Pupils peer through the camera lens
Ethan Kerr from St Colm’s High School, Draperstown wins top prize in Life Through a Lens Schools Photo Competition.The Northern Ireland Energy Agency and Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI) and the announced the winners of the Schools Photo Competition at a ceremony at the Science Gallery, Dublin on7th May 2009. The overall winner of the competition was Ethan Kerr from St Colm’s High School, Draperstown. Ethan fought of fierce competition to win the top prize of a state of the art laptop with integrated webcam for himself and €1500 in computer and audio equipment for his school.
Colin McClelland a student at Foyle and Londonderry College in Derry City was also a winner, scooping the prize in the Ulster Senior category.
The awards were presented by the chairperson of the judging panel, RTE radio personality, Eanna Ni Lamhna.
The cross border competition challenged students to get creative and capture a picture relating to this year’s theme: ‘Energy - The Next Generation’. The ‘Life through a Lens’ competition which is in its sixth year, is open to all secondary school children on the island of Ireland. The competition not only requires students to take an imaginative snap but also encourages them to consider how they can be more environmentally conscious in their everyday life.
“The standard of entries every year is consistently high, this year was no exception”, said George Lyttle, Education Coordinator at the Energy Agency. “This competition is extremely important as it confronts students with issues that will shape our environment in the future. The attitudes of these students will determine the relevance of sustainable energy in the future.”
Radio personality, Eanna Ni Lamhna presented the prizes to winning students in five different categories from all over Ireland. Speaking at the awards ceremony she said, “It is a great honour to be involved in what is a most challenging of competitions. The futuristic theme really gave the students something to think about and the consideration and hard work carried out was clearly evident in the entries. It was also obvious that these students are thinking about the environment and what that can do to curb the effects of climate change.”
All the wining pictures can be viewed at www.sei.ie/Schools/Secondary_Schools/Competitions/Photo_Competition/Photo_Competition_Winners_2009