School rocks!

By Tania Martin
EMERALD Secondary College outdazzled schools from around the state to win the 2005 Rock Eisteddfod Challenge.
The victory has created a buzz of excitement in Emerald and is being heralded as a win for state school education.
School principal Wayne Burgess said it was a great achievement for the government school system, reversing the past dominance of private schools.
Mr Burgess said it was the first time Emerald had taken out the open division in 21 years of trying and even went as far as comparing it to a country football premiership.
He said Emerald traders had embraced the victory, placing congratulatory signs in their shopfront windows.
Emerald’s rock eisteddfod coordinator and teacher Melissa Stephens said the eisteddfod was a totally student directed production.
“The students developed the concept and theme, selected the music, designed the sets, costume and makeup and developed all the choreography,” she said.
Ms Stephens said the victory was made even sweeter by the fact students choreographed the entire performance with professional direction.
She said a lot of the other schools hired choreographers and dance teachers to tell the students what to do, where to stand and how to act.
Student choreographer Katie Lees said she didn’t even expect the school to get into the finals, although she silently hoped it would happen.
Katie almost cried when the college was announced the winner.
She said the feeling of performing on stage in front of hundreds of people was awesome.
Adding to the excitement of being number one in the state, the school picked up a staggering 16 awards throughout the competition 10 in its first heat in August and another six awards plus the state title for the open division last week.
The school also won a trophy and cheque for $800, which Mr Burgess said would be spent on the next Rock Eisteddfod performance in 2007.
Each school had a maximum budget of $10,000 for set designs, bus hire to the competition venues, costume designs and makeup.
Mr Burgess said the school raised funds through a number of fundraisers and with the help of local sponsors.
Two of the main sponsors were Barry Plant Real Estate and Mitre 10, who both contributed $2000.
Although the competition is about performing, singing and dancing, its main goal is to encourage participants to have fun while enjoying a 100 per cent drug free experience.
Emerald’s performance will be shown on Network 10 on Saturday, 1 October.