Portarlington school produces student Ambassador

THERE was delight and some disappointment this week as hundreds of students and their anxious parents waited under blue skies in Laois and Offaly to greet the arrival of the Leaving Cert results.

There were many high scores with many students looking forward to life in further education but one school that stradles the two counties holds the proud distinction of producing an Ambassador this year.

Sharon Boland, from Cloneygowan, a student of Colaist Iosagain in Portarlington, was one of the big achievers hitting the 550 point mark. She was one of the last students to arrive at the school which borders Laois and Offaly but her haul of honours, four As two Bs and a C, made her top of the class in Port.

Not alone is this likely to get her a place in physiotheraphy at UCD but it should also see the quietly spoken student becoming an Ambassador under a new Offaly County Council backed Scholarship scheme to promote the sciences.

While Ambassadorial role depends on her getting a place on physiotherapy, the family and school is confident that she has enough points.

The student was modest about her achievement saying she “hadn’t done a a lot” of extra study although her mother was sure her daughter had “worked hard”.

Not alone were here parents Terry and Maureen overjoyed, so to was school principal Mr Seamus Bennett who had more than 100 pupils sitting the Leaving Cert this year.

Nearly 2,000 students in Laois and Offaly the Leaving Cert and Leaving Cert applied examinations last June

For full coverage including pictures in next week’s Leinster Express.