La Follette and Mauston win Renew Our Schools spring competitions!

La Follette High School and Mauston High School won the spring 2026 Renew Our Schools energy conservation competition. Each school received $1,500 to use toward additional energy conservation efforts.

La Follette High School: Novice Division Champions

Students at La Follette High School earned first place in the Novice Division by completing 30 School Energy Actions (SEAs) and scoring 585 points over the six weeks of the competition.

Members of the school’s Green Club, guided by educator Gage Meyer, combined hands-on investigation with creative outreach to better understand and reduce their school’s energy use.

A major component of their success was a school energy audit. Students evaluated classrooms, hallways, art rooms, and computer labs, identifying opportunities for improvement. By using light meters and testing changes such as dimming lights and relying more on natural daylight, students demonstrated clear, low-cost strategies to reduce electricity use without sacrificing learning conditions.

With access to real-time data from an eGauge datalogger, students analyzed how electricity use changed by hour, day, and circumstance — including weekends, snow days, and weather shifts. Their findings showed consistent midday peaks, lower weekend usage, and a strong connection between energy demand, occupancy, and HVAC systems.

“I think most people fail to think about the consequences of really simple actions that they take throughout the day," said Meyer. "It's so difficult to perceive wasteful habits if we don't have data to show us the immediate results of effortless energy saving practices.”

Outreach was central to La Follette’s success. Students shared announcements, posted reminders near light switches, produced a student-made PSA, and launched “Power Down Days” to encourage reduced energy use across the entire school.

"My favorite part of the competition was learning about all the simple ways you can reduce energy consumption both in school and at home,” said student Maeve McEwen Purdue.

Get involved! Students Lead Real-world Change!

Wisconsin students are stepping up as leaders in sustainability through Renew Our Schools, a six-week energy conservation competition.

The competition is offered to Wisconsin K-12 public and private schools in the fall and spring of each year through a partnership between KEEP and Focus on Energy.

The competition awards points and prize money, but the true impact extends far beyond six weeks.

Students gain skills in critical thinking, collaboration, and civic responsibility while laying the groundwork for long-term energy awareness within the school community and beyond.

Learn More about Renew Our Schools!

One lasting achievement was the creation of a school energy policy, approved by all four assistant principals, ensuring student-led changes would continue beyond the competition.

Mauston High School: Alumni Division Champions

Mauston High School Environmental Science II students earned first place in the Alumni Division by completing all 43 available School Energy Actions (SEAs) and achieving 860 points, a perfect score within the competition framework.

Building on prior experience, Mauston students, under the guidance of educator Luke Heath, demonstrated a comprehensive and sustained commitment to energy conservation.

Their work included a school energy audit carried out by students, paired with extensive use of eGauge electricity data to analyze real-time and historical energy consumption patterns. Students examined how energy use changed by time of day, day of the week, and building activity, using their findings to guide both short term actions and long term planning.

“My favorite part was just working together to achieve awesome goals with my classmates and having fun at the same time," said student Riquan Lee.

Completing every SEA in the competition required consistent effort across technical learning, behavioral change, communication, and reflection. Students engaged deeply with energy systems, investigated building operations, and translated complex data into practical recommendations for their school community.

“The last time we did the competition (2 years ago), we made some significant changes to save energy," said Heath. "I was surprised this time that the students were able to find additional energy saving measures to again reduce energy use.”

Winning the Alumni Cohort illustrates how sustained participation can amplify student impact. Mauston students showed energy conservation is not a one-time project, but an evolving process that grows stronger as students build on previous learning and continue refining their approach.

Congratulations to spring Green Team Mini-Grant Recipients!

KEEP offers $300-$700 mini-grants to K-12 student groups in Wisconsin for energy-related projects to reduce the carbon footprint of their school community. Check out the grant recipients from the most recent funding cycle and don't forget to look for information about the next round of Green Team Mini-Grants in the fall!

Dodgeville High School Save the Rainforest Club

"We will purchase 68 smart plugs for the SMART boards and announcement TVs in our school district. Our goal in introducing smart power plugs to our school is to reduce 'phantom' energy for a majority of devices, such as SMART boards and TVs located around our school. These smart plugs will automatically turn off the devices, reducing electrical waste. This reduction will lower the amount of greenhouse gas emissions produced to power our school, resulting in energy and cost savings on a yearly basis."

Kettle Moraine High School ECO Club

"We are proposing lighting alternatives for smaller classrooms in our school that have no access to natural light. Instead of relying on the inefficient fluorescent lights in the ceiling, we plan on purchasing LED strip lights that will illuminate the room much more safely and effectively. We expect this change to lower our school’s carbon footprint, and to create a more comfortable environment for students to learn in."

Monona Grove High School Environmental Club

"The Monona Grove Environmental Club is planning to purchase 15 energy reducing power strips for the high school to place around the school in order to reduce unnecessary energy consumption. We plan to have these power strips in the computer rooms, library, and in other places of high energy consumption."

Onalaska High School KidWind Club

The team plans to build a solar house to compete in KidWind’s solar challenge and connect their project to the global need for solar. “Paraguay offers one of the most compelling real-world examples of solar adoption in the developing world. With more than 95% of rural households now connected to the national electrical grid — yet still facing unreliable service and high costs — thousands of Paraguayan families have turned to rooftop photovoltaic (PV) panels as a practical, affordable energy solution. This shift makes Paraguay an ideal case study for teaching solar energy concepts to students of all ages.”

Upcoming Professional Development Opportunities

In-person Offerings

• Building Science - Using Blower Door Technology in New Construction | Noon - 3:30 p.m., May 20, 2026 | Adams

• In partnership with WAEE, LEAF, GHS, and DPI - Science, Stories, Solutions: Teaching about Climate in Middle Grades | 9 a.m. - 3 p.m., July 28, 2026 | Baraboo

• Renewable Energy: Power Up with Solar PV! | 8:30 a.m. - noon, August 20, 2026 | Amherst

On-Demand Offerings

• Climate Education for Wisconsin – On-Demand

• Climate Education for Wisconsin – CERTIFICATE VERSION – On-Demand

• Energy Education: Concepts and Practices - Online Module

View KEEP's PD List

Attention CTE educators! Building Science - Using Blower Door Technology in New Construction

Register now for this free hands-on training to learn how to use a Blower Door to conduct air leakage testing in residential new construction.

Attending this training qualifies teachers to borrow the KEEP Blower Door Kit!

Date: Wednesday, May 20th

Time: Noon - 3:30 p.m.

Location: Adams-Friendship High School

Greetings from the Solar Olympics!

Every year, KEEP is proud to volunteer as judges for Wisconsin Public Service’s Solar Olympics, where high school teams from the WPS service area compete in challenges relating to solar energy: solar cookers, solar water heaters, solar cars, solar advertising campaigns, and solar themed art, sculpture, and photography. Today (5/6) is the day of the 2026 competition, and we can’t wait to share photos from the event with you next month. Best of luck to all the students competing today!

KidWind Worlds is coming to Madison this month!

As a reminder, even if you're not competing, if you'd like to bring a group of students to experience the 2026 World KidWind Challenge, email zella@kidwind.org to arrange a 2-hour time slot between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. May 18th or 19th. You can also come on your own after school (no reservation needed) to view wind turbines and solar homes, speak with student teams, and watch the wind tunnel and solar testing.

KEEP staff, who assist in judging the state challenge each year, are looking forward to volunteering at Worlds. Educators interested in volunteering at the event should email zella@kidwind.org for more information.

Other Upcoming Opportunities

KEEP Resource Specialist Gina Smith will lead a WAEE Lunch & Learn webinar session on May 12 focused on practical tips for remediating digital slideshows for accessibility.

Wisconsin Association of Agricultural Education (WAAE) Professional Development Conference is June 28-July 2 in Pewaukee. We hope you will join us at 1:15 p.m. on July 1 for our AgriSolar Innovations: Exploring the Dual-use of Land for Agriculture and Energy session.
CREATE is running a Solar Institute at Madison Area Technical College from July 7-9, and a Solar + Storage Institute at Madison Area Technical College from July 21-23. Both include hotel, two meals a day, a stipend, and equipment awards. To browse all upcoming CREATE energy workshops, visit their events page.

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The KEEP program is funded with generous support by Alliant Energy, Madison Gas and Electric, We Energies, Wisconsin Public Service, WPPI Energy, and Xcel Energy.

Published May 2026