Sky’s the limit!

A NORTHSIDE PE teacher has been shortlisted for a major award.

This Sunday, March 29, Marie Clonan, who works at Margaret Aylward Community College in Whitehall, will learn whether she has won the Sky Sports Living for Sport Teacher of the Year award.

Marie is one of five teachers, and the only Irish teacher, to have been nominated for the award for her involvement in the Sky Academy initiative. The other four are from the UK.

The awards celebrate the outstanding achievements of students and teachers that have used the skills learned through sport to build confidence and develop life skills by taking part in the initiative.

Sunday’s show, which will be broadcast on Sky Sports 1 at 7.30pm, will also recognise the outstanding contributions of students and schools with awards for Student of the Year and Project of the Year.

Sky Sports Living for Sport is part of Sky Academy, a ground-breaking set of initiatives that use the power of television, sport and creativity to help up to one million young people develop skills and experience by 2020 across the UK and Ireland.

It is a free initiative open to all secondary schools in the UK and Ireland delivered in partnership with the Youth Sport Trust.

Olympic champion Katie Taylor is the Ireland Sky Academy Ambassador since it launched here in 2013, and is supported by 20 Athlete Mentors across Ireland, from sports including GAA, boxing and athletics.

Marie Clonan has been a PE teacher at Margaret Aylward Community College for more than 30 years, working with female pupils from a mainly disadvantaged background.

It has often been challenging to get her students interested in sport and physical activity.

However, she has seen this begin to change since signing up for Sky Sports Living for Sport.

There is now a new-found enthusiasm amongst the girls to get involved and she has run three hugely successful projects since.

Marie inspired the students who took part in her first project to remain involved. Many went on to help her lead future projects, expressing a desire to pass on what they learned to their

‘younger selves’ in a mentoring role.

This, together with the way in which Athlete Mentors Dermot Gascoyne and Charlotte Hartley were positively welcomed by a group of students who have such differing motivations, gave Marie a great amount of satisfaction.

Her work on the projects over the last two years has seen dramatic improvements in the behaviour, confidence and co-operation among her students, transforming many of their lives.

Marie said she was humbled to be shortlisted for the award.

“The Sky Sports Living for Sport project has helped put the

‘cherry on the cake’ in trying to help girls from disadvantaged backgrounds become the best that they can be and become potential leaders in their local community,

? she said.

“The girls have been a source of inspiration for me in so many ways.

“I believe they need not only to be aware of their capabilities, but also to have the opportunities to express them regularly and develop them.

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Marie added:

“I believe my role is facilitating them to do this and the Sky Sports Living for Sport project has helped to bring this to fruition.

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