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Missio Scotland

Taylor High's hair-raising experience for Missio


THE teachers at Taylor High School in Motherwell underwent a hair-raising experience recently to raise money for Missio Scotland.

An extended lunch time was organised to hold an event dedicated to raising funds for the Scottish branch of the Pope’s official charity for overseas missions and those gathered in the assembly saw five male members of staff have their legs waxed (above), before they were treated to a karaoke performance by the female members of staff.

Siobhan O’Brien, a Geography Teacher at the school—who organised the event—joined Missio Scotland volunteer Niamh Provan to perform the treatment, a duty that they both seemed to take great delight in carrying out. Both Siobhan and Niamh were part of the Missio Scotland Get Involved Globally group who travelled to Zambia with the charity last year to visit funded projects.

The willing victims on the day—who had various levels of pain etched on their faces—included: David Lewis, Principal Teacher of Business Studies; Jonathan Ryan, Acting Principal Teacher of Physical Education; Paul Hewitt, Physical Education Teacher and Acting Principal Teacher of Pupil Support; Christopher Geddes, Maths Teacher; and Ryan Prentice, Physical Education Teacher.

The assembled pupils and staff were then treated to a musical performance by Christopher (above), who gave a performance on the bagpipes. He began playing in 2004, is a tutor for North Lanarkshire schools and also plays with the Police Pipe Band (formerly known as Strathclyde Police Pipe Band). He was also part of the group of pupils and staff who travelled to New York recently and brought Grand Central Station to a standstill, videos of which have since turned viral.

The musical performances didn’t end there though as four female teachers took to the stage to perform as ‘The Spice Wummin’ and, along with Siobhan, they included: Gemma Kane, History/Modern Studies Teacher, Lynsay Gibson, Art Teacher; and Amanda Young, Business Probationer Teacher. They were joined on stage by S3 pupil Taylor Swift and S2 pupil Mary-Louise Coyle (above).

“Staff and pupils throughout the school also contributed towards football cards to boost fundraising efforts—this was carried out throughout the Lenten period,” Siobhan explained. “The lunch time event was held after Martin Mann, Missio Scotland’s Education and Fundraising Officer, had visited the school in the previous weeks to speak at S1-3 assemblies about the work that Missio Scotland carries out. Pupils and staff have been stopping me in the corridor to say how much they enjoyed the lunch time event and it has created a buzz around the school. The school as a whole is very proud of the £309.52 raised for Missio Scotland.”

Missio Scotland would like to place on record our gratitude to Taylor High School’s Headmaster, Gerry McCormick, for allowing the event to take place and for supporting Missio Scotland.

If you are interested in hosting a secondary school assembly and/or supporting the work of Missio Scotland call Martin on: 01236 449 774 or e-mail him at: martin@missioscotland.com

Why not like our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/missioscotland and follow us on Twitter @Missio_Scotland

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