Over the course of the academic year we will welcome in many guest speakers to talk to the entire year group of students. Some of those speakers are listed below to give a flavour of what Transition Year students in Gonzaga College will experience from the series of talks we arrange here in the school.
We also have a two hour slot built in to the timetable for each class group to have visits on a weekly basis over the course of a module.
The following are some of the organisations who we have had guest speaker visits from over previous years.
Shoutout
Operation Smile
The Mobile Music School
The Peter McVerry Trust
The Reptile Farm
Spinal Injuries Ireland
SVP
Wexford Cycle (for the PMcVT)
The Hope Foundation
Mustard Seed Communities Ireland
Fr Peter McVerry SJ has been working with vulnerable young people in Dublin for the last 40 years. During this time he has campaigned tirelessly for their rights. Fr McVerry grew up in Newry, Co. Down and was educated at the Abbey Christian Brothers’ Grammar School in Newry and at the Jesuit school at Clongowes Wood College in Co. Kildare.
In 1962, he entered the Jesuit Order and was ordained in 1975. From 1974 to 1980, Peter worked in the Inner City in Dublin and there he came into contact with young people who were sleeping on the streets because of their home situation. He opened a hostel for homeless boys, aged 12-16, in 1979 and this subsequently became his life-time work. He saw through the work of this hostel that when the boys reached 16 and needed to leave, they had few options open to them and most ended up back living on the streets. This realisation led him to set about providing services and accommodation for these older youths.
In 1980 Peter moved to Ballymun and by the end of 1983 he had founded the Arrupe Society, a charity to tackle homelessness. This charity, subsequently renamed as the Peter McVerry Trust, has progressed from a three bedroom flat in Ballymun to eleven homeless hostels, over 100 apartments, a residential drug detox centre and two drug stabilisation services. His vision for PMVT is to support all those living on the margins and to uphold their rights to full inclusion in society. In 2013 the charity worked with almost 3,600 vulnerable youths.
Catherine Devitt is the Environmental Justice Officer, a post recently created by the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice. This role comes from a recent review of how care of the environment and awareness of environmental justice issues might be better fostered through the JCFJ’s research and policy-related activities. The role of environmental justice officer will provide support to, and link with, existing Jesuit networks and related activities nationally and internationally such as Eco Jesuit, the online communication forum which offers insight and reflection on socio-ecological concerns.
Aware was founded in 1985 by Dr. Patrick McKeon and a small but dedicated team of volunteers, many of whom had their own personal experience with depression, or bipolar disorder. The organisation developed in response to the clear need for information, understanding and support, both for individuals who had a diagnosis of depression or bipolar as well as family members supporting a loved one.
Since then, what began as one support group in Dublin has grown and flourished to become a nationwide presence which has saved many lives and has, for countless others, eased the suffering and distress that depression can bring. The three pillars of Aware’s work are information, education and support. The organisation provides a range of services including group meetings offering support and information, atelephone and email support service, and a number of programmes based on principles of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT).
Educating and empowering people to look after their mental health is also an integral part of Aware’s work. Interactive talks and workshops in schools (for students aged 15-18) as well as education and training programmes for the workplace are delivered nationwide.
Aware believes that recovery from depression is possible.
DELL Workshop
Past pupil Paul Sheahan is the IT Director with Dell Financial Services at Dell EMC and will be running a careers workshop for all TY students. Paul has also attended the Past Pupils Pathways evenings as well as run this workshop for the last four years at Gonzaga.
SVP
A member of the Saint Vincent de Paul charity will be coming to the school to talk to the students about the role they play in SVP, about the work that the charity does and about how important the fundraising that the students undertake is for the charity.
(Updated August 2021)