News from Lockerbie Academy - Thursday 27 November 2008

Syracuse University London students perform “The Bird and the Two-Ton Weight

Syracuse University London presented a commemorative theatre performance to honour the thirty-five SU students killed in the Lockerbie air disaster on December 21, 1988 written by Darcy Fowler. With previous workshops in New York City and Syracuse, USA the premiere reading on an international stage took place at Lockerbie Academy last Friday with a matinee performance for Lockerbie Drama students the two public evening performances.

“The Bird and the Two-Ton Weight” is an uplifting and often comedic story centred on a journal that appears 20 years after the disaster and transforms the next generation. When Alice Shapiro, a 24 year-old living in New England, accidentally receives a package from Lockerbie, her life is transformed.

	The stories from the past inspire her to overcome her daily struggles and reengage in her living her life. In addition to this scripted play, the actors have created an ‘Epilogue’ as their own memorial to the vibrant lives full of promise that were lost. During their visit the students also enjoyed curling and an excellent meal at Lockerbie Ice Rink, as well as a tour of Tundergarth and the Garden of Remembrance and Cemetery Lodge. The students and staff were very grateful to the host families and the exceptional generosity shown to them during their visit.
Can Cook, Will Cook Competition Seven teams of second year pupils took part in the annual Can Cook, Will Cook competition last week. This competition is held for House Points and within 50 minutes each team of 2 had to cook and present a 2 course meal based on a limited list of ingredients. The kitchen was a scene of well-organised activity and each contestant worked skilfully. The finished dishes were presented in a most impressive, professional style making the judge’s task a difficult one. The judge for this year’s event was Mr Robbie Scott, Chef at the Somerton Hotel. Mr Scott was impressed by the high standards achieved by these young pupils.The results were: 1st Amber Murray (Milk) and Emily Platt (Annan) 2nd Helen Carruthers (Milk) and Eilidh Mackay (Kirtle) 3rd Koren Boomer (Milk) and Georgina Carter (Milk) Days Like This…. Days like This is a project run by BBC Radio Scotland and the Scottish Book Trust, where pupils were invited to submit a story about the most important ‘day of your life’, a day that makes you smile, cry, make a huge decision or celebrate an event. Celebrity presenters like Evelyn Glennie and Hardeep Singh Kohli were asked to select their personal favourites. Over 60 Lockerbie students took part. One of our personal favourites was John Cartner of the third year remembering when Queens got to the Scottish Cup Final. Below are some extracts of his story. The most memorable day in my life so far has definitely got to be the 24th of May 2008 when I went to see my favourite team Queen of the South play Rangers in the Scottish Cup Final. It was the first time ever that Queen of the South had reached the final of the Scottish Cup and it was their biggest achievement yet. It was Gordon Chisholm’s first season as manager and he helped the team accomplish so much in that season…….. The atmosphere was electric with all the Queens fans singing their hearts out. Walking up to Hampden was an unbelievable feeling because I was so excited we were in the final but I was still in shock after we won the semi-final against Aberdeen. We went into the ground 30 minutes before kick-off so we could watch them warming up…….. The Queens players ran onto the pitch and the stadium erupted into chants of QUEENS, QUEENS, QUEENS! …….. At half time Rangers were 2-0 up and it wasn’t looking good but we remained hopeful they would get a couple of goals. The second half started well for Queens and they came out looking like a completely different team. They were now passing well and putting pressure on the Rangers defence. 5 minutes into the second half when Sean O’Connor’s cross was bundled into the back of the net by Steve Tosh and only three minutes later the captain of the team Jim Thomson managed to score a header when Robert Harris put the ball into the box. I couldn’t believe that Queen of the South were drawing 2-2 with Rangers and the fans almost blew the roof of the stadium erupting into chants of ‘you’re not singing any more!’ It felt like it was all a dream and I was waiting to wake up. The Queen of the South fans were now going mental doing the bouncy and singing all the songs they could think of. We were so close to glory until with 18 minutes to go Kris Boyd scored and shattered our dreams…… I looked over at the Rangers fans and they were on they’re feet applauding the Queens fans and I thought this was a great mark of good sportsmanship. Then the Queen of the South players ran round and applauded the fans. All the way home I didn’t think about losing or how close we were to winning I just thought that I was at Queen of the South’s first ever Scottish Cup Final and I had experienced a once in a lifetime opportunity and I was just happy we got there. That’s why it was the best day ever for me and I have great memories I will never forget! New Knitting Club Starts Are you interested in knitting – either learning to do it or joining others who already have some experience. The club will provide materials and patterns to make small personal items or gifts for Christmas. Boys/girls, any age welcome. Come along at lunchtime on Thursdays to find out more in room B102. The Artistic Crème de la Crème As part of a move towards celebrating the excellent standard of artistic work being produced by Scotlands’ school pupils annually, SQA are funding three exhibitions to showcase the very best of project work produced this year. The Advanced Higher work is on display in The National Gallery in Edinburgh. The venue for the Higher work is the Scottish Parliament and the intermediate work is on display in the Peoples Palace Museum, Glasgow. From over 7000 submissions from every school in Scotland, the examiners have selected just over 180 pupils to represent the ‘crème de la crème’ at Higher and Advanced Higher level. Three of those pupils this year come from Lockerbie Academy. Natalie Johnstone and Claire Williams both had their beautiful still life paintings selected, while Kirsty Turpie had her wonderful recycled punk dress design put on display. Dates for the exhibitions: Scottish Parliament (Higher) – 15 October to 6 November 2008 Peoples Palace, Glasgow Green (Intermediate II) – 1 December to 16 January 2009 National Gallery, Edinburgh 22 January to 19 March 2009 Dates for the Diary Thursday 27 November School Show "Oh What a Lovely War!" Friday 28 November Non-uniform day with a Green theme Monday 1 December School Holiday (St Andrew's Day) Tuesday 2 December Staff Development Day (non-pupil) Wednesday 3 December Staff Development Day (non-pupil) Thursday 11 December S2 Dynamic Earth trip to Edinburgh