Boots and blackouts lead to
a spot of bovver

Lizzie Forge went to Darwin to tell her story
in plain English and this is what she said ...

Lesson one, Monday morning, science. The students are herded into the humid Science lab and are wishing they were anywhere but in this class. The guys behind me flick spit balls at each other and then at the rest of the class-so immature! The girl in front of me is slumped in her chair staring out of the window. Another group of girls near me reapply their makeup for the third time today.
The teacher in her most animated voice begins:
"The moon was created when a planetary body collided with the early earth. In the crush, hot jets of vapour were blasted into space where they cooled and hardened into the moon as we know it ...".
Despite this great wealth of information my mind escapes into the events happening outside the classroom. Carefree latecomers amble reluctantly to school. The wind bullies their hair into flimsy sculptures. The multitude of flies are obvious even from this distance. I can see their fingers curled around their cigarettes - hopelessly trying to conceal their habit. Every so often they seem to simultaneously spit onto the red barren ground. Their clothing is unrefined - aside from their wonderfully modern high tech shoes. They drag their feet, scraping their state of the art footwear amongst the spinifex and termite mounds.
I am distracted by an annoying background noise. I suddenly realise that it is my teacher's voice continuing on, my mind is coaxed back into the lesson.
"... the moon has no atmosphere, so therefore no wind or breezes. This means that the footprints that Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin left on the moon's surface will be there forever. The footprints will be permanently etched on the moon unless of course someone deliberately disturbs them."
Suddenly it dawned on me. Indelible footprints on the moon's surface, late students dragging their feet ... this was leading to my all time favourite item ever. The one topic that has alternative teenagers in Tennant Creek enthralled. The final touch that makes them who they are:
Dr Martens.
In 1945 a German doctor by the name of Claus Marten decided he needed a particular shoe after a skiing accident. He took the rubber tread from a tyre to make the sole of the shoe.By heat sealing this to an upper, he created a cushion of air for his foot to rest on.
Two years later he patented his design and the shoe became an orthopaedic device for older women. Women with bone diseases in their feet found the shoes comfortable.
On the 1st of April 1960 the shoe was revived in Britain. It found favour with police, rebels and punk rockers for the same reason. The strength of the shoe was helpful in defending yourself as well as harming your opponent. Today,
Doc Martens are the chosen footwear of young individuals world wide- including me, Lizzie Forge.
But why may you ask have I chosen to talk about Doc Marten shoes when there are other more worthy causes to focus on such as: war, poverty, famine, equal opportunities for women?
Well, to speak in plain English, Dr Martens shoes teaches us skills that will assist in becoming productive young adults in Australia.
Firstly, Dr Marten had a problem, a skiing accident made it difficult to move around. Did he blame his ski instructor? Did he seek compensation? Did he go to a psychologist so that he could learn to love himself again? No. He had a problem so he began to seek a solution. He did something about it; he invented the Doc Marten shoe. So much time is wasted discussing and forming committees. Life lesson: solve the problem, don't point the blame.
Comfort and shock absorption were and still are the two main criteria for the original design. These are also the important criteria of a being friend. Life lesson: a friend is someone you are able to just be yourself around [comfort] and someone you can turn to in a time of need [shock absorption].
Doc Marten manufacturers use 97 different types of leathers in order to provide a range of styles to cater for all individuals. The aim is still the same, to make a quality shoe but there are also a variety of leathers to choose from. Life lesson: have an open mind, be prepared to try new and innovative methods to achieve your goals. Life isn't one straight and narrow road it has many side streets leading to the same destination.
The traditional hand crafting techniques of Doc Martens have remained unchanged because it maintains it's first-rate quality. Life Lesson: don't forget that when dealing with people the personal touch or relationship is much more important than a cold standard computer printed letter that begins with the words, "Dear (insert name here)".
2.40pm - the last bell of the school day calls. Students spill out of their classrooms and hurriedly make their long awaited journey home. The morning routine of smoking, spitting and dragging of feet is repeated. Their shoes begin to show signs of wear and tear. The stitching starts to unravel and the soles are wearing away. I stand back and observe, I'm in no hurry. My Doc Martens will get me home in the end.

And the winner was ...
Melanie Henderson asked
Lizzie to explain how
it all came about
What are the English Plain speaking awards?
It's a collection of students or people getting together and presenting a series of speeches to an audience. The first is, of course, the prepared speech which you have to talk for five minutes about anything you like and the second is a two minute biography of yourself which has to be entertaining and the third is the two different impromptu speeches which is very hard.
What are the impromptu speeches?
They are when you are given a topic and five minutes to think about what you are going to say; then you have to talk for two minutes about it. It's really really hard because you don't know anything about it before you are given the topic.
What was the lead up to the event for you?
A lot of gruelling sessions with Miss Ana Fidow, she was pretty hard on the whip! Nah, she wasn't really, but she helped me along a lot and without her I probably would never even gone or got as far as I did. She was real good.
How did you find the other competitors?
They were good. I was expecting them to be pretty snooty about where they were and who they were. Most of them were from Darwin except Rangi and I. Rangi was from Alice Springs.
The youngest was only fifteen and he was the most mature out of all of us so that was pretty sad. He was a pretty nice bloke and they were all really supportive. When I did my little mistake, little being the key word, no, they were just still, you know: you did well, you did well. It was good that you got up there.
Did the winner deserve to win?
Yep! She was pretty excellent and she had a really clear voice, although I couldn't understand what her speech was about. The topic she was talking about was about the Y2K and the millennium bug, a bit too intellectual for me it was pretty complex, but she had a really good clear speaking voice. Very entertaining.
What would you do differently if you were to do it again?
I'd probably take up prompt notes because that was my main fault. Miss Fidow and the actual coordinator Elain Ryan sort of told me that it's better if you don't take notes up.
I was so sure that I'd learnt it all, that I had it all down pat and thing, and I got pretty far and then I had a complete mental blank. That was just the most horrible feeling in the whole world, so I should have taken my prompt notes with me. I took them on the impromptu workshop, but I didn't take them to the actual event which is really sad; because they said that my speech was good and that I would have got into the finals if I'd just delivered it smoothly.
I was sad.