New Kids on The Track – Pearcedale Primary School

For a new school to be participating in the Energy Breakthrough, it can be a pretty daunting experience. But not for newcomers Pearcedale Primary School from the Mornington Peninsula, who are attended their first Energy Breakthrough in 2018.

Lachy Steed caught up with the team and here’s what they had to say.

“It’s really fun,” the students say.

“We really like the racing and being able to ride the trikes.”

So was the Energy Breakthrough what you expected?

“At the start of the year, I wasn’t expecting the event to look like this.” One of the students say.

And whilst it might have been their first year in the Energy Breakthrough, the event’s important environmental message hasn’t been lost on the students from the Pearcedale Piranhas team.

“The trikes don’t use any (fossil fuel) energy so we can have fun challenges like this without causing any damage to the environment,” another member of the team added.

And the Pearcedale Piranhas weren’t taking the intensive training lightly either, with team members riding at least twice a week since April to prepare for the Breakthrough.

Team manager James Morrison, who is not be confused with the famous jazz musician, was one of the main driving forces behind the school signing up for this year’s event.

“My brother did it for a couple of years, so I’ve known about it for a little while. When I became a teacher, it was something I really wanted to do.”

James and the school’s principal were committed to bringing Pearcedale Primary to the Energy Breakthrough this year and set about assembling a team of committed and willing students.

So, time for the big question – do the Pearcedale Piranhas want to come back next year?

“Definitely,” was their reply.

While having just one HPV team is a great achievement for any school, Pearcedale is looking to go one better and enter two teams next year. “We’ve got one team now but we’re looking at two teams for next year and we want to grow from there,” James said.

It was great to have you with us Pearcedale Primary and we hope to see you next year!

And how did they go?

In their very first ever HPV team at the Energy Breakthrough, the Pearcedale Piranhas finished 28th in their category (HPVA2) completing a massive 319 laps (354kms) and overall finished 29th. That is an incredible feat for a first-year competing – they will be a team to watch out for in 2019!