The retirement of Mrs King as librarian at The High School, after 32 years of dedicated service, was
celebrated at a special assembly on Monday the 21st December 2015 in the school gym. During
the extraordinary whole-school assembly, which was attended by many former staff and pupils,
tributes were paid to Mrs King to thank her for her loyal service to The High School community over
the past three decades, in charge of the oasis that is The High School library.
Contributions were led by Mr D Miller, who, along with current and former pupils, acknowledged
her immense contribution to the life of the school, and for the kind, caring and creative manner in
which she has fulfilled her role as librarian.
Throughout Mrs King’s tenure at The High School, she tirelessly developed the library into the
haven that exists there presently. From a modest assortment of books when Mrs King took over in
1983, she has overseen the collection grow to in excess of 11’000.
As well as investing significant amounts of time into continuously expanding and updating the
literary collection, Mrs King was responsible for the development of the library into the social and
artistic hub of the school that it is today. After establishing the ‘Friends of the Library’, now the
Library
Committee, dozens of diverse literary and artistic events were celebrated annually,
including European Day of Languages, National Poetry Day, National Book Week, National
Science Week, Shakespeare’s Birthday, Pi Day, Europe Day, and the Library Christmas Art
Competition was held each advent.
Distinguished authors and poets regularly address classes in the library, and throughout the years
these have included none other than Seamus Heaney, Siobhán Parkinson, Aubrey Flegg, Éanna
Ní Lamhna, Judy-May Murphy, Denise Deegan and Peter Prendergast.
In addition to the regular curating of the library,
Mrs King invested a huge amount of time to the
establishment and running of numerous charity initiatives within the school. These included the
annual winter swim at the 40 Foot (which is now the Helen Kane Memorial TY Charity Challenge),
Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Lollipop Day for Oesophageal Cancer, Daffodil Day for the Irish
Cancer Society, Holly Day for the ISPCC, and ‘Feed the Pig’ for Barnardos. The ‘Feed the Pig’
initiative became something of a noted High School tradition, as whatever money was collected for
Barnardos, Mrs King would generously double!
When reflecting on
memories and people, it’s often said that it’s not what someone did that you will
ultimately remember, but how they made you feel. So as time marches on, many of the library’s
displays, events, and celebrations may become but paragraphs in the Erasmian and Diocesan
Times. Though what will continued to be cherished and remembered is how Mrs King made each
staff member and pupils feel every time they crossed the threshold of that library door on the B Floor
corridor. Once you entered, you knew you had stumbled upon an oasis - High School’s very
own ‘City on a Hill’. Each person, regardless of circumstances, was made to feel valued, respected
and truly part of a community - values the school
espouses to foster.
Why the library is held in such esteem by the entire High School community, both past and present
is plain to see. It’s not simply due to its collection of 11,000 books, nor due to its location in such an
institution. It’s completely and utterly due to one thing and one thing only. In fact, one person and
one person only. For the past 32 years, Mrs King has contributed immeasurably to The High School
and has been a constant motivator and supporter for so many. She has always been there
to lend
a hand, or simply hear you out, whether pupil or staff, past or present. There has hardly been a
minute that passed in the library without hearing a joke, a laugh or a word of affirmation from her.
Absolutely no one could be more kind, caring, considerate and understanding than she, and the
library would certainly not have been the same without Mrs King.
We wish Mrs King, and her husband Robert, our congratulations and all the very best for her
retirement.
Gavin Rothwell (HSD, 2007-2013)
Say hello to the new Dublin Junior Boys' Badminton Champions! The school is enjoying terrific badminton success again this year. The Senior Boys' Badminton team, were recently named Dublin Champions, and went on to take silver in the Leinster Badminton Final. This success was repeated last week when the Junior Boys' Badminton team were also crowned Dublin Badminton champions. The Junior Team beat De La Salle 6-0 in the Junior Final to become Dublin champions and and now look forward to competing for the Leinster title on 1 March in the Baldoyle Badminton Centre. This is the first time that the High School has won both the Dublin Junior and Senior Boys' Championships in the same year. We congratulate them on this fine achievement and wish them every success in future games.
There are some of the posters decorating the walls of The High School today as the school gets ready for the next round of the Fr Godfrey Cup, when HSD takes on Gorey in the semi-final. 
Bright and early on Tuesday 12 January, the Form 4 classes and eight teachers met at Connolly Station. We caught the 9.35 Enterprise train to Belfast Central station excited for the tiring day ahead of us at the Titanic Exhibition in Belfast. After a long train journey filled with card games and monopoly, we reached Belfast Central station at 12am. We then caught another train to the Titanic Quarter, soon arriving at the Titanic experience. We were split into four groups and then we visited different exhibitions within the museum. The first exhibit illustrated what life was like in Belfast during the early 1900s, when the Titanic was being built at the docklands outside. 
Diary Date Amendment: September's cancelled TY Cultural trip has been rescheduled for Tuesday,12 January 2016