Tara and Aidan worthy winners of Westmeath Garda Youth Awards
While many of us binged on Netflix during the first lockdown, St Finian's student Tara Dalton (17) built herself a computer.
The daughter of Micheál and Deirdre Dalton from Greenpark, when she built her computer Tara then put it to good use for the wider school community. Due to Covid restrictions, St Finian's was unable to host its annual Finians Got Talent Contest. However, Tara brought her computer to school and worked tirelessly with teachers and pupils to record more than 30 performances. She helped with filming, editing and reviewing all recordings.
In recognition of her efforts, Tara's teacher Emma Carey nominated her a Westmeath Garda Youth award, which she received at an outdoor presentation ceremony at sponsor Lidl's store on the old Dublin Road.
Ms Carey said that Tara , who also helped out in the autism unit at St Finian's during her TY year, “is a very unassuming kid who did not seek any recognition for all the time and energy she gave”.
“On December 18 the concert went live to every classroom in the school. Tara created a buzz around the school and an atmosphere of fun and togetherness. She is a positive, hardworking and loyal student at St Finian's.”
Speaking at the ceremony, Tara, who wants to join An Garda Siochana when she finishes her education, said that she was honoured to receive the award from Superintendent Alan Murray. She also explained why she built her own computer during lockdown.
“I have always been into gaming and editing. I decided to start learning about it on YouTube and saved up my money and with help from my family I was able to buy it. I needed a computer for online schoolwork so it was the perfect timing. Then when I went into TY it came in very useful with the editing and other online stuff.”
Tara wasn't the only exceptional young person to receive an award on Thursday evening.
Ballinea's Aidan Keane (16) was the very worthy recipient of a Special Achievement Award. A valued member of the community at St Brigid's School, Aidan has had to make do with online learning this year as he has an underlying health condition that puts him in the high risk category when it comes to Covid-19. He also underwent significant surgery earlier in the year.
However, despite these challenges, he has shown incredible resilience and postivity during this difficult period and is a source of inspiration and motivation to his peers.
He participated in the Creative Schools project led by Secondary Purple Class. With the assistance of Gda Claire Davis of Mullingar Community Policing, he helped create the back to school “Happy” music and dance video.
Aidan was nominated for the Special Achievement Award by his teacher Anne-Marie Connolly, who said that the close knit school community at St Brigid's “are very proud of his determination, resilience and his continued active engagement with his learning in light of all the challenges he has had to face in recent times”.
Speaking at the ceremony, Sgt John McWalter paid tribute to Tara and Aidan.
“They are fantastic young people. We are very lucky for the Westmeath Garda Awards, we had three Mullingar winners and we had one in Athlone. We are very proud of the Mullingar winners and Adam and Tara are exceptional young people.”