A very special show

L-R: Olivia Tuck, Loran Milligan, Lorraine Milligan and William Tuck. Olivia was proud to show her family her award winning cupcakes. 238366_08

By Gabriella Payne

Students and staff at the Officer Specialist School were delighted to invite their friends and families along to the grand opening of the first official ‘Officer Show’ on Thursday 20 May – a new tradition in the making.

There were many smiling faces and excited kids buzzing about in the school hall on Thursday afternoon, which had been transformed into a colourful exhibition, showcasing a range of incredible projects that were created by the students.

Usually taking part in many local shows, the students at the Officer Specialist School were disheartened when Covid-19 threw a spanner in the works and brought the shows to a close.

But a specialist leader and food technology teacher at the school, Gayle McMillan, saw an opportunity to create something special of their own… and so the Officer Show was born!

Ms McMillan said that it was fantastic to see the students proudly showing off their work to their families and friends after a difficult year.

“The local shows had been cancelled for the last 18 months and our students really enjoy participating in all the areas of the show,” Ms McMillan said.

“So we decided that we would run our own so that they could actually do their cooking and do their art and their other work – and now they’re showing their families and the whole community, so it’s just lovely.”

Ms McMillan said that students had either created individual items, class projects or a bit of both and everyone was “very, very excited” to finally unveil all their hard work.

“The response has been fantastic, they’re so excited and pleased and for our kids the prizes are wonderful,” she said.

“To see their hard work and what they can achieve is fantastic.”

The Principal of the Officer Specialist School, Denise Munt, said that it had been great to have official judges from the Berwick Show come along and award prizes to the students, and it was fantastic to see them bringing their parents along to proudly show off their ribbons and awards.

“We’ve had many parents come along which is wonderful, because this is one of the first events where we’ve been able to have parents on site [since Covid],” Ms Munt said.

“The students were so excited. They came through today with their classes, and so they’ve obviously gone home and said ‘come on, let’s go!’ and so that’s been great, they’re very proud of what they’ve done,” she said.

Ms McMillan said that she hoped that the Officer Show could become a new tradition at the school.

“It’s our very first, but hopefully it won’t be our last!”