High School Wins Blink 182 Concert

One day, they were listening to the radio. A few weeks later, their school was $10,000 richer and will host one of the hottest punk rock bands.

Before spring vacation, three Santa Susana High School students asked Principal Patricia Hauser if the school could participate in a radio station KROQ-FM (106.7) contest to win the money and a free concert by San Diego band Blink 182.

Tuesday night, the students at Santa Susana High beat out 26 high schools when they won a spelling bee tiebreaker at the Palace in Hollywood. Before that, the kids spent three weeks chasing down 10 things in a scavenger hunt--such as finding an official yearbook from one of the band’s three members and taking photographs of 182 cars with KROQ bumper stickers.

The students also had to talk Hauser into singing a Blink 182 song that would be taped and played on the air, which occurred several times Tuesday morning.

“The last thing I would have wanted was for my unwillingness to humiliate myself be the thing that got in their way,” the principal said.

About 300 high schools entered the contest, but only 26 reached the final round, KROQ spokesman Mike Salas said. In the 30th round of the spelling bee, junior Loren Girard, 17, spelled “pertinacious” correctly to win the concert that will take place Saturday.

The show will be open only to the 934 students at the school. Salas said KROQ will pay for security.

Hauser said the students haven’t decided what to do with the $10,000 prize; they are more concerned about bringing Blink 182 to their campus.

“I think that was their true motivation,” she said.

Hauser said she checked out the band to ensure their lyrics were not inappropriate.