St Michael's past pupils and staff gathered in the Ashburn Hotel, Lurgan to recall and celebrate 35 years of GAA at the school. Seamus Heffron, long time coach of the school Gaelic football team was the main organiser of the event. Neil Lennon, a past pupil of ST Michael’s and currently acting coach of Celtic football team, was guest of honour. He recalled his fond memories of his time at St Michael's, and the experiences he had as part of a McCrory cup winning team. Joe Brolly, past star of the Co. Derry Gaelic team, was a very witty speaker. He recalled fond memories of Seamus in his youth when he was a "legend" in his homeland of Co Derry. Jimmy Smyth acted as MC for the evening. Seamus and the staff of St Michael's were pleased to have the company of their former colleague, Michael Russell who entertained the audience with stories of his many years working with the Gaelic panel in St Michael's. A very enjoyable night was had by all those in attendance. The proceeds from the event went to St Michael's charity Mercy Mission to Mukuru.

On Saturday 15th May 2010, seven brave souls led by Michael Williamson, husband of Marissa, school admin support, completed the Mourne Wall Walk. This is a strenuous climb across the Mourne peaks following the route of the Mourne wall which runs for 22 miles across the mountains. The seven man group finished the walk in a highly commendable 11hours 53mins, knocking one hour of their previous best effort. Marissa will be travelling with the school group visiting Mukuru in June 2010. Her husband Michael has been a huge support to her, in helping her raise funds to support her visit. Congratulations to all those involved in this demanding challenge.
Michael Williamson
Lee Williamson
Brendan Heaney
Jim Burns
Teddy McAlinden
Jeff Doyle
Tony Guy

The inaugural Lurgan 10k took place on Saturday 24th April from St Michael's Grammar School. A first for the Armagh town, there were a large field of competitors with some of Northern Ireland's top road runners participating. Elite runners apart there were also an extensive range of male and female runners at the starting line. Craigavon Mayor Eta Cozier was at the start line and had the honour of officially starting the first Lurgan 10k. The runners were quick of the mark and it was obvious that were some very keen runners hoping for a personal best. A hilly course, it wasn’t long before Armagh man Richard Turkington crossed the finish line at 32:53. Less than 2 minutes later saw Conor Murphy from the Leicester Tri club coming in at 34:02 with Conor Curran finishing in 3rd place in 34:35. A personal best was recorded for Dromore's Julie Turley the first female finished in 36.45. The race had a wide range of runners with St Michael's students Luke O Neill, Enya Boyce, Emer McCormick, and staff member Mr McGivern all finishing the race in great times. The fun run/2k was won by St Michael's Year 14 student James Lavery and 2nd place went to Laura Casey in Year 12. The Lurgan 10k was a very successful fundraising initiative for Mercy Mission to Mukuru.

Final preparations are being put in place for the visit to Mukuru in June 2010. There is great excitement among the group of staff and students who will be visiting Mukuru to work with the street boys in the Mukuru Promotion Centre and the children of St Catherine's Primary School. The group is heading off to Kenya on the 19th June for the 10 day visit. All eyes are currently on the Icelandic volcano. Hopefully it will be become less active as the weeks progress!

Congratulations to Marisa Williamson, of the St Michael's secretarial support staff who completed the Belfast marathon as part of a relay team organised by her family.. Marisa is part of the school team who will be travelling to Mukuru in June 2010. She was joined in the marathon by four members of her family who each ran a leg of the race. Team Marisa came home in a very respectable 4hr 15 min The running order was as follows:


1st. Lee Williamson
2nd.Marisa Williamson
3rd. Michael Williamson
4th. Brendan Heaney
5th. Maura Heaney
Well done Marisa!

The Mukuru 2010 students recently enjoyed a fun day of team building activities at the ice Bowl in Dundalk. Students were trained by two ice coaches in how to perform basic moves on the ice. All students took to the activities with great enthusiasm and most were able to move well on the ice. Teachers were not just so confident with a few sticking closely to the zimmer frames - ice supports provided for those less confident on the ice. The Mukuru crew were joined by Mrs Cosgrove’s Business Studies class, who were having a special treat for their hard work in Business Studies class this year All staff and students agreed it was an excellent team building activity enjoyed by all.

On Wednesday afternoon the entire school packed in to the Assembly Hall in eager expectation of a good afternoon of entertainment in the annual Talent Show. The talent show marks the end of the Lenten fundraising campaign for the school immersion project Mercy Mission to Mukuru This year the talent took another huge leap forward with the first act being Envisage, a band led by Kayleigh Gallagher, who performed their own song "And it all Kicks Off," absolutely blowing everyone away in the audience. The next act was the Step Up dancers (11E/F) who won the Dance Festival this year. Following them were Year 13 students Keva Mc Garry, vocals, and Marianne Downing, on piano, with their rendition of Fix You which was a truly memorable moment of the show as the crowd swayed and joined in the end of the song. After that was Sister Act, runners up in the Dance Festival this year, with a dance that not only showed off the fantastic dancing ability of 12E and 12F but also had the whole audience laughing. Act 5 was Brian Martin and Christopher McCaughey with their brilliant performance of "Fast Car." 14D danced to "Don’t Blame it on the Sunshine" which let us see Chris O'Hara in a whole new light. St. Michael's staff's own take on the Gerry Springer show starred Mrs Murphy, Mrs McAllister, Mrs Haughey, Mr Heffron and Mr Adams, only one word comes to mind. Surreal! Another staff contribution was next in "Staff"Ros Flatley where they performed the Riverdance and the final act was Single Men and Emmett. There were awards given out throughout the show which ranged from the "Gingernut of the school", the best looking of each year, "Should’ve said no," incredibly cute couples, "You belong with me," to cradle snatchers. The winners of the Talent Show were Brian Martin and Christopher McCaughey, second was 14D and third was Envisage. All of the acts provided the audience with a brilliant afternoon's worth of entertainment. There is no doubt that the Year 13s have big shoes to fill! A huge congratulation to everyone in the school, from those who just bought a bun at a cake sale to those who abseiled or jumped out of planes, all the monies went towards achieving the final total for Mukuru £15,000!

Emmet played his way through 44 competitors to be crowned St. Michael's Call of Duty 4 champion. It was a well fought contest with much glory at stake! Pupils paid £1 to enter the competition and 20p to spectate. All proceeds went to Mukuru with Mr. Wilson kindly donating the prize – an xbox or PS3 game of the winner's choice. Pupils from 12G helped organise the event and also provided all the goods for the tuck-shop, again with proceeds going to the Mukuru Lenten campaign.

To many the two words 'fun' and 'run' should not be uttered in the same sentence but for some brave Year 13 students it was an opportunity to raise even more money for Mukuru...as well as to have two free classes. The Fun Run was originally planned to be around the school grounds but the weather took a turn for the worse. Undeterred by the downpour outside Year 13 students moved inside in search of money, money, money dressed as everything from mad scientists, pirates, Captain America to people wearing pyjamas. The money raised went towards the year group total, as a final push in St Michael's Lenten campaign as generous teachers and students dug deep. A big thanks to the Year 13s involved and to those who gave money. Hopefully next year the sun will be shining!

A colourful cavalcade of costumes left St Michael's on the bed push into Lurgan on Thursday 22nd March. The bed push is an annual event which always proves to be one of the main Lenten fundraisers for the Mukuru campaign. The swine flu crew made a good turn out; there was a jolly green giant who lived up to his reputation, he kept company with the alien invaders. There was a pirate with a big bucket which was soon filled with donations; memories of childhood were recalled by Bill and Ben, the flowerpot men. The efforts of all the students was most impressive, as was their energy in making the event a worthwhile fundraiser. Well done to all those who took part.

The St Michael's group who travelled to Mukuru in June 2009, took a guitar which was donated to the project. It was presented to Sr Sally by Tony Elliott. Sr Sally promised to find it a good home. The guitar is now in the hands of the music teacher at Mukuru Kayaba School. He welcomed it, grateful for this useful additional resource for his classes.

13F held a very successful fundraiser for Mukuru. Selected members of staff were asked to eat a range of disgusting combinations of food, deliberately selected for their stomach churning potential. They were served four nauseous selections of starter, main course, desert followed by a chilli "eat off". The most revolting concoction was the fish cocktail which causes all the female participants to withdraw! Mr O’Donnell had more cherries to eat; he deeply regretted having mentioned his total aversion to this popular fruit. Mr Adams and Mr Brunt lasted through to the final round. They were then confronted by a selection of fiery chillis. Mr Brunt was finally declared winner because of the ease with which he consumed the chillis, however he was later seen breathing fire over his Y13 class. Well done 13F!

Nine students spend a fun day at the Europa Hotel in Belfast, on 14th March 2010 participating in an abseil down the front of the building. This is an annual event hosted by the Europa to facilitate fund raising. Representatives from 15 different charity organisations were present on the day raising funds for a wide range of worthy causes. This was the first year students from St. Michael have participated, however the enthusiasm generated suggests that it will not be the last! Well done to all those who took part. £600 was raised for Mercy Mission to Mukuru

Head girl Meabh Carlin was invited by the Rotary Club to address the members and guest attending the annual dinner on 15th March 2010. Meabh spoke about her involvement in St. Michael’s Kenyan Project - Mercy Mission to Mukuru. Meabh was a member of the group who visited the slums of Mukuru in June 2009 to work with the children of St Catherine’s Primary School and the street boys of the MPC. Meabh struck up a great friendship with one little girl – Valentine, she spoke movingly about what the friendship meant to her, and how she had learned so much from Valentine. Meabh expressed her desire to return to Mukuru some time in the not too distant future, to renew her friendship and follow up on the life of Valentine and her friends from the slums. Meabh was rewarded for her endeavours with a cheque for £100 which she has donated to MMM to help continue its work in Mukuru.

St Michael's Lenten campaign is currently in full swing. Students are involved in a wide range of class based activities; these include bun sales, funny photographs, raffles, sponsored activities, sports tournaments. The annual Year 14 bed push will soon take place. All efforts are focused on achieving this year's target of £15,000 which St Michael's hopes it will have achieved in the course of this academic year. The money will go to Mukuru to finance the building of a classroom block at St Catherine's Primary School in the slums of Mukuru.

St Michael’s is pleased to be able to sponsor 15 street boys to continue their education in 2010. The students were selected from the 2009 cohort of boys who spend a year in the rehabilitation programme run by the MPC in Mukuru. They were selected because they showed great promise and potential during their year at MPC. The boys will now attend boarding education for one, possibly two years. Education improves their prospects of employment. This is an essential aspect of their rehabilitation from street life to independent living. St Michael’s is proud to be able to make a difference by helping to build a better future for these young people. We wish them success in their studies in 2010.

The banner to advertise the 10K road race and fun run has been unfurled by students. Members of the cross country team were keen to have a look at the new banner when it arrived in school last week. The banner will be displayed prominently on the school premises to advertise the forthcoming 10k. All profits from the race go directly to Mercy Mission to Mukuru

A county Armagh town will host its first 10k road race on Saturday 24th April at 11am. Hundreds of runners are expected to weave their way around the roads of Lurgan in a 10k race in aid St Michaels Grammar School's Kenyan Immersion project.

Organisers of the Mercy Mission to Mukuru Project hope that the event will help raise awareness of the poverty that exists in the slums in Nairobi, Kenya. The Immersion Project was set up in 2007 to give students first hand experience of the realities of poverty in an African context. Since then St Michael's has fundraised to support the building of a dormitory for street boys in Nairobi. The plan this year is to fund the build of a classroom block in St Catherine's PS, Mukuru. All profits from this race will go to the Mukuru Fund for 2010.

The organisers of the race are thrilled to have local elite sports people to help launch the race from a variety of different sporting backgrounds. International athlete Dermot Kerr is one of Ireland's leading athletes and has teamed with St Michaels and is keen to help launch their inaugural 10k race. Dermot is no stranger to these events; he is one of the Organisers of the Armagh International Road Race, which is one of the most prestigious 5k road races in Europe, attracting over 1500 competitors from countries all over the world. Over the course of his career he has won numerous titles on the track and has won World Masters medals at the world Masters Championships in Brisbane and Newcastle. He has represented Ireland on many occasions for track and cross country competitions.

Also the current Armagh Gaelic Football Manager Paddy O'Rourke is delighted on this occasion to be associated with this North Armagh School and realises the funds raised from the race go to a very worthwhile cause. Paddy is one of few Gaelic players who have achieved an All Ireland title at every grade, and although he has moved into management he is himself a very keen runner, and is enthusiastic to get involved. He has 3 marathons under his belt, in addition to numerous half marathon, 10 mile and 10k races. Paddy is also keen to promote the race amongst his squad and past pupil of St Michael's Grammar School and current Armagh senior player Ryan Henderson has linked up with his alumni and is keen to support the Immersion Project. Ryan was part of successful Herald Cup and MacLarnon cup teams as a student at St Michael's. He recalls his former school days and the great efforts made by the staff and students in helping the less fortunate.

From the world of soccer Pat McGibbon former Manchester United and Northern Ireland player is keen to lend his support. Pat a former pupil of St Michaels had the honour of captaining the Northern Ireland Youth Team while playing for Portadown in the Irish League. In the early 1990's he moved to Manchester United where he spent 5 years in the company of Alex Ferguson, Eric Cantona, David Beckham, Roy Keane, Ryan Giggs etc. He then moved to Wigan Athletic with whom he made over 113 appearances. Pat finished his career with Glentoran in the Irish League and is now Assistant Manager with Monaghan United in the Irish 2nd Division. He has 7 Senior Caps for Northern Ireland, and is in no doubt about the great work being done by the community of St Michael's for this very worthwhile cause. Another athlete keen to lend her support is Mary Mackin. Mary is a member of staff in St Mary's High School Lurgan and is no stranger to these events. A member of Dromore running club, Mary has run for Northern Ireland Masters and travels around the world participating in many races and is delighted to promote the event.

Organisers of the race realise the unique opportunity that exists for runners not just as a race but to help those less fortunate. By participating runners will help alleviate some of the most horrendous poverty that exists in the slums of Nairobi. In addition a fun run will take place alongside the main event main for youths, families and the casual walkers over a 2km stretch.

Application forms to register for the 10k run can be obtained from www.stmichaelsgrammar.org.uk by calling St Michael's Grammar School on 028 38323192 Entries cost £10 each with a pack for each runner. The race starts at 11am, with last registration at 10.30am. Also application forms are available on request from School Office.

Congratulations to the 13students and three members of staff who took to the skies over Garvaghy, Co Derry, to complete a sponsored tandem sky dive. The skydivers rose to the challenge of a 13,000ft drop with great enthusiasm. The freefall lasted 45 seconds before the parachute opened to allow for a controlled landing. Bracing themselves to manage the fear of stepping outside a plane in mid air, each member took a deep breath and committed themselves to the jump. With adrenaline levels at an all time high, the ground came too soon for those who relished the experience and could have stayed longer in the air. Many expressed the intention to repeat the experience, some time in the future. This may indeed be the inaugural sky jump for Mukuru. All funds raised by the students go to the school immersion project, Mercy Mission to Mukuru. Two students, Christopher O’Hara and Anne Marie Mongan have raised sponsorship in excess of £1,000 through the sky dive. Anne Marie will join the group of staff and students who travel to Mukuru in June 2010 to work in the slums of Nairobi. Christopher participated in the Mukuru immersion visit in June 2009 and this is his way of supporting the project in 2010. Congratulations to Niall Rogers who has also raised £1000 for the fund via the sky jump. Finally well done to all those who took part, especially the three brave teachers, Mr McCafferty, Mr McGivern and Mr.McKenna who supported the students and also completed the ski jump.

Read one student's account of how it felt to fall 13,000ft.

Click here for more information and to download an application form.

The team of students and teachers who travelled to Mukuru in June 2009 brought with them two mass kits donated by the ladies of the Dromore Dioceses Apostolic Work. These were presented to Sr sally who agreed that she would give them to the prison chaplain Here is an extract from her account of the presentation “We presented the wonderful gift to the Missionary of Africa, Chaplain after the usual Sunday Mass. The men, although small in number out of the approx. 300 prisoners, put a great deal into the preparation of the liturgy and I really felt it all very meaningful.” the kits will be used for the celebration of mass in the prison. We are delighted to be supported by the Apostolic Work in the work we do in Mukuru.

Marianne Downing Y13 Student travelling to Mukuru in 2010, entertained shoppers at the Quays Shopping Centre in Newry on Saturday 12th December with her medley of Christmas music. Marianne was supported by her friends Sinead Breen on the violin. Clare Mulholland on the tin whistle and brother Jonathan on the keyboard and friend Aaron on the violin. Collectors were Aoife Murphy and Emma Doherty. Thanks especially to Mrs Cosgrove for making it possible.

Mercy Mission to Mukuru is delighted to have the support of Clann Eireann Gaelic Club this year. The club is pleased to support the work of the students and teachers of St Michaels’ in trying to make a difference to the lives of some of the poorest children in Africa. A night of entertainment in the social club, organised recently by Kevin McGibbon raised £400 for the project.

Mercy Mission to Mukuru is delighted by the support it has received from the P7 pupils of St Patrick's Primary School, Aghagallon and their teacher Mrs Harte. They have taken a great interest in the work that is being done by St Michael’s students with the young people of the slums of Mukuru. Pupils of St Patrick’s generously donated their Lenten money, amounting to £550 to the Mukuru fund for 2009. They have continued to support the Mukuru Project and have recently written letters expressing their support and concern for the children of Mukuru who are much less fortunate than themselves. We hope that in the future, some of the children of St Patrick’s will be able to travel to Mukuru themselves, to see how their money is being used to help build a better future for the children of Mukuru.

The new Mukuru hoodie for 2010 is now ready and available to purchase. This year’s designer and sales person is Aoife Murphy of 13C . Aoife designed a new logo for 2010. She has chosen a black hoodie with a range of colour options which allows the purchaser to customise their hoodie for an individual look. Hoodies can be bought directly from Aoife in the school canteen at break time or lunch time. They are also available outside school. Anyone wishing to make a purchase from outside school, should contact school by phone. Aoife hopes to make enough from the sale of her hoodie to cover the costs of her visit to Mukuru, as part of the school immersion project, in June 2010.

Staff at the Mukuru Promotion Centre are delighted to finally be connected to their new generator funded by St Michael’s in June 2009. The centre was finding itself unable to function for many hours per day because of the energy crisis in Nairobi which results in frequent breaks in electricity supply. The MPC is the hub of the many projects which operate throughout Mukuru and their inability to function effectively because of the energy crisis was creating real problems. The new generator means they are no longer totally dependent on the main electricity supply and the MPC is now functioning on a full timetable, thanks to the efforts of the Mercy Mission to Mukuru.

Having completed the building of the dormitory the Mercy Mission to Mukuru moves into it's next phase with the committment of St Michaels to build two new classrooms for the children of St Catherines Primary School in Mukuru. Their current accomodation is a basic hut made of corrugated tin. Class sizes are very large with up to 50 pupils taught toghther in one class 1200 children attend the school in this school year. Despite their lack of quality accomodation the children have a great interest in learning and the standard of education is very high. The committment to support the streetboys also continues and it is the intention of St Michaels to pay the salary of a house parent who will supervise the dormitory and to provide kitchen and dining facilities for the streetboys. This work will be completed in the next three years of the project.