EDUCATION

Interschool Drama Festival to showcase theatrical talents

Daniel Shirkie

THE annual Interschool Drama Festival is set to light up the stage once again this year, with all four schools involved committing to another show

The night of light-hearted entertainment promises a raft of good natured fun with Home Hill State High School, Ayr State High School, Burdekin Catholic High School and Burdekin Christian College.

Wendy Viero, one of the organisers at Home Hill State High School who’ll be helping the competition make it’s return after a year’s absence, says all four schools will have big roles to play.

“It’s not a competition, what it is for the schools is really a showcase for the students from all four schools,” Mrs Viero said.

“We organise the drama festival every year and we host it, but the other schools are all a very big part of it.”

Each school contributes a one-act play and performs it on the night, with the Burdekin Theatre stage the platform for the performances.

But unlike other stage production festivals and school-based programs, the Burdekin’s version of the drama festival also allows students who want to get to work backstage a chance to learn on the job.

“It’s very important for the students, because the children get to use all the sound and lighting gear as well,” Mrs Viero said.

“They actually get to be a

Zoe Bosch and Tahlia Ferrando

part of the production side of things, they’re not just going out there and acting.

It’s a really helpful bit of hands-on experience for all the schools.

It can be very difficult to get that sort of experience with the production side of things, they don’t get that elsewhere.”

Some schools even go as far as to script their own original productions.

“Ayr State High School, usually even devise their own one-act play and have a student write it, which is good too,” Mrs Viero said.

“It’s a really helpful bit of hands-on experience for all the schools, it’s very beneficial for them in terms of their development.

It can be very difficult to get that sort of experience with the production side of things, they don’t get that elsewhere.”

The entertainment will be the standard, good humored fair that has graced the stage in previous iterations of the festival according to Ms Viero.

“They’re usually very lighthearted, they’re one long so they only go for about a half an hour,” Ms Viero said.

“We haven’t heard back from the other schools about what they’re covering, but we’ll be doing an adaptation of the Wizard of Oz in our thirty minutes, it’s a bit more comedic and we try to keep to that sort of atmosphere.”

The festival, which is now it’s 46th year, will be held on June 10.

“It is on a Thursday night this year, which isn’t the usual, but COVID last year pushed a lot of things back into this year, so the theatre’s been fully booked out and we had to make do,” Mrs Viero said.

CONNECT NOW:

Tickets to the event are currently purchasable via the Burdekin Theatre’s website at https://www. burdekintheatre.com.au/ events/event/70/burdekininterschool-drama-festival

Boarders assembled before their run

Burdekin’s boarding students run to participate in annual celebration

Daniel Shirkie

STUDENTS from the Burdekin region are among those who’ve celebrated National Boarders Week at their second home, Townsville Grammar School.

Over 130 boarders participated in the annual Boarders’ Run on Thursday, May 20 to mark the occasion, with the Burdekin’s Townsville-based boarders getting amongst the action.

Every boarding student across the country is encouraged to run a one kilometre distance during the event, with the combined distance of every boarding student’s run matching the circumference of Australia.

One student, Ben Davies, who is in year 12, said boarding at Townsville Grammar had changed his life.

“Being a Townsville Grammar boarder has allowed me the opportunity to make a wide range of friends all the way from South Korea to St George,” Mr Davies said.

“I have made friendships for life. Also, the food isn’t bad either!”

Another, Mackenzie Hatch, was quick to celebrate the achievements she’d been driven to achieve thanks to her stay away from home.

“Boarding school has enabled me to become more independent and develop important life skills,” Ms Hatch said.

“My experience being a boarder has encouraged me to push myself, whether that be in academics or sporting.”

“The Boarders Run is a fun way to celebrate Boarding Week, especially knowing that boarders throughout Australia are doing the same thing.”

Townsville Grammar School is just one of 190 schools across the country that participate in a boarding schools program, with over 20,000 students recognised as boarding students at present.

ST FRANCIS STUDENT WINS QLD NAIDOC COLOURING AWARD

Marina Trajkovich

A YOUNG St Francis Primary School student has this week been awarded a 2020 NAIDOC Week Medal of Excellence, one of 25 students in Queensland to win the award for her outstanding colouring skills against thousands of entrants around Australia.

The competition invited students across the country from prep to year six to submit their creations, be it a coloured in poster for the younger grades or a short story to be sent to Sydney and judged by a selection of Indigenous elders and representatives.

Seven-year-old Arden Mitchell from St Francis entered the competition whilst she was in grade one last year and has recently been awarded the medal of excellence for her skills.

Arden’s mother, Kady Brandon, says that she’s incredibly proud of her daughter and pleased with the initiative that educates school students about aspects of indigenous culture.

“Arden’s auntie has

Arden with St Francis Primary School principal Amanda Jones

Indigenous heritage, so it is something that we do talk about within our family.

“I think it’s a wonderful thing that they’re being taught about Aboriginal history, culture and heritage within Australia,” she says.