The High School  Zion Road  Rathgar  Dublin 6   Tel: 01-4922611   Fax: 01-4924427  office@highschooldublin.com

Mi casa su casa

In July, a group of16 young people from Christchurch Rathgar travelled to Honduras in Central America. From The High School, Sara Miller, Emma Laing (Form 6), Susan Brusey, Alexz Carey and Aisling Burke (Form 5) as well as three past pupils travelled to Honduras with the charity Habitat for Humanity. Habitat is a non-profit organisation which works in 85 countries throughout the world including Ireland. We were the first Irish team to work in Honduras and our aim was to build simple, decent housing at no profit for families in need.

Honduras is a poverty stricken country where the average wage is $85 per month. There are problems with gangs in the cities but we were working in the centre of the country in a rural mountain town called Siguatepeque. We worked with a local mason in a very poor neighbourhood on four houses for three weeks, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays. On the worksite we did tasks such as bricklaying, mixing cement, moving blocks and sand, and plumbing and electrical work. It was very difficult as everything was done by hand, there were no power tools!

We had a few minor accidents such as the scaffolding that collapsed while Sara was on it bricklaying!! There were no proper toilets on the worksite so we had to use fly infested outhouses!! Suffice it to say they were left unused by us!!

The Honduran people were extremely friendly and courteous to us, always generous even when they could not always afford to be. It was heartbreaking to see the children with very little. Many did not have shoes so we decided to leave some clothes and shoes for them.

The trip was an amazing experience and made us realise how lucky we are and how it was possible to make a difference to the lives of other people. We would like to thank those who assisted us or donated money to our fundraising attempts.

Head Boy and Girl

Congratulations to Shane Sargeant and Ruth Roseingrave who have been appointed Head Boy and Head Girl for this school year.

The Head Boy and Head Girl are in charge of organising the Prefects duties during the year and also represent the school at public occasions.

Meeting for parents of Form 1

A reminder that there is a meeting for parents of pupils in Form 1 on Monday October 3 at 1930 in the Reynolds Hall.

Uniform

In the interests of the school and its pupils, students are expected to wear full uniform to school, in school and on the way home. Uniform must be worn neatly. This includes shirt tucked into skirt or trousers, tie at least as high as the first button hole from the top of the collar and the knot fully visible when wearing a sweater, cuff buttons closed, etc. Students may be given a uniform violation or sent home for contravention. Two violations in a year will result in a detention.

Simon Community fun run

The Simon Community is an organisation which works with homeless people in Dublin. Each year they hold a fun run to raise funds to help provide the services they offer, e.g. food, shelter, employment, health care etc. We are entering a school team again this year and anyone who is interested should see Mr McClure in A4 and collect an entry form (cost €5), before Friday 30 September. The fun run is held in Phoenix Park on Sunday 9 October at 2.30 p.m. Last year we raised €1,800 and this year we have set ourselves a target of €2,000. Will you help us do this by entering and collecting sponsorship money? Thank you.

Cartoon

Well done to James Beahan (Form 2) for the cartoon in this issue (copyright).

Sport this week

SCT (L) St Andrew's Wed 28 Booterstown 2.30

U 16 (L) Kilkenny Wed 28 Kilkenny 2.30

JCT A (L) St Andrew's Wed 28 Home 2.30

JCT B St Andrew's Wed 28 Home 2.30

U 13 10 a side St Columba's Wed 28 Whitechurch 2.30

U 16 St Michael's Sat 1 Ailesbury Rd 11.00

U 14, A, B Wesley Sat 1 Ballinteer 11.00

Sen 1, 3 King's Hospital Wed 28 Away 1.45

Sen 2, 4 King's Hospital Wed 28 Away 2.45

Min A, 1st Yr A King's Hospital Wed 28 Home 2.15

Min B, Jun B King's Hospital Wed 28 Home 3.15

Jun A (L) St Andrew's Sat 1 Home 9.15

Sen 1 Loreto Dalkey Sat 1 Away 9.15

Min A Loreto Dalkey Sat 1 Away 10.15

Jun B, Min C Loreto Dalkey Sat 1 Home 10.15

Jun C Loreto Dalkey Sat 1 Home 11.15

Min B Loreto Dalkey Sat 1 Home 9.15

Cadette St Andrew's Tues 27 Arena 3.45

Senior St Andrew's Tues 27 Arena 4.45

Cadette (C) Holy Child Sallynoggin Fri 30 Arena 4.00

In girls hockey against Mt Sackville, Senior 1 and 2 won 4-1 and 3-0, Jun A won 2-0, Junior B drew 1-1, Junior D drew 1-1, Minor C won 3-0, Minor A won 6-0 vs Pinewood.