Students from St. Ciarán's visit Poland to meet their Polish and Italian Partners
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Establishing connections are the key to not only creating a company but also maintaining it and that was the objective of the visit. They partook in the Erasmus+ programme which involved students setting up a business, here in Ireland, that can trade with business' from partnering schools in Poland and Italy. The Irish branch chose the name Politie, it is a smart amalgamation of each countries name, 'POL' representing Poland, 'IT' representing Italy and 'IE' representing Ireland. Their business model is to buy local produce and sell it to their Polish and Italian counterparts.
In April eighteen students from St. Ciarán's visited Poland for a week. On Monday they were given a brief outline of the week to follow and an overview of the city of Krakow. Following this each participating school gave a short presentation of the work they had done so far. St. Ciarán's present the work they had done up to that point, this included finding suppliers and the a suitable name for the company. That afternoon the group journeyed to the Salt Mines where they travelled hundreds of feet below the ground to see one of Krakow's major attractions. Tuesday was very economics based with the students divided in teams of six, they were challenged to design a poster that depicted the cultural and economical differences between Poland and Spain following a brief presentation from the Polish students. It eventually came to a tie break situation where the two remaining teams had to present their arguments for or against whether they would want to set up a business in Poland or Spain. When the debate had concluded the teachers and students journeyed to Schindler's factory where they were given a tour of the grounds and a brief history of Krakow's Jews.
An early start on Wednesday morning beckoned the group to a nearby milk factory. Here they witnessed the production of various dairy products including milk, cheese and yoghurts. Following the hour-long tour the group journeyed to Koral ice-cream factory where they entered the companies largest fridge which measured below –30 degrees, students only managed to stay inside seconds before they ran back out to the heat. After enduring the sub-zero temperatures the group was treated to free ice-cream. On Thursday the students from Italy and Ireland were treated to a Polish beginners workshop. After becoming fluent in the native language students and teachers visited the Wawel castle and state rooms in the heart of Krakow. They were given a guided tour of Castle and the cathedral. Wednesday and Thursday were capped off nicely with two birthday from the Irish camp.
Friday was a much more relaxed day, to start the group visited a local park where they engaged in soccer and volleyball. At one o' clock students and teachers went back to the school where this years current Transitions Years gave a brief presentation on what they hope to bring to the project in the coming months. They presented a first draft of a book they are writing and showed Ad's for the extremely successful Hurlaments and Pet Rocks. Each set up through St. Ciarán's Community School, at the end of the presentation Mr. Lafferty, the principal of St. Ciarán's said a few word and thanked the Polish and Italians for their hospitality throughout the week, on behalf of the students and teahers and plaque was given to the Polish school as a thanks for their generosity. After completing the presentation
the group was treated to a boat trip to a Benedictine Monastery where one of the monks gave a brief tour of the grounds. To finish the week off on a nice note the group all shared a dinner together.
Saturday arrived, but with it so did heavy hearts as no-one wanted to leave. It was such an enjoyable experience, so much as to say that another week would not have gone amiss, but sadly all good things come to an end. All the students involved would like to thank Ms. Fox, Ms. Zegerac and Mr. Lafferty for a great week. It truly was an experience they will never forget.
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