Roots of Empathy: Thanks to Aoife and Baby Aela

All of the Claddagh School community would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to Aoife and Baby Aela who made it possible for us to run the Roots of Empathy programme in St. Nicholas’ N.S this year.

Aoife, thank you for your commitment to the programme and the kindness you showed towards the Roots of Empathy instructor and the 4th class children over the course of the programme.

Aela Birthday wish.jpeg

A special thank you to Baby Aela who acted as our Roots of Empathy teacher this year. She has taught us to be more understanding and how to show empathy towards all of the people in our lives.

We must also say a big Happy Birthday to Aela as she turned one last week.

We hope you enjoyed your special celebrations!

To learn more about the Roots of Empathy programme please visit https://rootsofempathy.org/roots-of-empathy/

Or

watch this video: What is Roots of Empathy?

We look forward to welcoming more Roots of Empathy babies into our school community in the future.

Hip Hop and its Story

Jamie Lee Lynn


What I love about hip hop is how it started. Let me take you back to 1979 in a chipper in Brooklyn. There were people looking for a lead singer for their band. They said they were going to be the next best thing and they were! So they heard a voice beside the stereo and said, “You can really sing like that?”. The man who was soon to be the man who made hip hop replied. pretty confused, “Do I know you?” One of the 2 singers said, “What do you work as?” He told them that he works as a waiter in the chipper. Then they said, “How would you like to be famous?”  and he said, “What's the catch?” They say, “You’ve got to come to the studio and make up a song.” And that's where the first hip hop song came from; it was called Rapper's Delight by The Sugarhill Gang. The Sugerhill Gang were the first rappers ever and they were the most successful African-American group since The Jackson 5. 

The Unrivalled Sugarhill Gang

The Unrivalled Sugarhill Gang

Rapper’s Delight played world wide and now they are around 50 years of age, and live in a nice mansion. You have probably learned if you want to get rich go to a chipper: really if you want to be rich, learn how to sing. Anywho, I say that half of current hip hop is a pile of poop where they just sound like robots. Back in the 80s and 90s, that was the golden age of hip hop. Don't get me wrong, half of hip hop now is good. But back then, all of it was good.

Like they had 2pac, Biggie and people like them. They were rapping about life in the hood. Now they rap about crime. Now people are already rich before they start rapping. They're supposed to start from the bottom and make their way up. That’s a good story.  A bad story is about people starting from the top and getting higher. I don't like what they do now but I like old school rap. Think about it back in the 90s, 80s and late 70s it was the best time for hip hop. You had 2pac and Biggie and Eminem in his early days but I’m going to focus on the west side of hip hop, mainly on 2pac. 

First Preference - 2pac.jpg

Tupac Omero Shakur born 1972, died 1996. This is Tupac’s story. He had a rough upbringing; being black in the 70s was hard. Tupac's parents were both active members of the Black Panther African-American civil rights party. So you think he is going to be a criminal but he wasn't. His mom dropped out of school but she didn't want her son to. So she made him work hard but he never went to college instead he joined the Digital Underground, a record company, at first he didn't do well but then got a promotion which got them on a national tour and then he went solo and recorded a few songs. When he went to pick up the cheque, some men robbed and shot him. The man I was talking about before Biggie was presumed to be the one who tried to kill him. Biggie was on the east coast and Tupac is on the west this started an east coast, west coast rivalry. 

Tupac then got signed to Death Row which was the biggest record company in the 90s. It was where he met Shug Knight. He was the owner of Death Row and he was crazy. Everyone was afraid of him. Tupac was the best artist in Death Row and Shug turned into his bodyguard. That led them to go to a Mike Tyson match. After the fight, on their way to a party, he was shot and killed. He was only 25.

That was the life of Tupac Shakur. I picked Tupac because in my opinion he is the greatest rapper of all time. The reason I got into hip hop in the first place is because I love hip hop. It's the best kind of MUSIC. Mumble rap and pop isn't going to change that. New hip hop can’t change old school hip hop. I like old hip hop  and I think if Tupac had never died hip hop would be the same. So R.I.P Tupac.

Convince Me: Should We Go Back to School?

Eve Kelly and Maja Baltruszewicz in Rang a 5 go head-to head to try and convince you (and Leo Varadkar!) of their opinions regarding the continuing closures of schools.

So, should we go back to school? Read on to be convinced, one way or the other.

Why we Should Go Back to School

By Eve Kelly

I am writing to you, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, to inform you on my thoughts on the school closures and the possibilities of schools re-opening.

As we all know the schools and colleges have been closed due to Covid 19 for an extended period of time. I personally think the schools should re-open. Here is why:

 

People’s Mental Health

Now almost no one is allowed to see any family or friends. This will cause many people to break the current restrictions in place and, it will cause many student’s and adult’s mental health to develop or in some cases, worsen what’s already there.

The Weather

Summer is coming soon and therefore the weather will be a lot better, causing more and more people to break the restrictions in place to go visit co workers and friends from school.

Frontline Workers

By opening schools, a great amount of pressure will be taken off workers still in their positions in shops to find childcare for the kids at home.

So, how do we introduce students to a school environment safely again?

My theory is that instead of bringing in a small number of children let’s say 5, bring in 10. Why? Well if only five children and one teacher were in the room standards would automatically drop as students and teachers will think they are safer due to the small number of people in the room. Now if there were 10 in the room plus a teacher, the standards would be higher, rules will be stricter, and people will be more aware of physical contact.

Thank you for taking the time out of your busy day to read this. Stay Safe.

Why we should not go back to school

By Maja Baltruszewicz

In these hard times, there really is nothing we can do except for not touching our faces, keeping a distance and no mass gatherings. Most importantly I want to tell my opinion on why we should not be allowed back to school. Here's my opinion.

There are more than 12 kids in each classroom. That saying "The more, the merrier" is definitely not true in these times. Especially in winter, when a lot of people get colds, it could be very possible that germs can spread from one child to another.

Handshakes are not acceptable in school. More children will have contact with germs. The worst part is that viruses spread FAST.

I think that if too many people are in one place it can get MESSY.

People don't even want to be near each other so why make it any harder on the children? But we still have to be aware about germs, bacteria and other people’s germs.

The children (like me) were very worried about the virus even before lockdown! I think, for the sake of everyone’s health, us children, teachers and any staff members should be not allowed back to schools (also the same for preschools and colleges).I don’t know anything more than that except for that we have to keep our hands clean, no handshaking, and keeping a 2 meter distance.

I hope this virus ends soon. And that was my report on why we should NOT be allowed back to school. Thank you for reading.