Pupils at Limerick school sow seeds of solidarity with Ukraine

SUNFLOWERS and shamrocks stand side by side as a symbol of support to Ukraine in Catherine McAuley School.

With many questions and mixed emotions of fear, sadness and worry; the staff and students decided to do something to help manage and support their own feelings and also show support to those who are suffering and directly affected as result of the war.  

Greg Browne, principal of the city school, said news of the war in Ukrain  is dominating headlines, TV channels and social media.

“All young people, including our own students are exposed to images and information about the conflict. We felt the need to address the war in a way that our students would feel comfortable talking about it. We wanted to give them a platform where they will feel safe addressing their feelings about this war and we also wanted to provide them with an opportunity to do something positive where they can feel helpful,” said Mr Browne.

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Led by the students in room 11, taught by Aisling Travers, the school is undertaking a sunflowers and shamrock project to show their support to Ukraine. Ms Travers said the pupils were inspired by the sunflower being the national flower of Ukraine and the shamrock being our symbol. “The students of room 11 researched and planned a whole school project of support for Ukraine. Each student in the school was provided with a beautifully designed sunflower and shamrock support template page. The students worked with our art teacher Ms Huban on the template design and a key feature of the design brief was incorporating both the sunflower and shamrock into the letters of the message,” said Ms Travers.

To date, over 200 completed messages have been posted in their dedicated post box. They range from prayers, letters of hope and thoughtful artwork. These message will be sent to the Ukrainian ambassador in Ireland. 

Eye-catching and heartfelt window displays under the theme of sunflowers and shamrock have also started popping up around the school.

“In addition to this, a very positive and exciting aspect of the project is our sunflower and shamrock seeds project which Ms Monaghan, our horticulture teacher, will run in her classes over the coming weeks. Students will plant both sunflower and shamrock seeds and watch them grow side by side as a symbol of our continued and ever growing support to the people of Ukraine,” said Ms Travers.

Zoe Long, pupil, said: “It has been great being the class to lead this project for our school. It feels like we are doing something small to help the people of Ukraine.”