Out and About
Engineers Without Boarders
During November, James Wylie and Beth Yeuong (Year 9) participated in the ‘Engineers Without Boarders’ High School Innovation Challenge held at The University of Melbourne.
“Working alongside students from across the state, we had a blast collaborating in teams of enthusiastic learners. In small groups, we engaged in exciting challenges such as coding robots, building water towers and even creating models of bionic hands; some of which were related to the amazing work of the Engineering Without Borders Team. Working with our mentors who were engineering students and graduates, the three-day program gave us valuable insight into the lives of engineers. Thank you so much to Ms Rebecca Ashdown for organizing and supervising such an incredible opportunity!”
Beth Yeuong (Year 9)
Great Victorian Bike Ride(GVBR)
Port Fairy to Torquay
Close your eyes and imagine… waking up to the sound of birds chirping and the soft glow of sunrise creeping into your tent, jumping on your bike, riding along sections of amazing Australian scenery with the wind in your hair, shaking off the raindrops, laughing about the crazy weather, relishing a cold milkshake or slushie after a day of invigorating riding and jumping into your sleeping bag at night, ready to do it all over again the next day. Well, that was the Frankston High School GVBR for 2019!
It was a tough and challenging ride with lots of hills, rainy riding days and some pretty epic wind but our students smiled through it all! We had the absolute joy of riding along the Great Ocean Road and Turton’s Track through the Otways which was absolutely stunning. The Port Fairy to Torquay, 350km route, was definitely beautiful! Our students were able to see parts of Victoria in the best way possible – on a bike! I did say to a few people, I don’t always get it, the whole riding a bike thing, but it is trips and views like this that make you understand why people love cycling so much. Our incredible team for 2019 is a testament to that – some of them have only been riding for a short time and definitely not for distances as epic as this, but they are already converts! Well done to all our new students – especially the huge amount of new Years 7 and Year 8 riders! A huge shout out also has to go to our Years 9 and 10 leaders for showing great camaraderie and riding really well.
While the 2019 ride is done, we are already looking forward to 2020 – from Rainbow to Great Western, we will ride the Silo Art Trails and through the Grampians – keep your eyes out for that!
A massive thank you to Mr Heath Booth for his incredible leadership and to the rest of our riding team for 2019; Mrs Michelle Snooks, Mr David Nicol, Ms Libby Toovey, Ms Emily Papadimitriou and Mr Doug Peters. Dougie is to be especially commended – this year marked his 10 year anniversary riding the GVBR with Frankston High School. We would be lost without his knowledge, patience and positivity that makes the bike ride so successful for us every single year! I would also like to thank the dads that provided so much help and assistance; Gus McDonald, Andrew Dibben, Julian Bartlett, Marius Gleeson and Dave Dew. We missed the always amazing Mal Burt and Cheryl Hodgson this year and would like to thank Mr Mal Burt for all his organisation and continual dedication to this ride. A final thank you to the Principal Class team of Frankston High School for their support of the GVBR team.
The GVBR really is a trip that teaches students teamwork and resilience and, as Dougie says, prepares them for the difficult experiences that we often face on the journey that is life. Most importantly, friendships are built and good times had! Look forward to seeing you all back on the bike in 2020.
Mrs Jen Martyn
GVBR Coordinator