Gemma Ennis, acting deputy principal at Kilbride National School, Trim; Professor Tom Collins, president, NUI Maynooth, and Ann O'Brien, director of the Access programme at NUI Maynooth, at the fourth annual Alumni Ball at the college.

Kilbride teacher's Maynooth alumni award for her work

John Donohoe

Published: Wed 20 Jul 2011, 4:47 PM

Gemma Ennis from Dunboyne has received the Made in Maynooth Alumni Award at the university's annual ball. Ms Ennis, who is acting deputy principal at Kilbride National School near Trim, received the award for her educational outreach work at the university. The 30 year-old developed a number of very successful programmes for under-privileged primary and secondary school pupils throughout the country. One of the programmes, 'Sowing the Seeds of Science' brought fun, interactive science experiments into primary schools in Kildare and Meath. Another project supported the education of children from the Travelling community in Navan. Speaking at the awards ceremony, Professor Tom Collins from Kiltale, who is president of NUI Maynooth, said: "Gemma is a remarkable young woman who embodies the values of NUI Maynooth in both her professional and personal life. She believes that all children have a right to education, and particularly young children deserve a good basic start educationally to provide them with educational choices as they progress through the system." Accepting the award from Prof Collins, Ms Ennis paid tribute to the Access Programme team at NUIM. "The Access Programme has been changing lives for 13 years. It has nurtured pupils from a young age right through to third-level, maintaining that support when they are in college. It has given educational and financial support to children from under-privileged backgrounds who might never have gone to college but for the work of Ann O'Brien and her team." She added: "Access students are living their dreams thanks to the programme which Ann created. Statistics show pupils from under-privileged backgrounds do exceptionally well when they get to third-level. The system at the start and middle of their educational lives can let them down. "The results from the Access office are incredible and I'm just delighted to have been part of that team. I got into their-level education myself through the Access programme so this is a very special award for me." Ms Ennis recently completed her masters degree in education and training management (e-learning) with Dublin City University. Her thesis centres on school-based research encouraging philosophical thinking in primary pupils.