Children's 2014 Christmas Decoration Competition at Wexford County Council
Wexford County Council, in conjunction with South East Radio, has announced the winners of the 2014 Christmas Decoration Competition. Cllr. Fergie Kehoe, Chairperson Housing, Community & Environment Strategic Policy Committee, presented the awards at a special ceremony in County Hall on Wednesday the 17th of December.
Councillor Fergie Kehoe, said “The school children who participated in this competition have shown us all how to reduce waste by making unusual Christmas decorations from everyday household materials and a bit of imagination. They are a wonderful example to us all and I congratulate them, their teachers and their parents for their efforts in helping Wexford to Reduce Reuse and Recycle their Waste.”
Hundreds of children around the county participated in the Christmas Decoration Competition which was open to all primary and secondary school children. Alan Corcoran from South East Radio stated ” the competition which is now in its eleventh year is great, as it aims to get children and their parents thinking about how to reuse and recycle materials that might otherwise be thrown away.”
Cliona Connolly, Environment Education Officer with Wexford County Council stated that “The aim of the competition is to encourage children and adults to make creative Christmas decorations with recyclable waste, fostering the ethos of reuse and recycling wherever possible. Schools around the county were invited to make a Christmas decoration out of recycled materials such as cardboard, newspapers, plastic and glass. Numerous schools throughout Wexford participated in the competition and one entry per category from each school was put forward to the County Final. Among this years’ submissions were cribs, Christmas trees, snowmen, Santa and his sleigh, Penguins and lots of tree decorations.” A group category proved to be a huge success again this year as it encourages children to work together to make amazing decorations from as young as junior infants. All 280 decorations received were displayed in the County Hall and received great praise.
The overall competition winner was a decoration entitled ‘Christmas Advent Train’ by 2nd class, St Fintan’s National School, Taghmon. Pupils from 2nd class made the winning decoration by using cardboard boxes, juice cartons, and milk bottle tops. Each carriage of the train included an advent surprise, a beautiful decoration made from more recyclable materials. The Overall Runner up was Emma Doyle from Ballyduff National School. Emma’s decoration entitled ‘Countdown to Christmas Tree’ was made from cardboard boxes, ribbon, beads and old wire. Other winning decorations included ‘Rudolph by Jude Byrne from Junior Infants, Danescastle National School, ‘Christmas Camel’ by Labhaoise Farrell, Senior Infants, Screen National School, ‘Night Light’ by Katelyn O’ Leary, 1st Class, Tombrack National School; ‘Glittering Star’ by Kellie Cloke, 2nd Class, Kilmyshall National School; ‘Christmas Wreath’ by Billy Phayres, 3rd class, Boolavogue National School; Christmas Dinner’ by Rachel Gregg, 4th class Murrintown National School and ‘Socky the Snownman’ JP O’ Brien, Barntown National School, and ‘Santa by Wicktoria Dgaza, 6th Class Mercy School, Wexford.
Congratulations to all who participated.