How do we recruit (and retain!) quality educators and education leaders in rural and remote communities? This is the question posed and the challenge set at Country Education Partnership's upcoming Rural Learning Summit in Creswick on August 30. If you have an interest in this area, we encourage you to apply to attend this free event.

Eppalock Primary School's Pushcart team have been awarded a coveted CSIRO Blue CREST Award! The Award recognises the fantastic way the students collaborated with Sam, a graduate engineer at THALES in Bendigo throughout their 2018 campaign. CREST stands for Creativity in Research, Engineering, Science and Technology.

Have you got what it takes to be our next Pushcarts Coordinator? We're looking for someone to take charge of this exciting category where students are challenged to assemble their cart in 20 minutes or less, complete a presentation and tackle our sprint, endurance and obstacle courses.

Have you got what it takes to be our next Innovations In Technology Coordinator? We're looking for someone to take charge of this exciting category that currently features the Crafty Design, Moving Water and the Junkyard Challenge - but could be expanded in the future.

The Central Goldfields Shire Council (CGSC) are currently developing a sustainability plan to ensure the ongoing success of the Energy Breakthrough event in Maryborough. The Council have commissioned consultants ARC Ventures to undertake research to help develop this plan. ARC Ventures have launched an open invitation for volunteers and local residents to have their say on the Energy Breakthrough event in Maryborough through two surveys: one for volunteers and another for residents of Maryborough and district.

The 2019 Energy Breakthrough Schools Handbooks are now available to download! The different Handbooks offer key information for each of the categories: Innovations In Technology, Pushcarts, Human Powered Vehicles, TRYathlon and Energy Efficient Vehicles.

We're gearing up for a very busy 2019, and we hope that you are, too! The Energy Breakthrough team have been exploring a number of new workshops and webinars that will deepen students learning opportunities and improve support for Team Managers, teachers and their schools in 2019.  Check out all the key dates you should be putting in your diary / calendar / app / noticeboard for 2019:

Co-ordinating partners, the Central Goldfields Shire Council (CGSC) and the Country Education Partnership (CEP), have confirmed the event will roll back into Maryborough from Wednesday 20 November to Sunday 24 November 2019. Get those dates in your diary!

At Weeroona College Bendigo, the Energy Breakthrough is much more than an innovative four-day event, it is a chance to reinforce already strong community ties. The school's program - which began way back in 1999 - had gone through something of a 'dip' in recent years, but it's now bouncing back thanks to a fresh approach which looks beyond the 'Breakthrough.

If you walked by Corner Eight of track one at the Energy Breakthrough this year, you would have come across a policeman and a group of young adults, marshalling the infamous 'crash corner'.  These young adults were there day-and-night-and-day for this year’s Breakthrough, and the reason why is pretty special: part community service, part reconnaissance as KidzFlip prepares for a tilt at the Energy Breakthrough in 2019.

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.