Rock Challenge

On Friday 14th June, along with eleven other schools from around Scotland, Arbroath High School performed at the annual Be Your Best Foundation Global Rock Challenge Scottish Final at the Caird Hall in Dundee. This global event is run all around the world, from Australia to Germany, with the aim of providing school pupils with the opportunity to experience the natural, adrenaline fuelled high from performing in a professional venue. The competition has an overall message of drug awareness and healthy lifestyle but it also manages to help to building creativity, independence and self esteem in young people around the country.

This was the second time the Scottish final had ever been held and Arbroath High School were attending as defending champions, having won the inaugural final with their piece ‘The Wolf’ in 2012. Nonetheless, this was still only their third year in the competition. As a relatively new team, they were excited to see if they could continue their success. They were competing against schools from across Scotland with teams from Highlands, Aberdeenshire, Angus, Dundee and Perth and Kinross all represented.

 Taking part in Rock Challenge takes a lot of time and effort from staff and pupils with everything from costumes to set and dancing created as a team effort. Their piece ‘Doomed’ was based on the story of the lost city of Atlantis and the costumes and set were built to represent an ancient Greek City being attacked by the elements before sinking to the bottom of the ocean.

 Fortunately, their efforts and hard work were deemed well worth it by the judges at the Caird Hall when they awarded ‘Doomed’ overall 2nd place, narrowly losing out on the top prize to Mackie Academy from Stonehaven. They were also commended with special awards for make-up, hair, performance skill, inclusion, press coverage and drug awareness. 3rd place went to Fraserburgh Academy, closely followed by Westhill Academy with Kinross High School in 5th.

 The Arbroath High School team now move on to preparing for next year and hope to add significantly to their number. They lose quite a few of the seniors this year as they move on to University and further employment so they hope to bring in some fresh new faces. They will be holding a dance school in Showcase the Street on 9th August for anyone aged 10-17 who may be thinking about joining the Rock Challenge team. It’s a great opportunity to meet some of the team and to see if it’s something you might enjoy. The classes are from 11am till 3.30pm and will cost £5. Anyone attending should bring a packed lunch.

 A huge number of people were involved in helping to make this such a huge success, but the team would like to express particular thanks to Buchan Embroidery in Peterhead for their continued sponsorship. They would also like to express their thanks to Angus Council, Northern Tool Gear, Asda, GSK Montrose, Pepo’s and Strathmore Vintage Vehicle Club for their financial support over the years.

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