Category Archives: Reading

The much anticipated Reading Week has arrived! Each day students have some DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) time! Students are also taking part in bookmark and poster competitions throughout the week. Watch out for the results! Thanks to all in the English department for reminding us that it is not about “having” the time to read but rather it is about “making” the time to read!

Thanks also to student Ruby Crocker Dunne and teacher Ms. Hickey who have compiled a Recommended Reading List for us. This will surely provide much wanted inspiration for students to read during Reading Week and maybe even put one or two on their Christmas lists! You can find the list here. 

You can also join your local library here.

The English Department & the LLN value the benefits of reading at Lucan Community College. We are aware that the humble book regularly competes with the myriad of digital entertainment surrounding our students. This is why we invest time in our Reading Week each year.  This week students & staff are getting the opportunity to Drop Everything And Read each day and take part in some competitions.

A healthy air of silence permeates the school during DEAR Time each day as we stop whatever we are doing & escape into our books.

We look forward to some more DEAR Time during the year. Competition winners will be announced next week.

Our Reading Week themed Wise Saying of the Week is: “The book to read is not the one that thinks for you, but the one which makes you think“.

Thank you to the English department for spearheading this wonderful event and to each and everyone of our school community who have embraced it.

This week’s literacy quote comes from the Woodwork/Construction Department. They have chosen a quote from a famous American lawyer, Louis Nizer.

“A person who works with their hands is a labourer; a person who works with their hands and their brain is a craftsman; but a person who works with their hands and their brain and their heart is an artist.” ​Louis Nizer​

Louis Nizer was born in London on February 6th, 1902,  moving to the United States as a child. He became a world-famous lawyer and had a long career of representing people in famous cases.

His autobiography, “My Life in Court,” was published in 1962 and went on to be a global bestselling book.

This week’s literacy quote comes from the Technical Graphics/DCG department. They have chosen a quote from a co-founder and former CEO of Intel.

"How well we communicate is determined not by how well we say things, but how well we are understood." Andrew Grove

Andrew Stephen ‘Andy’ Grove, born on 2nd September 1936 was a Hungarian-born American businessman, engineer, author and a pioneer in the semiconductor industry.

He escaped from Communist-controlled Hungary at the age of 20 and moved to the United States where he finished his education.

He was one of the founders and the CEO of Intel, helping transform the company into the world’s largest manufacturer of semiconductors.

Andrew Grove passed away on the 21st March 2016.

This week’s literacy quote of the week comes from the Religion department who have chosen a quote from Buddha to enlighten all in our community as we approach the Christmas break.

“We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves.” Buddha

The life story of the Buddha begins in Lumbini, near the border of Nepal and India, about 2,600 years ago, where the man Siddharta Gautama was born.

Although born a prince, he realized that conditioned experiences could not provide lasting happiness or protection from suffering.

“I teach because you and all beings want to have happiness and want to avoid suffering. I teach the way things are.”

The Buddha decided he had to leave his royal responsibilities and his family in order to realize full enlightenment. He left the royal palace secretly and set off alone into the forest.

Over the next six years, he met many talented meditation teachers and mastered their techniques. Always he found that they showed him mind’s potential but not mind itself.

Finally, at a place called Bodhgaya, the future Buddha decided to remain in meditation until he knew mind’s true nature and could benefit all beings.

After spending six days and nights cutting through mind’s most subtle obstacles, he reached enlightenment on the full moon morning of May, a week before he turned thirty-five.

This state of unconditional and lasting happiness has become known as the state of enlightenment.

After his enlightenment, Buddha traveled on foot throughout northern India for the next forty-five years where he taught others how to reach this same state.

“I can die happily. I have not kept a single teaching hidden in a closed hand. Everything that is useful for you, I have already given. Be your own guiding light.”

Buddha’s non-dogmatic teachings still characterize Buddhism today.