The teachers and staff of St. Canice’s would like to show our respect and love for St. Canice’s own Sorcha Bn Uí Chiardubháin or as she is known to us Sally Kirwan. Like Moses who spent 40 years leading his people to the promised land, Sally has spent longer than that leading students during her accomplished tenure with us. She has touched all of our lives during this time, and we are sad to see her go.
Everyone knows that you don’t go into teaching to make a lot of money – people become teachers to make a difference to the students that are in their class, to teach them that they can accomplish their goals and become whoever they want to be in this world.
At times, for Sally, making a difference also meant teaching her students how to work together in a group or – yes – even about the importance of not sticking erasers or magnets in your nose or ears!
Sally always had one of the best behaved classes in the school and it was only when I taught 6th class I realised why – students often spoke about spending years looking for all the CCTV cameras in her classroom!!
Sally showed that you can make a difference in a student’s life by the day to day things you do for them. Those small things work together to make a big difference in the lives of others. A testament to Sally is the fact that she taught parents of children enrolled in St. Canice’s and although she would not like to admit it maybe a few grandparents too!
Sometimes the hardest part about teaching is just getting the students involved and interested in learning. Sally never had that problem (maybe because of the cameras). I could not pass by the classroom without being called into the classroom to hear the class news – and you could end up being the news of the day!
I would sincerely like to thank Sally for her encouragement and local knowledge especially over the last three years she has been my ‘go to person’.
Sally, as I said consultancy does not end on retirement!!! One of my favourite memories of Sally was during the whole school evaluation last year…. now that’s a story that will be told for years to come!!
