States L through N

Louisiana

Finalist Junior Level School of the Year
St. Margaret Catholic School
2510 Enterprise Boulevard
Lake Charles, LA 70601
(337) 436-7959
www.stmcs.com
Project Title: A Cleaner Today for a Greener Tomorrow
Project Adviser: Judy Reeves

Our club’s theme this year was a ‘Cleaner Today for a Greener Tomorrow’.  We carried this throughout the school in various ways. We took on the Lexus Environmental Challenge to promote the environment and won 1st place in the nation for energy awareness in our community, state, and world.  I feel the club’s efforts this year have shown others that a small group can make a large impart.

We started off joining NEED in the Energy Star Change a Light, Change the World campaign and reached our goal of 100 percent. We promoted it by making costumes and doing skits at community meetings; we were even questioned by the Mall police. We brought the project into the classroom using a model to demonstrate CFL versus incandescent lighting and how much heat is generated. We finished this segment by presenting a play to elementary students and posting a segment on YouTube.

We did other activities dealing with the environment and finished them with ‘Energy of our Future Geaux Green’. Our mayor proclaimed the month of March as Green Energy Month, and our senator commended our club on energy and environmental awareness. We helped to promote a program for Energy Geaux Green and worked with Agroelectric, our green power source in Louisiana.

Maine

Van Buren Elementary School
110 School Drive
Van Buren, ME 04785
(207) 868-2733
Project Title: Energy - 6th Grade Project
Project Adviser: Janice Gereben
Student Directors: Erika Searles and Chantal Deveau

We worked extremely hard and learned many interesting things about energy. We studied different kinds of energy. We learned the importance of energy conservation and recycling.  After we learned about energy, Mrs. Gereben told us that we would be teaching the students in grades pre-kindergarten through grade five about energy during our Energy Week, March 24-28. We had fun making the power point presentations.  Every student in our 6th grade class taught a group of younger students. The presentations all turned out really good, even though we were a little nervous. This was a great experience; it gave us all more confidence to talk in front of a group. 

Now came the part we have been looking forward to for many years, it would be our turn to put on the Energy Fair. It was a lot of work to design and build the games from recycled materials. We made up questions and rules for playing our games.  Friday, March 28th was the big day and the students came in with their teachers. So many people came to see and play our energy games. Even high schools students came to play our games; they were impressed and told us of the fun they had when they put on the Energy Fair when they were in the 6th grade. 

Our Energy Project helped us learn about energy and we believe helped lot of other people learn how to save energy and why it is so important. We hope everyone had as great a time as we did.

Massachusetts

Eastham Elementary School
200 Schoolhouse Road
Eastham, MA 02642
(508) 255-0808
http://nausetschools.org/eastham/
Project Title: SYNERGY
Project Adviser: Maggie Brown
Student Directors: Sarah Wardlaw and Heather Spiegel

We started a science club called Synergy. This was a combination of the words science and energy. We liked the name so much we named the school newspaper that we started after the club name. We spend one day a week after school in the science club and most of us are also on the newspaper staff. 

The newspaper is new this year and we get to choose the articles we want to write and what sections to feature. So far we have covered home energy conservation, wind, recycling and energy activities for the younger children. We did an energy use survey and had many people respond.

For the Energy Fair, we chose our topics, researched and conducted experiments after learning about the scientific method. It took us a couple of weeks to prepare for the fair and we invited all the classes. We ran the fair, which was tiring, but fun.  We can’t wait to hold another one.

Parents and friends were encouraged to bring in old light bulbs for CFL light bulbs and we sold energy efficient holiday lights.  Now we are encouraging people to buy reusable grocery bags.  We also recycled paper, cardboard and plastic. We collected a total of 10,000 pounds of trash.  As a group of students, we are doing our part to help this town.

Finalist Junior Level School of the Year
Bourne Middle School
77 Waterhouse Road
Bourne, MA 02532
(508) 759-0690
www.bourne.k12.ma.us
Project Title: Energy and Education
Project Advisers: Cindy McCann and Laura Perry
Student Directors: Michael Doyle and Benjamin Haskell

The Bourne Middle School Energy Savers is an after school program offered to students in grades 5-8. It was started by a 5th grade teacher, Peggy McEvoy, three years ago.  Currently, the program includes 13 students and is overseen by Cindy McCann, a 6th grade teacher, and Laura Perry, a special education teacher. The Energy Savers is supported by the school’s principal, Ernest Frias.

The group’s focus is to help educate staff, students and community members about ways we can work to improve our planet and conserve energy. We were able to organize many events this year with the assistance of the Cape Light Compact and its educational liaison, Debbie Fitton. We highlighted some of our events in our scrapbook. They included an Energy Expo for students, a solar panel birthday party, recycling bins for plastics, grocery bag collection, reusable shopping bag fundraiser, LED and CFL light sale, and a comic book for elementary age students. 

Thank you for taking the time to celebrate the Bourne Middle School Energy Savers. We look forward to expanding on our successes next year. 

Chatham Middle School
425 Crowell Road
Chatham, MA 02633
(508) 945-5148
www.chatham.k12.ma.us
Project Title: Chatham Energy Operation (Project C.E.O.)
Project Adviser: Annie Bassett
Student Directors: Lizzie Haskell, Max Arvidson, Caitlyn Jearaold, Michael Mazulis, and Kjell Hemsteat

This whole experience with the energy club was fantastic. We did oodles to educate the teachers. We gave away free CFL light bulbs to the staff at CMS.  All they had to do was sign our pledge to use one of our CFL bulbs.  Our biggest event was the energy conference. It took us one and a half months to prepare for.  We used science kits from Cape Light Compact, and did simple experiments. We taught teachers and students how to use the kits so they could teach students and other people how to use them.  Before the energy conference, we practiced on other classrooms and showed them how the kits worked and they helped us to be more prepared for the actual conference.

We also did a plethora to educate the students of many communities. First, we switched energy consuming lights to LED lights on a high school bulletin board. We are doing a musical called Assignment Earth.  It’s about saving the earth one step at a time. The reason it is educating students is because in the play, there are elementary students and we tell them about our club. 

Throughout the whole experience, we have also been educating the community. We sold LED Christmas lights in front of the Chamber of Commerce in the dead of winter. We will present our play to the community, do a beach cleanup, and create grocery bags to be distributed at the local market. 

We look forward to educating more in the future. 

Codman Academy Charter Public School
637 Washington Street
Dorchester, MA 02124
(617) 287-0700
www.codmanacademy.org
Project Title: The Energy Situation: Energy & Conservation Physics
Project Adviser: Carrie-Anne Sherwood
Student Director: Monique Pabon

During the school year, our theme was energy and conservation. We, as a class, studied physics while looking at the energy crisis.  We learned about energy transformations by teaching our fellow classmates using the Science of Energy Kit. We researched nonrenewable and renewable energy sources and created posters to use in our energy open studios.  We played an Energy Choices Game and made visits to Green/ Alternative Energy facilities in such as Artists for Humanity, Union of Concerned Scientists, Lion Spring Farm, a wind turbine and a teacher’s green home. We conducted interviews with the people at each facility to learn more.

To study how thermal energy is transferred through our homes, we created model cardboard homes and investigated different factors that would affect the house’s ability to “hold heat”.  We then collected our family’s electric bills, and recorded data on our own personal energy use for one day to look at the choices we currently make. We then brainstormed ways to reduce energy use and shared these ideas with our school community.

We researched and created posters on different energy-relevant topics to share at our Energy Fair. As visitors attend our energy open studios, we will encourage them to sign the ENERGY STAR Change a Light, Change the World pledge. Over the course of the school year, we have gone over many energy related topics to help us better understand physics and our overall theme for the year of energy and conservation. 

Michigan

Primary Level Rookie School of the Year
James Madison Elementary School
1309 Madison Road
Manistee, MI 49660
(231) 723-5212
www.honoredstudents.org
Project Title: The 3 Little Rs - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Project Adviser: Dana Dobis

This project started out as an introduction to the three Rs: reduce, reuse, and recycle. I wanted my kindergarteners from Madison Elementary in Michigan to be aware of all the waste there is in the world. 

The students became engaged, enthusiastic learners with our paper recycling project. They wanted to do something like the Scholastic Book Clubs did--if a class read 100 books, Scholastic would save 100 acres of rain forest. We collaborated ways to involve the whole school and from this we started our own Green Team paper recycling project. Our classroom was in charge of collecting discarded papers from each room, weighing, graphing and boxing up the paper for the recycling trailer. 

These kindergarteners are very excited about this project and remind each other to put the trash in the trash bin and the paper in the blue recycling bin. They look forward to bringing the blue bin from the class they are in charge of to be weighed and boxed up in our classroom.

I believe this project has fostered lifelong energy conservationists!

John F. Kennedy Elementary School
610 East Parkdale Avenue
Manistee, MI 49660
(231) 723-9242
www.honoredstudents.com
Project Title: Going Green at John F. Kennedy Elementary!
Project Advisor: Constance Josvai
Student Directors: Syriah Dobis, Lexie Adams, Teddy DeVoe, Nicole Morski, Megan Wright, Savannah Hiipakka, and Makenzie Kretz

We are 25 fully charged fifth grade students who started the year learning about energy sources and their meanings in a fun way by playing our student-made Memory Games. We continued to be charged with energy by expanding John F. Kennedy’s Recycling Programs to other schools in our district. Expanding our recycling programs to other schools allowed us to coordinate a new program in our district called Manistee Area Public School “Green Team”. 

We continued to be charged full of energy as we prepared our “Expert” Report Presentations to present in class and to have on display at our school and to use at our Energy Carnivals. As we continue charging towards our goals, we started an energy awareness program called “Are you an Energy Saver?” We got a charge out of catching people saving energy and giving them coupons for fluorescent light bulbs.

Our amps continue to increase as we plan to build and race cars using LEGOs. We will also educate ourselves and our peers on transformations of energy with NEED’s Science of Energy Kit. 

As others start to lose their charge, we will re-energize ourselves to host our Energy Carnival at the upcoming Michigan Energy Fair during the last weekend of June.

We hope to continue to stay fully charged by teaching others about energy and keeping our Green Team going for years to come. We hope others will continue to stay charged about energy and energy conservation too!

Mississippi

Finalist Primary Level School of the Year
South Pontotoc Attendance Center
1528 South Pontotoc Road
Pontotoc, MS 38863
(662) 489-5925
www.pcsdk12.ms.us
Project Title: Cougar Energy Detectives
Project Adviser: Jeanette Simmons
Student Directors: Nikki Waldo and Shelby Holloway

The Cougar Energy Detectives were sworn in early in the year to learn, teach, and collaborate with others.  This year’s energy case was kicked off by a high level official from the Mississippi Development Authority - Energy Division. We learned ways to conserve electricity and learned how to respect electricity using safety rules.

We visited the second and third grade classes to teach them about electricity through plays and activities. Visitors from a local university came to our class and taught us about biomass and discussed area wildlife and its role in our environment. We simulated mining for coal during science lab, and then we were able to visit a coal strip mine site located in a nearby county. We were fascinated by the high-powered energy of the huge machines. During our solar study, we learned how to cook with solar ovens. We learned that crops could be used to make fuel. We were amazed that corn can power cars.

The Cougar Energy Detectives taught first graders how to use solar energy and explained why it is important to use clean energy sources such as wind and solar energy for the future of our earth. We taught them songs and played games on ways to save energy. We made mini-posters and displayed them in hallways to encourage everyone to become aware of and use good energy saving practices.

The Cougar Energy Detectives had a full and exciting year learning, teaching, experiencing, problem solving, and helping others to understand energy and how important conservation is to our environment.

Finalist Elementary Level School of the Year
Lillie Burney Elementary School
901 Ida Avenue
Hattiesburg, MS 39401
(601) 582- 6366
www.hpsd.k12.ms.us/portal/OurSchools/BurneyElementary/tabid/96/Default.aspx
Project Title: Tigers Searching for Alternative Energy
Project Adviser: Margaret Aderholdt
Student Director: A.J. Ashford, Joy Moore, and Willie Mitchell

Lillie Burney’s 5th grade science classes pounced on the topic of energy. They started the year at the Energy Fair provided by the Mississippi Development Authority - Energy Division. They were next introduced to NASA’s use of energy when the ‘Vision of Space Exploration’ toured our area. This exhibit helped them learn about energy of the future and excited them about careers using energy in space.

Students next took on the ENERGY STAR challenge of Change a Light, Change the World.  They took pledges to families, and neighbors and were thrilled to enter 787 pledges.

One group teamed up with a first grade classroom to teach them about energy. Their teacher gave us high marks on our teaching and the children especially enjoyed the Energy Chants.

The 5th grade was challenged to invent something new that used energy, draw a picture that used energy, or make up a poem or song about energy. These projects were displayed in the central case in the school for all to see.

At the Energy Fair, the students manned centers where they taught students about energy. We had over 700 students from Hattiesburg School District come to our fair. Parents, community members, and district leaders attended the fair as well. We were pleased that WDAM-TV covered the fair with a viewership of over 282,000 people. The fair was also covered by our local newspaper Hattiesburg American, which has a readership of 150,000.

Finalist Senior Level Rookie of the Year
Wingfield High School
1985 Scanlon Drive
Jackson, MS 39204
(601) 371-4350
Project Title: E4 (Encouraging Energy Efficiency Everyday)
Project Adviser: Madelene Loftin
Student Director: Chasyaw Jacobs

This was our first project for NEED.  We set three goals. The first goal was to inform the community of the need to conserve energy. The second goal was to communicate the results to the community. The third goal was to research energy usage and conservation.

In an attempt to complete our first goal, we conducted a survey. Those of us who were assigned the task to administer and collect surveys did so. We counted, tallied, and analyzed data. We used the surveys to plan our FSAN sessions and ‘Energized’ play. We decided that parents needed to know easy ways to conserve energy. We conducted energy audits in our homes using a website. Our parents helped us input information about our houses and the website rated our homes for energy efficiency.

Our teacher assigned us research projects about alternative energy sources. We each created a power point presentation about a different type of energy. Our presentations were used in class and with other classes.

The entire executive team are juniors this year and we are looking forward to expanding and improving our NEED project for next year.

Madison Central High School
1417 Highland Colony Parkway
Madison, MS 39110
(601) 856-7121
www.mcjags.com
Project Title: Infusing Energy and Ecology in the Classroom
Project Adviser: Ken Hackman
Student Director: Kaylyn Orr

Madison Central High School has 1,487 students enrolled in grades 10-12, and is one of the four largest public high schools in Mississippi.  We have an excellent curriculum, committed educators and wonderful students.

The students at Madison Central were eager to take on the task of an ECO Tech Day for their NEED project.  The mission of the program was to empower students to use emerging technologies that focus on environmental stewardship and energy efficiency.

ECO Tech involved the entire campus. The broadcast classes shot a video to promote ECO Tech Day. A Trash to Treasure contest was held. A tree planting project for the campus was conducted. A recycling program was initiated as part of our commitment to the objectives of the NEED program. Students also held a raffle for a 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid. Birdhouses were built to improve the campus habitat, a paperless classroom was instituted, and the importance of wetlands and reclamation of green spaces was demonstrated to campus administrators.

Madison Central students are committed to greener and more sustainable building practices. Already the community has seen the message of this new generation of young people that they want a clean planet.

Nebraska

Junior Level School of the Year – see page xx
St. Isidore School

Nevada

Sue H. Marrow Elementary School
1070 Featherwood Avenue
Henderson, NV 89015
(702) 799-3550
http://ccsd.net/schools/morrow
Project Title: Making the Connection with Energy Education
Project Adviser: Lena Cook
Student Directors: Cameron Kazel and Giovanni Venezia

Ulis Newton Elementary School
571 Greenway Road
Henderson, NV 89015
(702) 799-0500
http://ccsd.net/schools/newton
Project Title: Making Connection with Energy Education
Project Adviser: Lena Cook
Student Directors: Dani Morris and Sabrina Mahe

Our first goal was to deepen our understanding of energy.  Our class used NEED Energy Infobooks to compare and contrast renewable and nonrenewable energy sources.  We construct d energy source exhibits and designed a Transparency Show to highlight major energy sources.  Next, we examined transportation fuel facts and crafted exhibits that brought to light the economic and environmental impacts of various transportation fuels.  We evaluated the advantages and disadvantages of fuels through debates. 

Then we had the ability to use our energy knowledge in a new situation.  We designed energy games and invited second graders to attend our ‘Energy Game Day’.  We showcased the Energy Carnival games at our annual school carnival.  We participated in another annual school event called ‘Family Fun Night’.  We set up an ENERGY STAR Take the Pledge booth and held a campaign at school.  We gave out CFL bulbs to those parents who signed and returned the pledge.  A recycling survey was sent home to encourage families to continue or begin curb-side recycling.  ‘The Energy Superheroes’ was an energy video that was written and produced by students to summarize our understanding of renewable and nonrenewable energy sources.

We filmed PSAs to encourage our community to save energy by using CFL bulbs.  Our commercial was aired on a local TV channel.  We designed original fashions using recyclable materials and presented the Trash-Chic fashion show at the local mall.  We submitted original work to a community Save the Environment art contest.  Our posters were displayed at a grand opening celebration that featured Nevada’s first solar powered community.   

New Mexico

Finalist Elementary Rookie School of the Year
McKinley Elementary School
1201 N Butler Avenue
Farmington, NM 87401
(505) 599-8607
Project Title: We’re Watching You! The C.I.A Takes on Energy in Farmington!
Project Adviser: Erin Gockel
Student Directors: Liam Murry, McKenzie Jackson, Eli Lamb, and Alahana Jakeway

Have you ever seen 77 energy conscious fifth graders in one place? Well, that’s us and we’ve been in action all year as the C.I.A. (Conservation In Action)!

After learning through NEED kits, including the Science of Energy, we researched energy sources and careers by listening to community members. We went on scavenger hunts, learning how to recycle and how to make our homes green. Reading electric meters and energy bills are no problem now that we have studied them.

During Energetic Friday lessons, we learned to teach others. We made our own homemade prizes and families became honorary members of the C.I.A. by signing conservation contracts for our Energy Expo. Energy placemats were put in two restaurants inviting people to come to the Expo. Sharing PSAs on the intercom and a local radio station, bulletin boards, and wanted posters kept the school informed, as did our homemade energy movie about sources, conservation, and solar panels.

Our big event was installing solar panels on the roof of our school.  Now that is cool! There’s more to come. We will be joining the ENRGY STAR Change a Light, Change the World campaign, teaching others at the Earth Day Sustainabration, and hosting a solar energy afternoon at our children’s museum.  We are on our way to creating a conservation nation.

Cleveland Middle School
6910 Natalie NE
Albuquerque, NM 87110
(505) 881-9227
Project Title: K2K - Kids Teaching Kids - Growing Energy Awareness in the Community
Project Adviser: Barbara Lazar and Robert Lazar
Student Directors: Hannah Parker, Brittany Portman, Jasmine Washington, and Anisa Mathson

The Energy STARS worked to grow knowledge about energy conservation and awareness throughout our school/ community.  Our goal was to educate other students and ultimately our community about the exciting world of energy. 

To spread awareness and develop our leadership, we:

• Conducted energy patrols and  made energy awareness announcements;
• Learned and taught the Science of Energy and Energy Works kits; and
• Learned about sources through hands on activities and video conferencing.

Our school’s awareness grew throughout the year with:

• Regular announcements of facts, tips, challenges, and jokes about conservation and efficiency;
• A culture of energy efficiency that has taken root as teachers and students expect it;
• Our energy club grew in student participation across all grades; and
• An energy bike was added as a kinesthetic means for understanding principles of energy.

Building a mentorship with elementary students that included:

• Working with a school that is not yet in the district energy program--so, we are building capacity through student leadership;
• Having older and younger students teaching others through shared experiences, including field trips; and
• Designing, painting, and displaying a mural that highlights energy in New Mexico.

All our efforts helped our school to save $22,000 so far this year! The influence of our club has made a huge impact on how people view the importance of energy.  Through this club and our activities and visibility in the community, we have helped the school and community to better understand energy in our lives and our world. 

Junior Level Rookie School of the Year
Taylor Middle School
700 South 11th Street
Lovington, NM 88260
(575) 739-2438
Project Title: Learn, Share, Service: Energy Kids at Work
Project Adviser: Susan Cunningham
Student Director: Olivia Rodriguez

The Taylor Middle School Energy Club students are doing a challenge to learn and teach as much as possible about energy.  Our club’s primary goal is to educate our peers, parents, and community about energy use and conservation.

Three of the ways we are meeting our club’s goals are: We are learning about energy sources and conservation using the elementary Science of Energy Kit provided by the NEED Project; we are doing research via internet and interviews; and the TMS Energy Club is promoting the ‘Let Lovington Know’ campaign.  We have created energy tip posters that are located around Lovington, radio public announcements, energy tips via community announcement board.  This campaign is educating community members about energy.  We are asking the community to participate in the Change a Light challenge on the ENERGY STAR website.

We have included a service project as a club activity, Energy Buddies. In this activity the students adopt senior citizens or disabled individuals. The students adopt these individuals to change their light bulbs and heater filters. The Energy Buddy, senior citizen or disabled individual is given a business card with the student’s name/ number, a brochure explaining about CFL use and safety, and one CFL light bulb.  All the buddy has to do is call the student and let him/ her know that the light bulb and/or heater filter needs to be changed.  The students and their parents go and change the light bulbs. The first light bulb is absolutely free.

North Carolina

Finalist Elementary Level School of the Year
Forestville Road Elementary School
100 Lawson Ridge Road
Knightdale, NC 27545
(919) 266-8487
Project Title: Saving With the S.T.A.R.S.  (Students Teaching About Resources)
Project Adviser: Renee Roddick
Student Director: Taryn Hicks

The S.T.A.R. Kids soared through the school halls and our community to teach people what they could do to save energy.  They participated in events such as the Fall Festival, Health and Science Fair, the Christmas Parade and the Spring Carnival.  At these events, the students demonstrated energy experiments and set up games for their fellow students and local citizens.  At the Fall Festival, they brought the ENERGY STAR Change a Light, Change the World campaign to our school.  Parents, teachers, and students took the pledge to save energy.

Taryn, the S.TA.R. Junior Advisor, participated in the EV challenge at the State Fair.  She also worked on writing a children’s coloring book about our energy sources, while Julianna (S.T.A.R. student) drew the pictures.  The S.T.A.R. kids will continue working on the coloring book by developing games and activities that will be added.

We continued to do the FEED the BIN program.  The S.T.A.R. Kids collected recyclable materials every Tuesday to keep the school from overflowing.  Some of the S.T.A.R. kids gave presentations at a faculty meeting, giving an overview to teachers of our resources and why we need to recycle, what to recycle and what not to recycle.

We also had our energy patrol weekly, where we caught energy wasters and recognized energy savers.  We loved going into the younger classrooms, where we did energy plays and activities with the students, teaching them how to save energy.  We also provided energy and water tips on the morning announcements, where we taught the school to be green. 

We have enjoyed working with the school and community, teaching them how to conserve our resources, recycle, reduce, and reuse.

Finalist Elementary Level School of the Year
Rolesville Elementary School
307 S Main Street
Rolesville, NC 27571
(919) 554-8686
http://rolesvillees.wcpss.net
Project Title: Cougar Conservers Contribute
Project Advisers: Alden Hanson and Meredith Barringer
Student Directors: Devyn Williams and Drew Van Onselder

First we learned about basic types of energy at our early morning meeting.  We signed up for committees that were based on our goals for this year--like getting our group on our school website and teaching little kids.  We started inspecting and recycling.

In October, we put a display in the hallway for Energy Awareness Month.  In November, we started our newsletter called The Cougar Conserver.  At the Health Fair, we gave away CFL bulbs if people signed the Change a Light, Change the World pledge online.  In December, we gave out energy tips during the parade.  In January, when the drought was at its worst, we learned new ways to conserve water and shared ideas.  In February, our third newsletter came out.  At our March meeting we decided to put on skits on energy conservation at the May fifth grade play.  The skits will be like commercials.  By April, we learned that we improved our recycling nearly 2,000 pounds.  We also got Energy Savers on our school website.  Coming up, we have our skits to work on, another newsletter to print, and we will record a water conservation song to show on the announcements for Earth Week. 

This has been a fun experience for every kid. 

Fox Road Elementary School
7101 Fox Road
Raleigh, NC 27616
(919) 850-8845
http://foxroades.wcpsc.net
Project Title: SWAT-cycling Energy
Project Adviser: Amy Constant
Student Directors: Phoebe Ortega and Mat LaGranke

We did a lot of things this year in Energy Club.  Most of the things we did were based on saving water, energy and recycling.  Teaching our community about water conservation gave us opportunities to learn many activities.

For recycling, we have people that wait in carpool, holding up posters saying we want your old phone books.  We put other posters like that around the school to help lower grades get their parents to bring in old phone books. 

For water, we created Student Water Audit Teams (also known as S.W.A.T. Like we did for recycling, we made posters for water conservation.  Energy club members made figures that have to do with water with K’nex pieces.

We read the book City of Ember, which is about energy and light bulbs.  We brought home CFL light bulbs and tried them out. Our parents and teachers made commitments to try out at least one of the CFL light bulbs. We had 151 Change a Light, Change the World pledges signed.

Finalist District of the Year
Wake County Public Schools
15551 Rock Quarry Road
Raleigh, NC 27610
(919) 856-3715
Project Title: Environmental Stewardship
Project Adviser: Christina Larkins

The EnergySavers Program is part of the Wake County Public School System’s Environmental Stewardship Program that serves our communities’ students, schools, and citizens by educating, leading, and guiding them to accept shared responsibility for environmental quality.  The EnergySavers program takes a “kids teaching kids” approach and encourages students to teach their peers and community members about energy in fun and innovative ways.  Through this program we aim to connect our future generations with the thought that a healthy planet means healthy people.

EnergySavers plays a vital role in the Wake County Public School System in terms of natural resource conservation and saving money on our utilities.  Energy Savers helps the school system lower our energy and water consumption in these difficult times of drought and rising energy costs.  The efforts of those students, teachers, and staff who participate in the EnergySavers Program have yielded tangible results.

EnergySavers is a proactive approach for students to engage in the fight against natural resource depletion.  Students are responsible for a list of activities such as conducting energy and water audits.  They also help to educate other students and staff in their schools on the importance of natural resource conservation by means of morning announcements, posters, conducting hands on experiments, participating in their local town parades, and many other activities.  The students are also responsible for collecting and recycling their schools’ paper, and they earn a money rebate for their school by collecting used ink jet cartridges from both school and home. 

Since EnergySavers is a student driven program, they are given hands-on opportunities to learn the importance of our natural resources and to take responsibility for their own ecological footprint, while also educating those around them.