Our art students, led by Noel Boyle, created unique and
utterly enchanting ceramic artwork. Many of us are delighted with the charming
crooked houses we purchased. The ceramic Christmas trees will light up corners
in many homes this year and the cheeky robins and romantic hearts will bring a
smile to the faces of many. I was so impressed when I congratulated one of the
students on their artistic skills and she confidently responded: 'We have a
strong product and we are making the right pitch.' You should be on The Apprentice
crossed my mind. Our two Dannys, Danny Mc Feeley and Danny Lyttle, brought the
beautifully crafted and wonderfully touching works of their transition students
who participated fully with an exuberance and joy that was contagious. One of
the students, who would also make it on The Apprentice, managed to sell out
with his confident sales pitch and last minute bargains. The matchbox cars with
Christmas trees on the roofs were utterly adorable.
Susan Cassidy and the hair and beauty students added the
essential Christmas glamour with their nail painting and sumptuous beauty
products, while Bernadette Peoples and her catering students added more than a
few pounds in every way to the event. Joan Casey and her students had another
stall with a whole array of sparkling Christmas crafts that attracted a steady
stream of customers. With the support of Martin Rijkers and Sean Barton, the
Springtown students constructed perfectly angled wooden Christmas trees that
would delight our essential skills tutors to no abound. We are expecting more
wonders for next year as we marvel at our students’ potential.
We must applaud our lecturers at Magilligan, Shaun Duffy,
Andy Mc Hugh and Sharon Kirk who engaged whole-heartedly in leading Project
Based Learning at the prison. Theirs was the biggest stall that overflowed with
the merchandise created by our students at Magilligan. This stall was abundant
with goods: memory boxes with paper collage, vintage trays with heartfelt Mark
Twain messages and wreaths galore. Andy’s students created bespoke metal coal
buckets that were snapped up in seconds. One student proudly gave his signature
to all his work and slipped in a message identifying the motivation for his
carefully crafted memory boxes: 'for all our loved ones with dementia'.
Finally, Ronan O’ Callaghan’s students, who never cease to
impress, raised spirits as they sang joyously throughout the event. Project
based learning this craft fair was, but it also reminded us, in that cold foyer
of the Foyle building , that the warmth and hope of Christmas is generated
through care, compassion and community.
