Kate Mitchell
This year, as a Transition Year student, I had the chance to participate in the Gaisce Award, also known as the President’s Award. The Gaisce award is the most well-known and individual award in the country. It is aimed at young people 15 to 25 years of age. The award is not a competition, it’s about agreeing on a challenge and following through with it.
The Gaisce is awarded in three categories: Bronze, Silver and Gold. The award contributes to the development of young people through the achievement of personal challenges. The Gaisce awards encourage young people to get involved and become active citizens in their local community.
This year I took the Bronze challenge. I had to give one hour a week, for 13 weeks to the three areas you participate in to complete the challenge: Community Involvement, Personal Skill and Recreation. You also have to complete the Adventure as part of the challenge.
I did Water Safety as part of my Community Involvement. I taught life-saving skills to ten- to 12-year-olds for two hours every Saturday morning from January to April. Water sports have always appealed to me so I enjoyed my time teaching.
I chose to complete the Personal Skill challenge in the area of music. I have been playing the fiddle for the past few years and so I used my weekly lessons as the way to complete the challenge of an hour a week for 13 weeks. I have now developed and improved my playing skills and picked up a few new tunes along the way!
The recreational area of the Gaisce award encourages you to stay active and fit. I swim and go to the gym, so I used that to fulfill the challenge. There is a lot of talk nowadays about obesity in young people and lack of exercise, so this part of the award made me aware of the importance of keeping fit and healthy and mostly enjoying exercise!
The last challenge you participate in is the two-day, one-night Adventure, and this involves doing two walks. On the second day of the Adventure we hiked for six-and-a-half hours over the Comeraghs Ridge, Co Waterford. I do a lot of climbing with Scouting Ireland and have climbed Croagh Patrick eight times, so I enjoyed the hike even though it was hard. Fifteen of us climbed and we had great fun along the way.
Looking back having done the Gaisce, I see it touches areas of great importance in developing social and personal skills and being involved in completing a worthwhile challenge. I would recommend it to anyone hoping to have fun and earn a medal along the way. Next year, I’m hoping to aim for the Silver award.
For more information visit www.gaisce.ie
Kate Mitchell is Transition Year student at Scoil Mhuire, Co Tipperary
