WALK INTO WEST ISLAND School next Friday for its annual fair and you'd be forgiven for thinking you're on the set of the turbo-charged Jack Black School of Rock movie. For rock groups are set to shake the school to its foundations.
It's fair season for ESF secondary schools and West Island's follows King George V School's Karnival being held today. But even though the events can raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for school projects in just a few hours, it's no easy feat to motivate teenagers to help organise and take part. This time round, West Island has managed to get them queueing up to join in.
'Teens think the School of Rock theme is cool - which for them is jumping for joy,' said Rob Rogers, well-known for his talents in magic and party-making, who's heading the committee getting this year's show on the road. 'Over the last few years, we felt the fair was getting away from what kids enjoy. Attendance was dropping. The kids were very so-what about it.
'So we wanted to give it a bit of a boost and started looking for a theme everyone could enjoy. Themes like sports and mardi gras are fine for adults but teens don't identify with them.'
West Island's evening fair is looking to exceed the $140,000 it raised last year. About 30 per cent went to tsunami relief charities while this year the focus will be on charities students are involved in helping. The rest goes to the PTA, to be spent on the school. Last year the majority went to fund the purchase of electronic whiteboards.
ESF and international school fairs can attract up to 3,000 people, flocking in to find everything from theatre shows, commercial stalls, raffles and auctions, to food, bars and children's games. Commercial stalls are a big draw, and with 40 to 60 stallholders paying up to $750 for a table, they're solid money earners for the schools' parent-teacher associations.