KICE News > Special Events

Sports

Rock Eisteddfod

The hard work is over and the recovery has begun! Rock Eisteddfod for 2008 is over but what a fantastic opportunity it has been for all involved. While the Kangaroo Island team didn’t finish in the top three, it didn’t matter as they had already won two weeks earlier when they performed their ‘Sirens of Choice’ performance to the Kangaroo Island Community. The theme ‘drink driving’ was portrayed strongly with many audience members brought to tears! If only one person hears the students message and doesn’t step behind the wheel of a car after drinking then these students have achieved a life changing goal!
The students from year 8 to year 12 worked tirelessly throughout the year to perfect their performance. They attended trainings on Friday lunchtimes, Friday nights and Sundays from term 1 right through to the end of term 3. Holiday practices were also a strong part of the agenda. The hard work paid off though and all at the Entertainment Centre experienced an amazing day.
On the day, all students met at the front of the Entertainment Centre. They wore their bright red sponsorship t-shirts. We assumed that this would help us to identify each other; unfortunately, we soon discovered that many other schools had the same idea and wore bright red!
The day was so much fun! It started with a production meeting that gave everyone the relevant information. It also pumped up the adrenalin as the student danced to music, were thrown gifts, and given the opportunity to win Calvin Klein perfumes and cologne. The teachers then jumped on stage to have a dance and randomly choose the performance order. Our school was fourth to perform. We could not have asked for a better spot, it enabled people to travel over to the mainland in time to see the performance and let our fantastic support crew pack props back into trucks at intermission.
Students love the Rock Eisteddfod experience and many have commented that not being able to perform in the Rock Eisteddfod is a downfall of leaving school. This was evident from the number of ex KICE students attending the Adelaide performance.
Throughout the day students from all schools got the chance to meet and chat with each other. Our students were obviously very good at this as we won the ‘Friendliest school award’, something to be proud of!
Rock Eisteddfod is a fantastic opportunity for students as it gives them the chance to perform in front of a large live audience with lighting, cameras and a huge stage, it also gives them the opportunity to learn some dance and drama skills. Opportunities that are limited living on the island.
The Rock Eisteddfod has been a huge achievement and great success for the students but it would not have come together or even happened if it was not for the dedication and effort of some individuals. Although there were many helpers, too many to list here, some of the people who donated hours and hours of their time to get this performance happening were; Tracie Heinrich, Kimberley Wood, Rebecca Spicer, Tamara Markopoulos, Tracey McMulkin, Kate Souter, Libby Barrios, Bev and Melissa Turner, Liz and Moss Howard, Alison Uren and Merilyn Henderson. Thank you, thank you, thank you! A big thank you also to all of those helpers, parents, and sponsors that made the whole thing possible!
KICE may not have won one of the main awards but we did win quite a few. These were; the Gemma Dale Award for the friendliest school, Excellence for Visual Enhancement and Excellence for Drug Awareness, with Achievement awards in Excellence for stage use, Concept and Costuming Character.
We are all very proud of our students, for the hours of work they put into rehearsals, the way they conducted themselves at the Entertainment Centre but mostly for the message that they portrayed with enthusiasm and dedication. You were all winners before you even left!

Click here to see a photos of the performance and behind the scenes!

To watch the performance you can go to www.globalrockchallenge.com, sign up(sign up is free) and go to Kangaroo Island.

Students work at the Adelaide Show

On Wednesday 10th September a group of 6 students, 3 from Parndana Campus and 3 from Penneshaw Campus headed up to Adelaide to work at the Royal Show. The students were invited by former Head of Kingscote Campus, Leon Parker, to be part of a Learning Technologies demonstration. The students were each given a digital camera to take some pictures that captured the feel and excitement of the show. The pictures were then put onto the computer and using a program called Comic Life, the students had heaps of fun adding captions to their photos using speech bubbles and experimenting with different layouts and some brilliant font styles. The students have enjoyed sharing their knowledge with staff and students back on the Island. It was a great fun day of learning and excitement, with a bit of show bag shopping too! Click here to see a sample of what you can do with Comic Life.

Train of Thoughts

Having watched over performances that have enthused Kangaroo Island students over many years at our most recent show I found myself using superlatives like….the most extraordinary show ever….
Peter Gray’s show Train of Thoughts opens with an aging circus performer sitting under an urban railway overpass. Refusing to succumb to old age & loneliness he gathers an audience & his memories take over. As the show proceeds we see the old vaudevillian balance on a slackwire clothesline.
Peter Gray’s performance was full of humour, gentle whimsy & pathos. His outstanding mime & circus skills, a striking set & beautiful soundtrack combined to give students an unforgettable theatrical experience.

E-Learning Live from the waters of Kingscote

Kangaroo Island Community Education’s Dolphin Watch project lead by Tony Bartram went live across the nation on Friday 23rd May for the first time. Assisted by Kangaroo Island’s District eTeacher Kimberley Wood using a laptop computer, NextG wireless card and a webcam, live image and audio was streamed to a number of participants across the nation.

Mark Sparvell; District eTeacher from Victor Harbor R-7 School, coordinated the 2 hour long event from his office in Victor Harbor, while Kimberley along with Tony Bartram, Andrew Neighbour from Kangaroo Island Marine Tours, Richard Howard, with his crayboat and 15 students and teachers, tackled the coasts of Kingscote to locate the dolphins.

At one stage 20 sites across South Australia, Western Australia and Far North Queensland were engaged in this online environment, posing a number of questions to Tony and Dr Mike Bossley AM, Research Scientist from the WDCS in Port Adelaide.

All participants were completely engrossed in the event as we were able to broadcast ‘live’ to classrooms, offices and homes. More live events are now planned for KI Dolphin Watch to interact with the wider community to help develop knowledge and understanding of Kangaroo Island’s wild dolphin population and their habitats.

Exciting developments being trialled as components of dolphin monitoring field trips, in preparation for future events, include imagery from an underwater webcam and dolphin sounds via a hydrophone, which participants everywhere will be able to experience. A tremendously exciting project which links the students of Kangaroo Island with the outside world and highlights their brilliant conservation efforts globally, through the use of cutting edge technologies.

Thankyou to KI Marine Tours, The Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, Richard, volunteers and especially our students.

Kimberley Wood
eTeacher
Kangaroo Island Community Education