Gaeltacht primary students get inspired by young Olympic skateboarders
Students test the new skate ramp, which has been in development for a number of months. Educator Kevin Burtchaell says the ramp's popularity will increase this year due to the recent Olympic Games.
Primary students in An Rinn, County Waterford, have been inspired by the recent popularity of skateboarding, unveiling their own new skate ramp ahead of the upcoming school year.
Paris 2024 marked the second time that skateboarding has appeared at the Olympic games, with the sport attracting a remarkably young batch of competitors.
14-year-old Arisa Trew became Australia’s youngest ever gold medallist after winning the women's park skateboarding in Paris this year. At 11 years old, Zheng Haohao became the youngest ever athlete to represent the People’s Republic of China at the games.
The successful young competitors will likely lead to a surge in the popularity of the sport, and in Waterford’s Gaeltacht region, the implementation of a new skate ramp has been in development for a number of months.
Its construction is part of a larger cognitive learning project, which the region’s primary school is currently undertaking. The project was initiated by Ferrybank’s Kevin Burtchaell and author of the ‘Brain Based Classroom’, Kieran O’Mahony.
The new education model that is being piloted in An Rinn aims to remove outdated forms of classroom-based learning and instead introduce new techniques that appeal to a wider range of personalities and brain types.
The system involves various stress removal activities, curiosity building exercises and collaborative projects, including the design and construction of the skate ramp.
Speaking to the Waterford News & Star, Kevin Burtchaell said that the recent Olympic Games will create even more enthusiasm for such projects.
“The system is revolved around how the brain works and it makes sure people aren’t sitting down all the time,” he said, “when you’re designing a skate ramp for example there’s a whole load of components, there’s something for everybody and it’s a group effort.
“The skateboard ramp is just an example of something kids might relate to because it was recently in the Olympics. It was such an enjoyable thing to do and it was great fun for me as well."
