A group of music students from Interlake High School in Bellevue are organizing the first Eastside Battle of the Bands. The event will be conjunction with ArtsEd Washington and will raise money for music education. The Eastside Battle of the Bands will take place on June 19 at the Old Redmond Firehouse.

The group of students including Andrew Nelson, Aaron Roper, Rohan Waghani, Andrew Nguyen and Carew Giberson-Chen were asked to organize an event to help the community as part of the International Baccalaureate Program at Interlake. Recognizing that arts and music education are often negatively impacted during times of budget cuts and economic strain, the students stepped up to the challenge.

The event is student run under the assistance of Una McAlinden, the executive director of ArtsEd Washington. McAlinden oversees the local arts education and advocacy group that works to insure that the arts are a part of a complete education for all students in Washington.

The winner of Eastside Battle of the Bands will receive a $300 cash prize and bragging rights for the following year.

To learn more about ArtsEd WA, visit http://www.artsedwashington.org/.