Olympic champion surprises Galway student in class – live on Sky Sports

A Galway secondary school student was overwhelmed yesterday afternoon when boxing gold medallist Katie Taylor arrived with a very special award for her.

Fourteen year old Stephanie O’Halloran from Ard Scoil Mhuire in Ballinasloe was taken by absolute surprise when the boxing star arrived in the main hall of school just before lunchtime.

Stephanie has been chosen as the student of the year for the Republic of Ireland for an initiative that is being supported by Sky Sports. In fact the event was televised live.

The arrival of Katie Taylor was a closely guarded secret. Very few people in Ard Scoil Mhuire were aware of her arrival to present the award to Stephanie yesterday.

Stephanie had been a shy and very quiet girl who never put herself forward and kept to herself. Her confidence was further knocked back by the death of her father Peter in December 2013.

Teacher Karen Usher decided to establish an after school club which was made up of 16 girls who participated in various projects and ultimately organised a festival of sport for special needs children.

The event involved students from both Ard Scoil Mhuire and Garbally College and it proved a huge success. Parents of the students involved were delighted with the initiative.

But during the course of this the participants of the after school club were encouraged to develop their skills and confidence.

It proved to be a major success. So much so that teacher tutor Karen Usher entered the group into a Sky Sports-sponsored Living for Sport competition. Stephanie has now been named as the Republic of Ireland winner.

The awards celebrate the outstanding achievements of students, teachers and schools that have used the skills learned through sport to build confidence and develop life skills by taking part in the completion.

See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune.