It was all sunshine and smiles at Letterkenny Educate Together National School this morning as the school proudly raised its Active School Flag.
It is the second time the school has achieved the Active School Flag and comes at the end of a school year in which teachers, pupils and staff engaged in so many activities.
Pictures by Geraldine Diver
Milford AC athlete Marty Lynch, the winner of The Race and the victor on the WAAR adventure race, was the special guest to help raise the flag with members of the LETNS Sports Council.
A six-week Operation Transformation programme saw pupils go through six weeks of learning the values of exercise, nutrition, team work, well being and fun.
Week one was exercise, week two focussed on nutrition, mental health was the theme for week three, having fun was week four’s aim, with teamwork taught in week five.
Week six centred on well-being which encompasses all of the previous week’s topics.
Lisa McMonagle, the LETNS home-school liaison officer, was named as an ‘Operation Transformation Hero’, after being surprised by an Operation Transformation crew, who visited her at work.
The Active School Flag (ASF) is awarded to schools that strive to achieve a physically educated and physically active school community.
“We worked very hard to achieve this,” Aoibh and Carl from the Sports Council said.
“We took on a challenge of Operation Transformation for six weeks. It was fantastic. Not only did we get fit, but we made many great partnerships.
“We are so happy that Marty has joined us. He is an inspiration to us. He talked to us about his success in winning The Race and WAAR. He wasn’t afraid of a challenge.”
Lynch himself addressed the attendance on the warmest day of the year.
“Everyone has their own challenge and it’s about taking on that challenge, putting in the effort, eating well, sleeping well and training well,” he said.
“Operation Transformation was a big success in the school and secured the Active Flag. It’s important to look at the flag now and see what the hard work has done. You should be proud and you should enjoy every minute.”
