Earth Month is a chance to raise environmental awareness. For us here at KEEP, it is also a chance to celebrate some successes within the Energy Education community. This month we recognize our Green Team Mini-Grant recipients, as well as the winning teams form the recent KidWind Challenge. We're also opening up Energy Educator of the Year nominations so you can get in on the act by nominating an amazing Energy Educator near you. | |
Energy Educator of the Year - NOMINATIONS ARE OPEN! | |
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KEEP is looking for nominations for the Wisconsin Energy Educator of the Year Award. Nominate yourself or others for this award by October 25, 2024.
The award recognizes and rewards exemplary kindergarten through high school, formal and non-formal energy educators in Wisconsin who have made energy education a priority in their teaching and/or community outreach initiatives.
Awardees will be selected by a review panel and will receive $1,000 for their school and recognition at the WAEE Celebration of Excellence Awards Ceremony.
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This is the 16th year that KEEP has celebrated outstanding educators with the Energy Educator of the Year Awards. Explore the past 40 recipients from the award’s inception in 2009 until present. | |
ANNOUNCING - Green Team Mini-Grant Recipients | |
Congratulations to our latest round of Green Team Mini-Grant recipients! These teams will receive funding to implement projects with the goal of reducing their school’s carbon footprint. The winning teams and projects include, in their own words: | |
Central Sands “The Light of the Future" | |
This is a photo of the current lights. | |
Summary: The $350 we are asking for would go towards three 8-foot LED lights, drywall patching to cover screw holes from the previous light fixtures, a wire box, and three 5-foot plastic covers for the wires. Because the current lights and fixtures are very outdated and unsafe, they would not only make our room safer but they would also be 85% more efficient than our current lights. This means our electrical bill and carbon footprint would drop quite a bit. | |
School's Electric Utility Provider: Alliant Energy | |
Chippewa Falls “Green Team” | |
Project: Smart Strips for Hillcrest Elementary School | |
Summary: We intend to purchase twenty five energy saving power strips to be used in Hillcrest Elementary School. These devices will help Hillcrest save money and reduce the school’s carbon footprint. We estimate a $700 dollar savings in the first year! As per EPA calculations, this is equivalent to removing 7,400 lbs of CO2 in the atmosphere, every year. | |
School's Electric Utility Provider: Xcel Energy | |
Madison East “Madison East Green Club” | |
Project: Greenhouse Glow-Up | |
Summary: Our project will employ a composting system within our culinary arts program. We will collect the food scraps and other waste from the culinary room and then use those scraps to compost. The compost will create nutrient-rich soil to regrow plants. Growing the plants at the school greatly reduces the need to transport food to the school, therefore reducing the carbon released into the environment from gasoline-powered vehicles. | |
School's Electric Utility Provider: Madison Gas and Electric | |
North Crawford “Power Pinchers” | |
Project: Power Pinchers: Reducing Phantom Loads | We are the North Crawford Power Pinchers saving lots of Metric Tons of CO2 with our KEEP Grant 2024 | |
Summary: Our project aims to reduce electricity usage by examining phantom loads throughout our building and using smart power strips and outlets to reduce electricity. We will pinpoint appliances with the greatest electrical usage. We will work with staff and students to see what smart power strips work in different situations, and with the grant money, we will buy smart power strips and outlets that will turn off appliances to reduce our energy consumption and carbon footprint. take action, so consider inserting phrases like "for a limited time only" or "only 7 remaining!" | |
School's Electric Utility Provider: Alliant Energy | |
St. Catherine “Environmental Club” | |
Project: St. Catherine’s Composting Project | |
Summary: Here at St. Catherine’s, we are trying to reduce our carbon footprint, this begins in our school cafeteria where we see the need for composting bins. Our school goes through tons of waste and we would benefit from composting bins. | (Left) This is three out of the four lead members of this project working during lunch calculating how many metric tons of methane gas is produced at our school during the school year. | |
School's Electric Utility Provider: We Energies | |
Again, congratulations to all grant applicants and recipients. To learn more about KEEP's Green Team Mini-Grants and how your school's green team can apply during the next cycle, visit KEEP's website. | |
Professional Development Opportunities | | |
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Summer Institute for Climate Change - Registration is Open | |
Are you looking for a professional learning experience to rejuvenate you? KEEP is looking forward to co-leading the Summer Institute for Climate Change Education with Climate Generation, July 15-17 – a virtual conference full of powerful and engaging keynote speakers, meaningful discussion about the intersection of social justice and climate change, and collaborative conversations between a national network of climate change education leaders.
$250 Registration. Full scholarships available to Wisconsin Educators.
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Wisconsin KidWind Challenge Results | |
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Results are in from the seventh annual Wisconsin KidWind Challenge, held March 2 in Madison.
Winners, going to the Worlds Competition:
- Driftless Dynamos: Solar 1st Place (New Category!)
- Sugar Maple Tornados: 1st Place - Elementary Division
- Coulee Joules: 1st Place - Middle School Division
- Darlington TEHK: 2nd Place - Middle School Division
- Mauston SIGMA: 1st Place - High School Division
Special Award Winners
- Hartford Hawks White: Spirit of Wisconsin KidWind
- Riverdale: Best Instant Challenge
- Sugar Maple Helios: Innovation Award
KEEP congratulates all participants.
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Photo courtesy of Chelsea Mamott, Wisconsin Energy Institute | Read more about the KidWind competition from the Wisconsin Energy Institute team | |
Looking for a new kit to try out with your students? Borrow our Sand County Almanac Kit! Based around a classroom set of Aldo Leopold’s book of the same name, the kit also includes lessons and exploration cards to help engage students with their environment. | | |
Also take a look at our new and improved Energy Audit Take Home Kit! Now with infrared thermometers in addition to watt meters, this class set of 30 take home energy audit kits allows students to extend their energy explorations by analyzing the energy usage in their own home. | |
Careers in CVTC's Electric Distribution Program | |
Continuing our series spotlighting clean energy careers, share more about careers in Chippewa Valley Technical College's (CVTC) Electric Distribution Program with your students with a video and student sheet.
Or check out the entire series, plus additional resources, here.
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KEEP is funded by six utilities in Wisconsin - Alliant Energy, Madison Gas & Electric, We Energies, Wisconsin Public Service, WPPI Energy and Xcel Energy.
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Like other energy utilities in Wisconsin, Xcel Energy is investing both in generation of clean energy from renewable sources and in building awareness and opportunities about jobs and careers in energy.
Last fall, when Osseo-Fairchild High School teacher Joseph Phillips decided to hold a High School Energy Career Fair, Xcel stepped up as a sponsor. Slipstream helped coordinate the logistics. KEEP and CESA 10 provided energy education consultation.
The event recruited 16 energy industry partners who engaged nearly 200 students from 17 high schools in various aspects of energy careers.
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Students learned about topics included in the DPI Energy Career Pathway. Learning stations included electric vehicle demonstrations, building energy modeling, wind turbine building and testing, solar and battery storage demonstration, hands-on practice with energy distribution at the Wisconsin Energy Workforce Consortium Mobile Learning Lab, and several other experiences.
Not only did the students benefit from the event, but their teachers also learned about the fast-changing field of energy careers.
“I enjoyed everything we were able to experience at this event. It was a great opportunity to see what other [school] districts are doing and how the world is changing to meet new clean energy goals,” said an attendee in a post-event survey.
Xcel Energy and Wisconsin Public Service are sponsoring High School Energy Career Fairs in the next school year in their respective service areas. KEEP looks forward to continuing its support of these and other career fairs to increase awareness of energy career opportunities.
If you’d you would like to learn more about these events and possibly attend with your class, please email Dave Vigliotta, Slipstream's Director of Partnership Development, at dvigliotta@slipstreaminc.org.
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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. | | | | |
