When Kiama High School teacher and driving force behind the Schools Spectacular team Terry Wild was injured in a surfing accident, it was thought all hopes of performing at the annual stage show were dashed.
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That was until his daughter Ieesha stepped up to the enormous task of leading the team.
Terry Wild’s wife Julie said the accident meant the dedicated teacher was unable to return to work for the remainder of the year.
“He was hit in the head by a board that had broken shards of fibreglass which badly injured his eye,” she said.
“He will require multiple operations at Sydney Eye Hospital to treat the injury.”
Mrs Wild said the extraordinary effort from Ieesha,17, amazed everyone.
“She took responsibility for training the students to learn all the harmony parts for the songs and made sure the students brought in their paperwork to attend the excursion so that everyone could still go,” Mrs Wild said.
“She ran several rehearsals and kept up the students morale.”
The students are members of the Kiama High School Vocal Group. In this years Schools Spectacular, they were part of the Central Choir, which required the students to perform backing-vocals for the featured performers and be on stage the entire show.
“The quality of the voices and musical skills must be quite high in that choir, and students must audition to get in,” Mrs Wild explained.
“Taking part in a show like this is an opportunity to work with extremely talented students from all over the state, as well as gaining an understanding of how such a mammoth production is brought together.
“The final preparations for the show require the students to be extremely responsible and focused, while being great problem solvers who can work with new people quickly and efficiently. This is all over a period of four days away from home.”
Mrs Wild also did her part to ensure the students got the opportunity to perform, by stepping in as the teacher to travel with them to Sydney in her husbands absence.
“It became a bit of a family affair to keep the show on the road,” she said.
“This particular bunch of kids were so helpful and delightful to be with, they made what could have been a difficult, stressful situation into a success.
“They were wonderful.”
Schools Spectacular was hosted by John Foreman, and featured 3600 young performers from across NSW.
The show will be broadcast throughout the Nine Network on Saturday, December 5 at 7pm.
