Today the Transition Year Model United Nations, Global Citizenship and Erasmus students of Kinsale Community School celebrated Europe Day 2023 together in a unique and exciting way. The day was marked with a series of events that aimed to explore what it means to be European and to promote the values of European citizenship. 

To start off the celebrations, the TY students engaged in a reflective activity that allowed them to explore their own identities as Europeans. They discussed their shared cultural heritage, values, and experiences as citizens of the European Union. Through this activity, the students were able to appreciate the diversity that exists within Europe and the importance of respecting each other's differences. We then asked them to outline what it means to them to be European a question that excitedly we will explore in more depth next year through our next Erasmus+ project 𝐵𝐸𝐴𝐺 -𝐵𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐸𝑢𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑛, 𝐴𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐺𝑙𝑜𝑏𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 

The highlight of today's celebrations was a spectacular drone picture of the students standing on the school pitch in the formation of the letters EU50. This photo was taken by TY student Ian Cullinane as part of a nationwide initiative to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Ireland's membership of the EU, generating awareness about the significance of the EU to Ireland. 

In addition to this, our TY students were also involved in the inaugural Europe Day festival held at Cork City Hall on Sunday, 7th May 2023. The festival was organized in collaboration with the Hub in Active European Citizenship and University College Cork (UCC). The students ran a social media booth where they showcased their photography skills and promoted the importance of European citizenship. They also engaged in interactive activities that encouraged visitors to learn more about the EU and its values. 

The Europe Day festival was a huge success, with hundreds of people attending and participating in the various activities. The TY students were commended for their enthusiastic participation and their excellent contribution to the event. 

Today we recognise our privilege to be part of the European Union and as a school we celebrate and promote the values of European citizenship.