The Westlake Boys' auditorium was brought to life by screaming fans, as both Westlake Boys and Girls took to the stage to perform a variety of traditional and modern Korean performances.
More than 1500 people attended Korean Night on Friday May 31st, making it the second year in a row the event has sold out. Westlake’s Korean Night is the most prominent Korean secondary school event in Auckland.
The students practised for many months and hours, leading up to the event, which established expectations for high calibre performances. The students delivered, with an array of performances, including the doll dance, fan dance, mask dance, nanta drumming, taekwondo, and K-pop dances, to name a few.
Each performance provided a sample of the rich Korean culture that exists within the Westlake community, with students wanting to highlight traditional elements and their heritage.
The event was over two hours long, with the audience cheering for an encore. The night was organised by 16 Westlake Boys' and Girls' students, along with four teachers from the respective schools. Many of the costumes were ordered from Korea, bringing authenticity to the performances and event.
The event continues to display the vibrant Korean culture at Westlake, with proceeds from the night donated to Victim Support.
Chasing Gold
Our distance running group has chased down gold at the secondary school’s cross-country nationals in Timaru, our boys winning a total of five New Zealand titles and winning four of the six team titles.
The boys in their build-up to the event won the junior, intermediate, and senior titles (nine golds) at the North West Championships; and went on to win the junior, and intermediate team titles (six gold), while placing second in the senior event (three silver), at the Auckland champs.
The boys now set their sights on the ultimate running experience, where they travel to Iten, Kenya. The boys are scheduled to train and meet with local Kenyan runners, adopt a variety of running techniques and practices, while embracing an entirely new culture in the Term 2 holidays.
Winter Wonderland
Westlake Boys' and Girls' held their annual ball, SaturdayJune 8th at the SkyCity Convention Centre. This year’s theme was “Winter Wonderland,” and had more than 950 attendees. The night included multiple themed backdrops for photos, with a sit-down buffet dinner in between, before the dance floor came to life with hundreds of students dancing and singing till the night concluded.
Music Madness
Our music department has seen great success this past month, beginning with our male and mixed choirs. They attended the Auckland Big Sing competition, which had more than 73 choirs competing for the top prize. Our boys sang their way to first place as they were awarded, "Best recital by a male choir," and our combined choir, Choralation, won "Best recital by a mixed choir." Our other male choir, "Momentum," was noted for "Bringing the house down".
Two of our talented Westlake bands competed at the Rockquest regional finals this month, with Special Ed placing second and Six-4 winning the award for “Best Use of Music Technology.” Special Ed has the opportunity to go through to the national finals later in the year but must go through a rigorous process to succeed. The band must produce a 15-minute live video, which includes original content, in 20 days.
