TY ‘Develop Me’ Workshop

Transition year students in Loreto Balbriggan participated in the ‘Develop Me’ workshop. The workshop involves experiential learning in order to strengthen project management. Key skills such as planning, teamwork and communication were built upon in an environment fulfilled with positive energy and willingness to learn. 

Students took on a challenge: an imaginary trip to ‘The Lost Dutchman’s Gold Mine’ in Arizona, where they were faced with various obstacles and inevitable consequences. The aim was to collect as much gold as possible over the imaginary 20 day period where two minutes represented one day. Demanding of critical thinking, all students were required to decide what approach was best for this testing task. This involved taking the most efficient route and discussing objectives. As previously mentioned, some obstacles such as the weather were major setbacks. An example of this was when there was an ‘Arctic Blast’ because the consequence was losing some valuable resources. When groups ran out of fuel, they couldn’t travel so numeracy skills and resource management were key to finishing the task.

Despite classes being separated into groups, each group aided each other and secured a maximum total of gold as a class. Some ways in which groups assisted each other included trading and sharing resources. An atmosphere of teamwork and determination was at the centre of all classrooms to ensure that all students personally benefited from the workshop. 

Lastly, at the end of each workshop a reflective debriefing took place so that all students understood the skills they used and the significance of the skills.

Written by: Leah Brady
Edited by: Lucy Kehoe