A MINI deb ball at the Gunbower Primary School was a roaring success as the school community came together to celebrate the theme of “country farm”.
First held in 1990, the mini deb is held at Gunbower PS every seven years, meaning every student is given the opportunity to participate once.
Gunbower PS principal, Travis Cartwright, said the night was a special evening for students, staff and parents alike.
“As the principal of the school, I was so happy to see it all come together and it was quite a thrill to see the kids perform so beautifully on the evening,” Mr Cartwright said.
“Everyone commented on how well it went, the feedback from parents and people involved was fantastic and it was just a great opportunity for the school community to come together.
“It was a great chance for the kids to be part of our deb ball which has now become a long-standing school tradition.”
Students had practised their presentation dances since March and performed the Pride of Erin and a progressive jive as their presentation dances.
There were also classroom dances, with grades prep, one and two performing the chicken dance, and grades three to six breaking out the Nutbush.
Parents participated in a heel-and-polka dance, with the night rounded out by a whole school barn dance to John Denver’s Thank God I’m a Country Boy.
“We have a strong farming community, so of the three deb ball themes we put to the students ‘country farm’ was well and truly the overwhelming favourite,” Mr Cartwright said.
“The theme included a bit of a backstory: that life on the land isn’t a walk in the park, it takes a lot of hard work and especially through the drought that we’re in now it was quite relevant.
“It was really good to speak to a couple of the parents on the night who had been to the first or second deb balls, but none of us are really sure how it originally began.
“But having gone on since 1990, it’s well indented in the school tradition now.
“The stage was laid out with incredible props and decorations, with a beautiful backdrop painted by one of our own staff.
“Out the front was an old tractor with a couple of hay bales, so everything fit the theme very well.”
