This November, Presentation Secondary School proudly held its annual Stand-Up Awareness Week, celebrating the people in the school who are part of the LGBTQ+ community.
This week was full of fun activities for all students that also helped them learn things. This year’s TYs had a big part in the organisation of this event, but the week would not have been possible without the help of Ms. Byrne, Ms.G Walsh, and Ms. Phelan.
The school hosted a wonderful quiz competition for students to partake in with questions posted every day on the Stand-Up Awareness Week noticeboard. The answers to the questions were on information leaflets around the school that students had to find. These leaflets contained information about LGBTQ+ celebrities, including Laverne Cox, Graham Norton, and JoJo Siwa. This quiz was a fun way for students to learn more about members of the LGBTQ+ community and their achievements, which made them understand more about the community and made the students who are members feel inspired and seen.
The TYs and the Fifth Years received a talk from members of an organisation named “Chillout.” This talk taught them about different gender and sexual identities. This was a nice way to end the week with a fun learning experience.
The TYs helped put together fun activities for First, Second, and Third years. The TY D1 and D2 classes taught the first- and second-year students how to make origami butterflies out of coloured paper squares to then use for a one-of-a-kind poster filled with rainbow butterflies arranged in a heart. Meanwhile, D3 taught the third years how to make origami rabbits.
There was also a bracelet-making club at lunchtime for students to partake in if they wanted to, using colourful materials to create their own bracelets that showed their support of the LGBTQ+ community.
Written by Alessandra Gherca