On May 15, a group of John McGlashan College students became the first group from their school to take part in the performing arts competition Showquest.
For their hard work, they came second overall.
They also swept up a raft of awards for best story, school spirit, public speaking and student leadership. They achieved excellence in soundtrack and received recognition for dance and culture.
Student speaker Tee Kiatwattanakorn, 18, said their theme was ‘‘Boys will Be . . .’’ and focused on ‘‘flipping the script’’.
‘‘The phrase that is often an excuse for bad behaviours — we want to show everyone that boys will not just be boys — boys will be respectful, boys will be strong, and boys will be more than just boys.’’
Student speaker Hugo Maher, 17, said another big theme on stage, as well as off stage, was leadership.
‘‘We wanted to show that leadership in the bigger boys can be handed down by the younger boys.’’
Hugo said leadership for them meant keeping calm under pressure which showed up on the stage, and being there for each other off the stage.
‘‘Tee and I felt pretty proud of the boys; we still are.’’
Since it was their first year entering, there was no set script to go off, and no ‘‘how to’’ knowledge passed down from previous years.
They were starting from ground zero, and were proud to have got such a great result.
As both Tee and Hugo are in year 13, they would not be entering Showquest again.
They both hoped that next year’s students would also decide to give Showquest a go.
