Offaly school celebrates ten year sister link with U.S. city
Tullamore's Sacred Heart School students resumed a very beneficial school exchange programme on March 7th, when they took 24 students form Tullamore to attend school in Seton Catholic Preparatory in Chandler Arizone. The school exchange programme has been in operation since 2013 when Chandler city contacted Tullamore, requesting that they become sister cities.
Councillor Tony McCormack was one of the first people to see the benefits for Tullamore and has constantly supported and developed this project, recognising that local is now global.
SHS student, Ella O Sullivan, recently interviewed Tony McCormack, and wondered why he supported the project from the outset. “I saw it as a great opportunity for students from Tullamore to sample American culture, to make lifelong friends and to build a bond with a family in another city and another country”.
And it is this aspect of the project that has proven particularly beneficial. Principal of SHS, Pauline McKenna noted that over 200 students form Tullamore have now visited Chandler, travelled to Sedona and sampled the delights of the American West. “We have had students since 2013, who have travelled to Arizona as part of their internship, who have annually returned to visit their original host families, who have stayed with those families as they began their initial employment in firms in the Phoenix Metro area. We have had one student who completed her Masters Programme in Arizona State University and increasingly we think this could be a great opportunity for undergraduate students who want to continue to study in areas like Media and Health Sciences. “
In May of each year the students form Seton Prep return to Tullamore and live with their host family and attend the Sacred Heart School. Again, some of these students over the last ten years have returned to their host families and attended both undergraduate and post graduate courses in Ireland with TCD and NUIG being particular favourites.
The management of the Sacred Heart School are particulalry grateful to two people for moving this project from its original inception: Counsellor Tony Mc Cormack and Ms Barbara Olivieri. Ms Olivieri was the original co-ordinator of the exchange programme in Seton Prep and it was her belief that an exchange programme between schools would bring a variety of advantages to both the school sand the students involved. Although retired now, she continues to visit Tullamore regularly and has become a firm supporter of Tullamore Blues and the Offaly GAA team!
“Over the last ten years we have had the opportunity to visit other classrooms, to see the latest technology at work in classrooms and from a school perspective that has allowed us to develop projects in our schools that we may not have had the courage to do, had we not seen it in practice already” said Pauline mc Kenna on the advantages brought by the exchange. “Being allowed to see another school in operation has had huge benefits for us as a management team”.
Deputy Principal, Ms Orla Healy also added that Chandler City and its Mayor, Mr Kevin Hartke has also allowed opportunities that were beneficial on a different scale. “ In 2022 we participated in an economic tour of Chandler City and I was really interesting to see the planning behind a successful city. There are rare opportunities for such “behind the scenes views”.
The SHS will begin their online celebration of this exchange programme this week, where they showcase past groups on Throwback Thursday and highlight some of those fantastic students who have acted as wonderful ambassadors for SHS and Tullamore.
“This exchange programme is one of two successful programmes operating on our school now and we would hope that this is only the beginning. Our students don’t see boundaries, only opportunities, and that is what we hope to promote with such exchanges” said Pauline Mc Kenna