Drumcrave students with major achievement

by Róisín McManus

Three students from Drumcrave National School were recently named runners-up in the All-Ireland final of the STEPS Young Engineers Award for their project on water conservation.

A competition for third and fourth class pupils to develop a creative engineering project to help or improve their local community, the group were selected from more than 500 groups of over 12,000 students across Ireland, and progressed to the final 30 before being awarded second place overall.

Third class student Rián McManus Kearns and fourth class students Amber Kelly and Evan Lee, with the help of second class student Karol Dembowski, AKA the ‘Tech Titans’, designed a timer app called ‘TTS Water Community Supply’ to help people monitor their water usage and inform them of water shortages in their area.

Across two months, the group worked together and used reusable materials to create cardboard prototypes to demonstrate how the app would function in real life. They also completed an accompanying 20-page project book.

Recognising how easily water can be wasted through habits like taking long showers or leaving taps running, Amber came up with the idea.

“I wanted people to know how much water they’re wasting because it’s not good for the environment,” the fourth class student tells the Celt on a visit to the school on a sunny Friday morning.

Built in 1954 on the outskirts of Cavan town, Drumcrave National School sits in the parish of Urney and Annagelliff, opposite Beaghy Lough. There are 47 students in the school from across Cavan and the surrounding areas.

With smiles on their faces, the four students unanimously agreed that taking part in the competition was fun, albeit with the occasional bump in the road.

“It was hard but it was also fun as well because you don’t always get along but we got along most of the time,” Amber laughs.

Deputy Principal Ciara Grogan, who teaches 2nd, 3rd and 4th class, was inspired to take part in the competition by her cousin, who is a volunteer engineer with the STEPS Volunteer Engineer programme. The programme aims to give young people role models to explore the idea of engineering as a career, and volunteers also pay a visit to a primary school class taking part in the competition.

“I didn’t realise how much work there was to it but they really enjoyed it and it was something completely new for the school and the kids,” she said.

In Ciara’s classroom, a total of five groups of students entered projects into the competition. They worked across classes, which allowed students to mix with different age groups.

She encouraged her students to think “outside the box” and come up with three problems they found in their local community.

“It was so interesting to get their feedback on what their problems are in the area,” Ciara recalls.

Throughout the process, students were able to use their creativity and literacy skills.

“When they heard that they did so well, they were so happy for the group,” Ciara says of her classroom who are “buzzing” off their accomplishment.

With all this momentum behind them, Ciara is keen to continue entering projects into the competition in years to come.

“It’s a really good achievement for the school,” she praises.

“It doesn’t matter what your numbers are, the creativity is there in the kids. I’m delighted they did so well.”