Thirty-three Hampshire schools took part in the annual Rock Challenge event at Portsmouth Guildhall on Thursday, February 14, among them pupils from Bohunt Academy.

Rock Challenge is an international performing arts competition for schools and colleges, giving young people a chance to get creative and work together to deliver an eight-minute dance or drama performance set to music. The performances are themed and tackle issues that affect young people, teaching them important life lessons.

Bohunt students performed "The Tale of Tombstone Arizona", set in north America in 1879, at a time of cowboys and the Wild West, where a boomtown emerges founded by Ed Schieffelin. The town has saloons, banks, dance halls, it experiences love, loss, good guys, bad guys and the famous gun fight at the O K Corall.

Bohunt came third in the award of excellence for choreography as well as third for costume character design and second for visual enhancement. In addition students were runners up in the awards for performance skills, set design and function, entertainment and video performance.

The event attracted a large audience and was supported by a number of sponsors as well as a panel of expert judges.

For the 24th consecutive year the Rock Challenge and J Rock tour is traveling across the UK, involving more than 320 schools and 20,000 young people.

The events involve young people in every aspect of the performance - from set construction, choreography, hair, make-up to costume design. They are also designed to motivate and inspire students to lead positive pro-active lives. Young people really are the driving force behind these events and the performances are their time to shine.

Assistant event manager Charlotte Payne said: "It’s always fantastic to see the hard work put in by all the schools performing on stage. In 2019, we are putting on more shows than in any other year, and I can’t wait for them to take on the challenge!"