Counting down the weeks

We are counting down the weeks before we finish T.Y :(  this week we are getting all our summer tests over and done with so that next week we can focus on our all important T.Y night. T.Y night is held each year, it is a night where we can show our parents what have have done all year. Each class has a 1920s dance and as a year group we are preforming our zumba dance and we are finishing off with our end of year song ' seasons of love' from the musical rent.

Geography project.

We have a new geography project its 'the geography of'' and then we choose a topic were interested in. I done my project on the flute because I play the flute and i'm interested in music.

Book review: My Sisters Keeper.

My Sisters Keeper.

I have read the novel ‘My Sisters Keeper’ which was written by Jodi Picoult. My Sisters Keeper tells the story of thirteen year old Anna Fitzgerald who wants to sue her parents for the rights to her own body. Anna a child who was conceived purely for her genetic makeup so that she can save her older sister Kate who is sick with a rare type of leukaemia called promyelocytic leukemia which is cancer of the blood and bone marrow.  Anna was only supposed to be used once to help her sister and this was when she was born, when they used blood from Anna’s umbilical cord.  But as the years went on Kate went in and out of remission and every time she relapsed Anna would be used to donate blood and bone marrow. But now she is thirteen her sister has kidney failure and her parents have asked her to donate one of her kidneys to once again save her sister’s life. Anna decides she doesn’t want to donate her kidney and go through another painful procedure she just wants it to end and her decision of ending it all as she knows might mean ending her sister’s life also. Anna decides to hire a lawyer Cambell Alexander who will represent her in court when she files to be medically emancipated from her parents, this will mean her parents cannot make medical decisions for her. Over the years Kate’s illness has caused huge strain on the Fitzgerald family causing devastating effects, Jesse Anna’s older brother has gone completely of the rails and tries to get attention from his mother and father by drinking, smoking, taking drugs and setting things on fire. While Anna believes that by suing her parents they will listen to her more. The trail also put a huge strain on Anna and her mother’s relationship throughout the book and Anna moves out of the family home and moves in with her father at the fire station where he works.

The book is told over the course of two weeks leading up to and after the trail, during the book you are brought right back to the beginning before Anna was even born. It is narrated in each chapter by a different character so you get the views of Anna, her mother Sara, her father Brain, her brother Jesse, her laywer Cambell Alexander and her guardian ad litem Julia. I found this way of writing the book very interesting as you got the view from each angle. I taught the most interesting narrator was Sara Fitzgerald, she loves both her daughters equally and wants Kate to live but this means putting her other daughter through painful medical procedures. In some ways I feel she was being selfish but I can also see that she loves Kate and cant bare to see her die when she knows that Anna can keep her alive for a little while longer. But I believe that donating a kidney is just a bit too much, blood and bone marrow is a renewable source but a kidney isn’t and in later life could cause big problems for her daughter.

The novel deals with themes such as love, conflict, sorrow and regret. The novel ends with a dramatic climax that in my view made it an amazing read. I also learned a lot while reading this book about the illness itself but also the strain the illness put on a family which in my view could either make or break one. I would recommend this book to anyone it was a great read.

I would give this novel a four out of five because at times when you’re changing between characters it can get a bit confusing as they tended to have flash backs which were sometimes hard to follow.

Swim a mile.

So last Friday as I said we went to swim a mile and this post is just a short one to say how we got on. so unfortunately I didnt have enough time to swim the full mile but I got to swim half a mile with shannon. All T.Y's and LCVP's were very happy as in previous years the most miles swam by a school was 25 miles and altogether St. Wolstans swam 40 miles.

Swim a Mile with a smile.

Tomorrow all T.Ys are going to the National Aquatic Centre to take part in the annual Swim a Mile challange. The Swim a Mile is a charity event which raises funds for Barretstown  and Crumlin Childrens
Hospital. Barretstown for all of you who don't know helps to rebuild the lives of children who have cancer. The children aged from 7-17 come from all over Ireland and Europe to join in on activites such as canoeing, high ropes, drama and arts and crafts.

Shake it out !

On Wednesday in St Wolstans we hosted our annual music night, this is a night where all music students get involved and prepare a piece of music to preform for parents and family. All students in T.Y do music so we were all involved my class ( Eriu ) and Banba preformed shake it out by Florence and the machine. Our music teacher put all our musical talents together to make an amazing version of 'shake it out' which included piano, djembe drums, flutes and a variation of other percussion instruments. Everyone really enjoyed the night of music which also included a raffle with lots of prizes.

Enjoy!

Braveforce.

T.Ys took part in Braveforce assault course.  It was a great day out which involved going through tunnels,climbing and going through ditches which would start around your feet and you would end up that you would have to swim to get out of it. Although it was really challenging, mucky and cold it was a lot of fun.