Royal & Prior Comprehensive School

Senior Prizegiving was held on Friday March 12th 2010 at 8.00pm in the school.

The prizes were distrubted by the Rev. Trevor Stevenson Director of Fields of  Life.

See Gallery for photos

Rev. Stevenson was educated at Rathmichael National School and Wesley College, Dublin. He claims to have not been particularly interested in studying but was very keen on sport of any kind especially rugby. In pursuance of a career in agriculture he attended Gurteen Agricultural College. During the seventies and early eighties he focused his attention on running the dairy farm at home.
Following a visit to Uganda in 1993 he conceived his ‘Fields of Life’ vision. His initial plan was to build a training farm beside a primary school he had visited. Rev. Stevenson had by now left farming and was an ordained minister in the Church of Ireland. After obtaining a diploma in Development studies in Birmingham he set off to Uganda with his wife.

A farm and primary school were established at Kasangati before they returned home in 1998. He was then asked to direct the work of Fields of Life and is now the CEO, leading a highly motivated team in Ireland, Uganda and Burundi. It was his dream and is now his passion to see “lives changed physically and spiritually and to see churches planted.

His hobbies include playing soccer, supporting his beloved Liverpool and showing daffodils, dahlias and vegetables at local horticultural shows. He is married to Ruth and they have two boys David and Mikey.

In his address Rev. Stevenson recounted the history of Fields of Life explaining how his first visit to Uganda inspired himself and his wife Ruth to try and bring God and the basic necessities of life to these deserving people. Chapter one of his mission saw the construction of the training farm as well as a 500 pupil primary school. His subsequent return to Ireland in 1999 led to the beginning of chapter two, which saw him accept an offer to direct the work of FOL from Ireland.

The directors of the charity who are all voluntary wanted to relieve the poverty and empower East Africans towards self sufficiency by initiating educational projects, by drilling wells and by funding local projects which would generate local jobs and income.
He explained how FOL has grown remarkably since those humble early days and now boasts 99 schools in many East African countries such as Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda and Kenya. Many of the children attending these schools were orphaned due to the HIV/AIDS virus or came from poverty stricken homes in villages and slums. Many were without hope having been rescued from lives of begging and prostitution, to have grasped a chance for survival and hope for the future.

The Rev. Ken Mc Laughlin proposed the vote of thanks to the Guest Speaker and the evening concluded with musical entertainment provided by Cian Boyd. Cian played ‘Take Five’, associated with the American jazz pianist Dave Brubeck on his saxophone, accompanied by Mr. Fitzsimons on piano.

Senior Prizewinners

 
Transition Year: James Dowling, John Fallows, Sam Pearson, Lucy Costello, Karen De Souza Tosadore, Samantha McKemey

Leaving Certificate: Vicki Blackburn, Conor Boyd, Edina Duncan, Stephen Duncan, Alison Edwards, Amy Laird,

Year One:  Matthew Lecky, Ryan Lonergan, Joseph McGinley, Philip McGonigle, Nikola Porter, Karen Roarty, Gillian Robinson, Laura Schneider, Georgina Smyth, Vanessa Taaffe

Leaving Certificate:  Tómas Adair, Kim Clarke, Andrew Cooper, Nadine Cutliffe, Karen Deane, Marcia Doherty

Year Two: Sarah Kennedy, Deborah Kerrigan, Christopher Kilpatrick, Jason Laird, Hannah McCauley,Shane McDowell, Gemma McKinney, Nicole McLaughlin, Charlene Malseed, Ben Oliver, Sarah Parke, Andrew Peoples, Jonathan Porter, Alice Rossley,  Louise Roulston, Caroline Scott, Laura Stewart, Liticia Woods

Special Prizes:

Cookman Memorial Award (Leaving Certificate): Michael Dowling