General News
30 November, 2023
Students make 900-kilometre trek for EB
For some, travelling over 900 kilometres with a platoon of students sounds like a nightmare — but Holy Cross College Ryde educator David Ratcliffe has completed the journey to Maryborough for 15 years. Mr Ratcliffe first heard about and completed...
For some, travelling over 900 kilometres with a platoon of students sounds like a nightmare — but Holy Cross College Ryde educator David Ratcliffe has completed the journey to Maryborough for 15 years.
Mr Ratcliffe first heard about and completed Energy Breakthrough while at his previous school, Marist Sisters’ College, and has loved it since.
“It’s challenging to bring them down here from New South Wales, it was challenging the first time and it’s still challenging this year. But when they leave here, they get so much out of this,” Mr Ratcliffe said.
“It’s not just about building the bikes, it’s project management, it’s teamwork, it’s collaboration.”
Mr Ratcliffe said he adored the “real-life holistic learning” the program provided students to prepare them for life beyond school.
“The students do all the money management. We introduced them to travel agents and they booked their own tickets. They know exactly how much the next meal costs and they do all their own shopping and cooking,” he said.
To afford to run in Energy Breakthrough, students at Holy Cross College led fundraising throughout the year and scratch-built their trikes.
“The bikes are completely recycled, made from election posters and old stools that were being thrown out. The best part is the boys are truly proud, by the end of this race and even during school they are so proud of what they have built,” Mr Ratcliffe said.
However, the Energy Breakthrough journey hasn’t always been smooth sailing. Last year, the college’s first fully electric trike failed midway through the race and had to transition to pedal power.
But Mr Ratcliffe said the students were more invigorated than ever to push themselves and returned to Maryborough with a refined design alongside two other hybrid trikes.
“Last year we were a failure, but these guys said we were doing it again,” he said.
“They push themselves to the limit and the number of hours they put in outside of school is amazing.”
The joy of seeing the students mature, bond, and learn together has motivated Mr Ratcliffe to keep coming back.
“My classes back at Holy Cross are already designing next year’s trike. They’re already excited. It just engages them completely. It’s self-regulation and it’s learning at its best,” he said.
“If there’s another 15 years of Energy Breakthrough, that’s another 15 I’ll be here.”