This edition of KEEP Going Online serves as a mid-summer reminder and motivator to get out there and learn about energy in your life. We hope you enjoy reading this energy education success story and sign up for one of the professional development opportunities this fall.
Mike Aprill was named the Formal Energy Educator of the Year by KEEP in 2011
EVER SINCE TAKING his first course with the Wisconsin K-12 Energy Education Program (KEEP), Random Lake Earth science and anatomy/physiology teacher Mike Aprill has integrated energy education and energy awareness into his personal and professional lives.
Aprill, who also serves as the school's Science Club co-advisor and as an adjunct instructor at Lakeland Technical College, has been teaching at Random Lake for 14 years and took his first KEEP course - Energy Education in the Classroom - in 2001. He says he was immediately hooked by the interactivity and hands-on nature of the lessons and found he was easily able to incorporate them into his existing curriculum.
Yet, Aprill was not content simply incorporating what he'd learned into his daily teaching and wanted to bring the concepts of energy education and renewable energy to life for his students. When some of his students told him they thought wind turbines were bad for the environment, he decided to change their minds by having one installed on campus. Almost as a joke, he posed the idea to his superintendent who, to Aprill's surprise, fully supported the project. The school's wind turbine was installed on September 15, 2010 and has provided energy and a source of pride for the students, staff, and community ever since.
Changing students' preconceptions about renewable energy, recycling, and environmental education has been a theme that Mr. Aprill applies to all of his projects. Every year his students engage in a long-term project that culminates each April in the Health/Wellness, Going Green Fair where students have the opportunity to share their projects with the public and teach them why the topics are important to Random Lake residents. The fair, which recently drew more than 1,200 attendees and helped finance a number of water bottle filling stations for the school, incorporates themes that ignite passion in students. Recently several Earth science students chose to show how fashion and art relate to recycling, a theme that appealed to students who might otherwise have simply gone through the motions.
However, Aprill acknowledges that in order to inspire lifelong passion for environmental education students need to be taught the basics before high school and uses his prep periods to teach first, second, and third graders. He finds that the hands-on activities like KEEP's Schoolyard Breezes (which teaches students how to measure wind speed) and tools like the Watts Up? Meter (which measures the electrical usage of appliances) generate excitement and provide a solid base for future learning.
True to form, Mike Aprill also practices what he teaches. In 2014 he installed 36 solar panels which provides the majority of the power needed for his rural home and rain barrels that deliver water to his garden, a project that has inspired him to incorporate water education into his curriculum.
Mike Aprill truly embraces the concepts of energy and environmental education, serves as a model energy educator, and is a great inspiration to his colleagues, students, and teachers around the state.
Milwaukee Area Educators — Register Now!
Visit the 100 KW wind turbine at the Port of Milwaukee on August 26 and learn how it has generated over 300,000 kWh of clean power and saved over $35,000 in energy costs. Walk away with renewable-energy related hands-on activities to integrate into your programming.
