Australian Explorer at Ivanhoe
On Friday, students at the Plenty Campus were visited by Australian explorer Dr Kate Leeming ahead of her supported attempt to be the first person to cycle across the Antarctic continent in 2018.
Dr Leeming has cycled the equivalent distance of twice around the world at the Equator. She has written about her journeys in books such as Njinga, also the title of her award-winning documentary, about her 22,040-kilometre African trip. In 2018, she will conduct a series of expeditions in the lead-up to Antarctic expedition where she will cycle coast to coast via the South Pole on the world’s first all-wheel-drive FAT Bike.
During her expedition, Kate will share her Breaking the Cycle South Pole journey with Ivanhoe students via video link. They will check in with her as she travels and uses her story to learn more about issues such as protecting the environment, technology/innovation and perseverance. Kate says that working with students will inspire and support her through the challenging journey. “When times are tough, it’s really motivating to know that you’ve got a whole lot of people following and learning.”
Ivanhoe was chosen as a school to connect with because Dr Leeming was impressed by the School’s Global Citizenship Centre and the work of JUMP! Foundation’s Aditi Agrawal who manages the centre.
“I needed a reliable group of students and teachers who could really embrace it,” Dr Leeming said, “and Ivanhoe is really the perfect school for this.”
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