A Cavan teacher says it’s important that students “learn to be as content as they can be in the world that they live in.”
Virginia College's Una Smith is one of four teachers nationally to be recognised with a coveted Teachers Inspire Award for 2021.
Teachers Inspire is an Ireland-wide initiative that seeks to celebrate teachers and to recognise the transformative role they play in adult’s lives and in communities.
Una, an English teacher, was nominated by former student Shauna Sheridan.
As a teacher, Una added, “you hope that along the way, somewhere, you inspire children to be the best of themselves, to be the best people that they can be, and to be the happiest version of themselves.”
"I think it's so important that the children learn to be themselves, unique (and) individual, and to be as content as they can be in the world that they live in.”
Meanwhile, Teacher's Inspire is organised and run by Dublin City University and supported by a philanthropic donation by Dermot Desmond.
Mr Desmond also supports The Desmond Chair in Early Childhood Education at DCU's Institute of Education.
Teachers Inspire was initially established in 2019 but was postponed in 2020 due to the pandemic.
