold waiting for Gussie to come home. The Davis College choir contributed significantly to the occasion with a repertoire of appropriately chosen songs like Ave Maria to name just a few. The closure of the vigil was when Mr Bob Shanahan alongwith the Transition Year students released two white dovesrepresenting all the males and females gone missing in Ireland.

On Thursday the 18th of November, Aidan O’ Connell, A fifth year student in Davis College, was chosen to represent Mallow Rotary Club in the European Parliament in Strasbourg this coming February. Aidan took part in the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards which aims to identify young people that demonstrate leadership qualities and civic responsibility. The competition attracts hundreds of students each year from across the island of Ireland who then go through a series of interviews at school, local and regional levels.
Aidan, along with two other students from the Cork and Kerry Region were selected at a ceremony hosted by Mallow Rotary Club Thursday last in the Hibernian Hotel.
The lucky winner’s prize includes a visit to the Northern Assembly at Stormont in Belfast, a visit to the Dáil in Dublin before jetting off to Strasbourg to join over 400 young people from across the European Union. These 400 students will participate in the Youth Parliament debating issues that affect Europeans lives such climate change and the economy.
Aidan is elated and is “Proud to represent Davis College and Mallow in Europe”.

Davis College was the big winner at this year’s Speakeasy Toastmasters Inter Schools Competition, held in the Hibernian Hotel on 18th November.  Following a most enjoyable contest involving two speakers from six different schools in the North Cork area, including all three second-level schools in Mallow as well as Boherbue Comprehensive, Nagle Rice, Doneraile and Scoil Mhuire, Kanturk, Davis College claimed the Best Overall School award.   In addition, its two representatives scooped First and Second place in the Best Individual Speaker awards as well, completing a memorable clean sweep for the college.

A significant feature of Davis College victory was that the students who claimed the Best Speaker award is from Poland originally and only moved to Mallow with his family just four years ago.  But Radek Zuk soon demonstrated his proficiency at speaking English with an outstanding speech, which was excellently delivered, in which he shared with the large audience a Polish person’s thoughts on Ireland and the Irish.  His wry and witty observations evoked a very positive response from the audience, who also enjoyed the speech of Peter Hayes, Radek’s team mate, who bemoaned the Irish people’s obsession with the cult of celebrity in the modern era. 

In sharing his overall evaluation with the competitors and audience, the accomplished Mallow toastmaster Pat Sexton praised the very high standard of the twelve participants, whose speeches ranged over a broad range of interesting themes, and stated that he did not envy the judges in making their decision.  However, it was Davis College who garnered the laurels on this occasion, thus concluding a very enjoyable night’s entertainment.

School Tour to Barcelona: On the 22nd October, 41 students and 5 teachers from Davis College departed Cork airport for Barcelona for 6 days.  With our accommodation located in the beautiful resort of Lloret de Mar, on the first day we ventured back to Barcelona where we were taken on a spectacular guided tour around the city.  Some of the major sights we visited were La Sagrada Familia Cathedral (one of Gaudi’s most famous works), the Olympic Village and ‘La Rambla’ – a stunning pedestrianised street.  In the afternoon we visited the awesome Nou Camp stadium, home of FC Barcelona – this was an experience not easily forgotten.
Under the beautiful sunshine of Sunday, the views from Montserrat mountain were breathtaking and there were many opportunities for photographs especially from the cable cars.  Next on the agenda was a fun-filled day at Port Aventura – one of Europe’s largest theme parks.  Students and teachers alike enjoyed the thrills and spills of the various rides and amusements at the Park.
On Tuesday, we visited the beautiful cities of Figueres and Girona.  The highlight of Figueres was the Dali museum where we were exposed to the surreal and dreamlike works of Salvador Dali.  A walking guided tour around Girona allowed us to experience to the full the beautiful sights and quaint streets of the city.
With a late flight home on Wednesday night we were afforded the time to visit Barcelona Zoo in the morning.  The highlights of the zoo were the dolphin show, black panthers, brown bears and vultures but to name a few.  In the afternoon we had a final chance to pick up souvenirs and presents for our families in the huge L’Illa shopping centre in Barcelona.
Overall the tour was a resounding success – an experience enjoyed by all and never to be forgotten.

DAVIS COLLEGE CELEBRATES A MEMORABLE HAT-TRICK
Davis College is this week celebrating a remarkable hat-trick of academic achievement following another success story in the Leaving Certificate class of 2010. Sean Tanner become the third Davis College student in just four years to be awarded the prestigious
Donagh O'Malley Scholarship.
This scholarship is awarded by the Department of Education and Skills in honour of O’Malley the pioneering former Minister for Education in Sean Lemass's government of the I960s who is credited with the introduction of free education. It recognises Sean's outstanding achievement in this year's Leaving Certificate examinations. As a successful recipient, Sean will receive a bursary of €6,750 a year for each year of his studies, including postgraduate research, enabling him to benefit from a potential grant of €40,500 over the course of his future university studies. Sean, the son of Joe and Eileen Tanner from Ballyclough, is a past pupil of Ballyclough National School. A distinguished debater during his Davis College days, he is now commencing his undergraduate studies in Commerce and German in University College Cork.
Sean's achievement means that he emulates the success of previous Davis College scholarship recipients, Brendan Curtis (2007) and Aoife Murphy (2008). Brendan is commencing his fourth year of studying Astro-Physics in UCC while Aoife is entering third year in her Nutritional Science degree course in University College Dublin.
Davis College is very proud of this talented trio of students, each of whom have demonstrated such high levels of academic attainment in the college over recent years. Their dedication to the pursuit of high standards in academic excellence is a tribute to themselves and the teachers who worked hard with them and their example provides an incentive for the class of 2011 to seek to achieve similar goals. We wish each of them continued success in their future academic lives.

Local Education Committee: On Friday 21st May the Local Education Committee of Davis College hosted a Celebration Cultural Day with a themed approach focussing on food-tasting. Mouth watering gourmet dishes from around the globe were presented to our parents of 1st and 2nd years. The LEC decided on the idea to end the school year with a celebration of our multi-cultural nationalities. In all twelve countries were represented; from South Africa to Poland and Ireland to the Cameroon. Dishes like Kapusta z Grochen (cabbage with peas) from Poland, French Crepes, Cameroon`s Jeluv Rice, red cabbage and sauerkraut from Germany, pita od bundeve (pumpkin pie) from Croatia, British Toad in the Hole, Blineliai su mesa (pancakes with meat ) from Lithuania, Italian burgers to the traditional dishes from Ireland tempted the taste buds of the adventurous The LEC consisted of the HSCL (Home School Community Liaison), North Cork School Completion Co-Ordinator, Community Garda, Education Welfare Officer, SPHE teacher, a Special Needs Assistant, two parents and two students.

Davis Students Secure 2000 Euro from Dragons: The Transition Year Students of Davis College, Mallow, visited the headquarters of the KPMG Offices in Dublin with a view to securing financial backing fro two initiatives which they are currently working on. The students’ two projects were amongst 30 selected nationwide from a pool of 380.

Their first project, “ Bridging the Digital Divide – Senior I.T.izens is actually a continuation of an initiative started by last years Transition Year Students which saw the students endeavouring to forge links with the elderly of the community through the medium of technology. As a result of their pitch the students secured 1000 e from the KPMG Dragons which will go towards the purchasing of state of the art I.C.T. equipment for the residents of the sheltered housing units in Summerhill.
In addition, the same cohort of students in another Young Social Innovators initiative are too endeavouring to tackle the ever-present issue of unemployment in the locality.

‘Career Vision – The Road to Economic Recovery” saw the students co-ordinate a voluntary work placement scheme and indeed an impressive Expo which was held in March, all aimed at getting this country back on her feet, in these challenging economic times. The students have also produced a DVD calling on their peers to emulate a similar work placement scheme in their own area in a bid to facilitate up skilling and retraining. The students secured an additional 1000e backing here which will allow a national roll-out of this DVD to all 737 Post-Primary Schools.

The Dragons commented on the professionalism and enthusiasm displayed by the four TY Students who pitched on behalf of the 25 strong class: Amy Curtin, Anna O’ Callaghan, Aidan O’ Connell and Eoin O’ Connor. To top off a very memorable day, the students and teachers met with Dragon Sean Gallagher to further discuss their endeavours. The Young Social Innovators Showcase will take place nextWednesday, May 5th, in Croke Park where the ultimate fate of these already successful projects will be made known.

Thomas Davis (Mallow)                       4-10
Central Technical Institute (Clonmel)   1-9
by Pat Rya
Davis College had a 10 point win over Central Technical Institute (Clonmel) in the Munster Vocational Schools S'C'FC final at Ballyporeen yesterday. It was far closer than the scoreline suggests and produced three penalties.
Clonmel used Ian Fahy as a third midfielder for most of the game but lacked penetration. The sides were lev­el at 0-1 each but Thomas Davis began to get control with Roddy O'Mahony, Chris Buckley, Conor Flanagan and Jamie O'Sullivan showing great form.
O'Sullivan added twopointed frees with Ian Fahy soloing through for a fine point to lead 0-5 to 0-3. Clonmel were awarded a penalty in the 24th minute but Ian Fahy s-effort struck the
upright and went wide. It was a let of for Mallow, but it was Mallow who finished the half with late points from Tadgh Hartnett and Roddy O'Maho­ny to lead 0-7 to 0-4 at the break.
Clonmel had a goal on the restart when a long delivery by Ciaran Staple-ton was finished to the net by Shane Flynn and they edged ahead when Adam Stafford and Eanan Lenane pointed. However, Thomas Davis re­grouped well and a great movement by O'Mahony and Conor Flanagan led to a well taken goal by Tadgh Hartnett.
Clonmel could have goaled soon af­ter but Shane Flynn was denied by a fine save from Edmund O'Connor. Chris Buckley made it 1-8 to 1-6 in the 40th minute. Jamie O'Sullivan pointed a free and followed with a goal that opened up a 2-9 to 1- 6 lead.
The South Tipp side battled hard but a strong Mallow backline held firm. Brian O'Hara had three points for
Clonmel but Mallow made a good at­tack and they forced a penalty that was converted by Conor Flanagan.
The Tipperary side then forced a late penalty that saw O'Hara’s effort well saved by Edmund O'Connor and, from the clearance, Don O'Hanlon gained possession and placed Jamie O'Sullivan for a goal that sealed it.
Scorers for Thomas Davis: J O'Sullivan 2- 4 (0-40, C Flanagan 1-2 (1-0 pen 0-1f), T Hartnett 1-1, C Buckley 0-2 R O'Mahony 0-1. Central Technical Institute: S Flynn 1-2, B O'Hara 0-4 (0-1f), I Fahy, A Stafford, E Lenane 0-1 each.
THOMAS DAVIS: E O'Connor; L Linehan, R O'Mahony, E Hartnett; G Jones, N O'Regan, G Ti-money; C Buckley, C Flanagan; l\l O'Neill, T Hart­nett, D O'Hanlon; C Crowley, J O'Sullivan, G Shine.
Sub: E Clehane for Linehan. CENTRAL TECHNICAL INSTITUTED Power; K O'Donovan, C Mclvor, C Mulcahy; A Pyke, D Hick-ey, R Carroll; B O'Hara, G Quinn; C McCarra, I Fahy, A Stafford; S Flynn, T O'Donnell, C Staple-ton.
Subs: E Lenane for C McCarra, D O'Connor for T O'Donnell. Referee: M Meade (Ballylanders).

The year 2010 marks the eight year of the Discover Corks Schools Heritage competetion. The aim of the project provides an excellent opportunity for students to research, respect and defend the integrity of their local community , herritage and landscape. Davis College is no stranger to this competition as it has competed since its establisment in 2003. This year Davis College TY students achieved outstanding results. An awards ceremony took place in Silver Springs Convention Centre Cork last Thursday 15th of April. Davis College students were presented with their certificates and prizes by Kieran Mc Carthy- Co-ordanator of the project and county Lord mayor Councillor Derry Canty. Their teacher Carmel Stanton is very proud of all the TY students who participated in the competition. Many thanks to members of the community who made the projects possible. The prize winners were as follows : 
Leaving certificate individual category:
Duhallow Hunt club - Katie Healy
The Killshannig Area- Anna O' Callaghan
History of Killivullen - Rebecca Browne

The Transition Year Students of Davis College as part of their Young Social Innovators Project held an Expo entitled “Career Vision” in the Hibernian Hotel last Friday 12th. The Expo was officially launched by Mr. Noel O’ Connor, Chairman of the Cork County VEC. Mr. O’ Connor also launched the award winning booklet “Career  Vision” on the day, the guide that helps people get back on the career ladder, containing sample letters to fit all occasions and those all important interview tips. Other guests in attendance included, Labour Deputy Sean Sherlock, FF Deputy Michael Ahern, Senator Paul Bradford, the Mayor, and Mr. Richard Dempsey, Cllrs. Kenneth O’ Flynn, Tom Barry and Ronan Sheehan amongst others. Those exhibiting included, Mallow College of Further Education, Mabs, the North Cork Enterprise Board, Pfizer, FAS, Le Cheile, Avondhu Development, AIB, Suicidology and FAS Ability. There was also a HR Expert  from Aviva on hand to give tips of drafting an effective C.V. and Cover letter. The C.V. Tutorial Zone proved very popular where members of the public  had the chance to get their enhanced C.V.’s typed and printed. The students of Davis College were commended for co-ordinating such a professional and indeed beneficial event.

First Year Enrolment: September 2010 promises to be a significant moment in the life of Davis College Mallow. We are pleased to reveal that the number of students enrolled to commence their second-level education in the college on that date is the highest ever recorded in the 79 year history of the school The number of students enrolled stands at 122, one more than the figure of 121 students who enrolled in September 1979,
This outstanding feat is a tribute to the commitment of the college community to achieving the highest standards of teaching and learning, while also attending to the broader holistic development of all the students who are entrusted to our care. It is also an acknowledgement by parents and by the people of the broader Mallow area of the real and substantial level of achievement and innovation in education that has been characteristic of Davis College over the years.
Such recognition by the community at large of the achievements of Davis College affirms us in our efforts at enabling our students to fulfil their full potential It also motivates us to sustain our commitment to ensuring that the incoming class of 2010 will benefit from the learning experience that Davis College is proud to provide.

A MALLOW schoolgirl is in with a chance of winning an award celebrating volunteerism that could whisk her away on all expenses trip to the United States.
Seventeen year old Seoighe Kearney, representing Davis College, is one of 20 volunteers nationwide shortlisted to become the All-Ireland Youth Volunteer of the year. However, she is also the youngest.
On March 24 at the 20th Pramerica Spirit of Community Awards, Seoighe will be presented with an engraved silver medallion presented by Tyrone Senior Footballer Mickey Harte. She will also be in with a chance to win €1,000 for a charity of her choice, the gold medallion and a trip to the US.
Principal of Davis College Denis Healy selected Seoighe for the award because of her volunteering activities with the Niall Mellon Township Trust in South Africa last year, for which she also man­aged to raise €10,000. Seoighe is also involved with the ISPCA, has volun­teered in Lourdes as well as the Irish Cancer Society. The criteria on which vol­unteers were evaluated for the awards ceremony includ­ed motivation, service, impact, sustainability, com­mitment and personal chal­lenge.
Pramerica managing director Henry McGarvey con­gratulated Seoighe (pictured right) on being shortlisted. "We are inspired by the dedi­cation and commitment demonstrated by Seoighe and the 19 other finalists. Pramerica is a proud partner in this programme of recog­nition for such inspiring and exemplary young people," said Mr McGarvey.
By Louise McCarthy: The Corkman