JA Ireland School Nominated for World’s Best School Prize
March 3, 2023
The application period is open for the 2023 edition of the World’s Best Schools Prizes, and we’re excited to see which JA schools will be nominated this year. In 2022, the World Best Schools Prizes named two JA schools to the top 10 list: Eveline High School in Zimbabwe (featured in a previous blog post) and Gort Community School in County Galway, Ireland.
Shortlisted in for the World’s Best School Prize, Supporting Healthy Lives, Gort Community School nurtures the meitheal approach in its students, an Irish term meaning neighbors helping neighbors. Emerging student leaders guide younger peers from the first day, encouraging them to think local and act global, passing on the expectation of leadership, belonging, and belief from one year to the next.
The school’s Business Studies program works to inspire Ireland’s budding entrepreneurs, supported in part by Junior Achievement (JA) Ireland. Entrepreneurship education aids the development of analytical and critical thinking skills, as well as problem-solving skills. JA Ireland supports Gort’s entrepreneurship education through JA Inspires, a program that brings local business volunteers into the classroom to discuss the world of work and share career stories. JA Inspires workshops help students gain insights into the volunteer’s career and develop an understanding of how the skills they learn in school transfer to the workplace.
Gort Community School teachers Sharon Connolly and Aisling Collins with JA Ireland CEO Helen Raftery and Joanne Morrissey, Vice President of Human Resources, Microsoft Ireland.
In 2019, Junior Achievement Ireland named Gort Community School the winner of the Entrepreneurial School Award for its outstanding commitment to entrepreneurship education. JA Ireland CEO Helen Raftery said the judging panel awarded first prize to Gort Community School because of “the importance of the entrepreneurship education within the school—most students and teachers participate, resources are provided for it, and it is deeply rooted in the school’s plan.”
Now in its second year, the World’s Best School Prizes is accepting nominations for the 2023 prizes through March 15. The five prize categories—Community Collaboration, Environmental Action, Innovation, Overcoming Adversity, and Supporting Healthy Lives—represent T4’s approach to help strengthen schools and contribute to wider societal progress. Learn more about the World’s Best School Prizes and submit your school at t4.education/prizes/worlds-best-school-prizes.