St Joseph’s GCSE Prize Giving Ceremony was held on Thursday 5th December 2019.
The Class of 2014 – 2019 were welcomed back to celebrate their outstanding GCSE results and achievements. The two guest speakers for the ceremony were past pupil and former Principal of St Joseph’s Mr Hugh Mallon, and past pupil and World Iron Man Competitor, and Guinness Book World Record Breaker 2019, Mr Declan Loy. Mr Mallon spoke fondly of the students remembering them as Year 8 pupils and congratulated them on their results and all their achievements throughout their five years in St Joseph’s. He quoted from Mr Nelson Mandela ‘It always seems impossible until it is done.’
He emphasised that he himself was proud to be a ‘St Joseph’s Man’, and reminded the pupils of our school motto, ‘Vir Justus’, like Saint Joseph, you are ‘Just and Honourable Men’. Mr Declan Loy spoke of his life journey; he shared his experiences of his training for the World Man Competitions and his goal to break the World Record. He spoke of how his life changed ‘in the flick of a light bulb’ and read a poem ‘ Our Deepest Fear’ by Marianne Williamson. ‘Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us…... The boys were presented their GCSE certificates by Mr Mallon and Subject awards were presented by the Chairman of the Board of Governors Mr Ciaran Mackin, Principal Mr Declan Murray, Sponsors and Heads of Departments. The following students were awarded the top prize in each subject. Mathematics – John Cunningham Geography – Patrick McKeown English Language – Cameron Hedderman English Literature – Cameron Hedderman History – Mickey MacMahon Religion – Patrick Jordan Science Double Award – Dawid Pasternak Science Single Award – Reece Kearney Art & Design – David Byrne Music – Cameron Hedderman PE Studies – Patrick Jordan Top Sportsman – Calum McCusker TD Resistant Materials – Calum McCusker Craftsman Award – Aaron Ferris Vocational Studies – David Byrne ICT – Sean Bradley EDCL – Conor O’Loughlin Personal Development Award – Aaron Ferris Media – Mickey MacMahon LLW – David Byrne Occupational Studies – Ryan Conachy Parents’ Association Award for School Spirit – Patrick Jordan Inspirational Award ‘Anything is Possible’ – Caolan Griffin Special Achievement Award – Lucas Wijas Principal’s Award for Endeavour – Euan Smith Best Overall Student – John Cunningham Best wishes to you all for the future. St Joseph’s door will always be open.