Our school is older than the famine, older than the National Museum, older than the Zoo. We are 200 years old, and our students have made a book to celebrate our school’s history. The 2nd years worked with the JCSP librarian and their English teacher on a Make a Book project, which was part of their English Classroom-Based Assessment (CBA) for their Junior Cycle. To that end, every student in the class contributed to different aspects of the project, for example creating a comic-strip of the life of Edmund Rice, interviewing relatives about their school days, interviewing past pupils and staff, making a timeline online, and even singing a song about 1916. All of this was collated into a digital book, with QR codes linking to interviews and videos, and a hard copy of the book was distributed to those involved and interested parties.
We all got together to meet up and celebrate the book in a fabulous Book Launch event recently. Guests signed in at an old school desk, were given guided tours by the students authors, listened to poetry while being serenaded by students, browsed through our archives, planted a flower bulb and joined us for tea, cakes and speeches.
A former student brought along very rare copies of an old school newsletter from the 1970s; attendees at the event donated money towards schoolbooks for the less-well-off students; and we will be arranging visits from the poets and authors and notable past pupils to keep the story of Jamebo going.
The book project has forged connections between the current and former students, has contributed to the CBAs and, therefore, the exam results of the class involved, and has hopefully sparked an interest in local history for some students. The project will never have a “finished version” because it is a living, digital file that future JCSP Librarians, students, and staff will add to over time for at least the next 200 years!
Please have a read of our ever-evolving book 200 Years of CBS James Street
200 Years of Jamebo-QR Code version.pptx
——————————————————————
Lorna Vogelsang | JCSP Librarian CBS James’s Street, Dublin
