Energy Education - Energy Conservation - Energy Efficiency

Transcription

1 Project: NEED Energy Awareness School: Fayette Academy Head Sponsors: Donna Burrus, Melissa Norwood, Terri Reeves The Fayette Academy Ecology Club is a close knit group of high schoolers who recognize the energy challenge the world is facing. Doing right by the planet isn t just important to us; it influences the decisions we make. Using everything we have learned from NEED programs, we strive to educate our school, community and families. Not only has NEED inspired us to help others see their energy used in a new light, but it has also helped us to understand the meaning of environmental stewardship. Every member of our group provides youth leadership in the execution of the activities outlined below. We establish specific committees to create objectives to accomplish the tasks at hand utilizing each member s talents ensuring the successful execution of our goals. Our NEED Team consists of 51 high school students that have logged over 3,500 hours of service this year. Our greatest accomplishment is the fact that our 9 years with NEED culminated with our school board asking us to use our expertise in the energy field collaborating with our school Building Committee to evaluate a campus-wide LED Retrofit. This gave us the opportunity to use our skills by participating in citizen-science projects. From our NEED Learning and Conserving Energy Audit in 2007, to the board passing an energy policy in 2008, we have spent hundreds of thousands of hours reaching millions about energy, energy conservation and energy efficiency. This retrofit helps us save over 500,000 kwh of electricity annually and $2.2 million over the 20 year life of the 100,000 hour LED Bulbs. We continue to rely on NEED materials as we reach out to our community regularly. Furthermore, the Biology Lab conducted eight NEED lessons using pre/post surveys to evaluate effectiveness in grades K-12. We have also tracked our campus electrical bills since 2007, which will help evaluate the LED retrofit using data comparison. We were featured in the Tennessee Conservationist and have been invited to present numerous state conference presentations. Declaring 2016 the Year of the Garden, our members have worked tirelessly to provide our fellow students a place to learn about energy in the environment in our outdoor classroom. Finally, we mentored two elementary classes for the year while maintaining 1.7 tons of recycled materials including a recycled mural for all to see. Energy Education - Energy Conservation - Energy Efficiency

2 Goal #1 Building the NEED Team We love our annual retreat at Brandon Springs Environmental Learning Center at the national park, Land Between the Lakes! Conducting team building exercises and planning our monthly bonding experiences, we celebrate our successes and build a stronger team. We use this time to establish annual NEED goals. Club members participate in water quality studies using macroinvertebrate as environmental indicators. We learn important survival skills and enjoyed outdoor activities like canoeing. We participate in the Challenging Outdoor Personal Experience (COPE). We use NEED lessons to educate ourself about energy. Student leadership establishes activities, gathers materials, and conducts post evaluation of retreat. This year the retreat received an overall rating of 4.8 out of 5.

3 Goal #2 To Work Hand-in-Hand with Our School Board Building Committee, Securing and Promoting Campus-Wide LED Lighting Upgrades Here are the pages from the Board Presentation Proposal Comparison booklet we presented the school board. The Fayette Academy Board Building Committee Chairmen approached the NEED team asking for our help. The chairman acknowledged our nine years of work with NEED, energy audit and energy policy. They wanted the team to be involved in the process of seeking LED Retrofit submissions, finding funding, and evaluating the companies. We presented our data to the full school board. It was an evening to remember. We met with two companies numerous times NEED provided us the background knowledge necessary to effectively evaluate the two very different proposals. Foot candles, lumens, kilowatts, kilowatt hours and more were important during this process. This campus LED lighting program will save our school 2.2 million dollars over the 100,000 hour life of the new LED bulb which will last for at least 20 years! All team members voted to forward this unanimous recommendation. LED professionals came to our team meeting and educated us about the latest LED technologies. He brought a sample of the new LED bulb which will replace the old T12 bulbs.

4 Our 9 Year NEED Journey Inspired Our LED Campus Upgrade Annual Community Outreach Float 1st Place 2009 Established School and County Recycling County Board Meeting 2008 School Energy Policy Passed NEED Campus Energy Audit Distributed 650 trees NASCAR Sponsors Us Gym Lights Replaced TV5 Visits 2016 School Board Approves LED Retrofit 2015 Membership Grows from 33 to Annual Community Outreach 2013 Party for the Planet Established 2012 Sponsor instructs at state Energy Camp for Teachers 2011 UT Good Sports Recycle Award EED

5 Look What is Coming! Board Votes for Campus-Wide LED Lighting Retrofit Ecology Club Makes LED Board Presentation Nine Years with NEED Pays Off BIG - Look What We Did! Campus-Wide LED Lighting Upgrade Reduces Energy Consumption By 77%. It will save over 500,000 kilowatts annually! Here are a few slides from our Keynote presentation before the school board They said YES!!!

6 Goal #3 Three Community-Wide Festivals for the Entire Family Using NEED s Energy Education Guides. NEED Energy Carnival Teaches Community About Energy We taught over 90 families in our community about the importance of energy at our NEED energy carnival. Everyone learned about different forms of energy, conserving energy, energy efficiency along with energy supply and demand. We gathered supplies, made the games, and worked the stations. The kids enjoyed the NEED Energy Carnival games; Energy Bingo, Energy Jumble, Energy Taboo, Energy Knockdown, Wheel of Energy, Energy Sleuth, Energy Pursuit, along with Energy Bucks and Energy Coupons for prizes. Anna and Elsa from the movie Frozen were there too!

7 Community Outreach Public Relations Reached Hundreds of Thousands Through Newspaper and Magazine Articles, Festivals, and More. 50K Tree Day Harvest Festival We distributed 268 trees that will each remove a ton of CO2 from the atmosphere in its lifetime! Club seniors added our state tree and a Red Bud Tree to the outdoor classroom we maintain. Club volunteers dressed up to encourage over 200 participants join in our hands-on activities. Members cooked hot dogs, chili, and warm cider.

8 Bulletin Board in High School We raised funds and collected donations providing 1,800 meals for the hungry families in our community. We sold Hunger Sucks suckers at basketball and football games. Local hunters donated venison to our county food banks. Our NEED Team Placed 3rd in the State for our Hunter's for the Hungry Project! We donated $250 to our local zoo s new exhibit and will have our team name engraved on the entrance wall. We will attend the private preview party next week.

9 Goal #4 We Help Educate Children by Teaching Them What We Have Learned from NEED Elementary Zoo Trip We taught children about the role of energy in an animal s life. Mentoring the young builds relationships with NEED s future leaders.

10 NEED Energy Lessons at School We learned about the importance of insulation on heat transfer. Developed Website Teaching Elementary to Be a Building Buddy We developed a website over the summer that highlights all of our work. Please visit donnaburrus.wix.com/faecologyclub and check out our NEED page shown above!

11 Car Decal Ecology Club Year of the Garden Yard Sign Energy is everywhere, from the smallest organism on Earth to the largest star in the universe! We were notified that we have been selected for the only educational grant from the Herb Society of America for We will plant herbs in the outdoor Recycle Collection Bin classroom s raised beds to share with our families and school cafeteria. Our Mural Plan Our Outdoor Recycle Mural Under Construction on The Garden Shed Our NEED team has created an outdoor classroom garden to show the importance of energy. The NEED team s outdoor garden s mission is to provide every student the opportunity to foster an attitude of stewardship and discovery of living things through the use of our senses, observations, and experimentation. HS Bulletin Board

12 Goal #5 Collect 1.7 Tons of Recycling 1.7 tons of recycling in one year! We make energy bugs from recycled plastic caps to use as favors and rewards. Recycling 1.7 tons of paper will save 11,900 gallons of water. Recycling paper uses 60% less energy. We conduct weekly paper recycling collection.

13 Our Partners

14 NEED Team Student Leadership We set our own annual goals and objectives. We focus on fun, hand-on learning and use our creative skills to make learning exciting. We set our weekly meeting agenda during weekly officer meetings. Our club has grown from 32 to over 51 members. We learn how to be leaders and make a difference in our school and community. We established the following committees this year: Policy, Annual Retreat/Monthly Team- Building, Community Outreach, Budget Committee, Membership/Recruitment, Garden/Outdoor Classroom, Education, Public Relations. Each committee established their own objectives for the year and was responsible for all aspects of their project including scheduling workers, purchasing materials, producing needed signs, writing newspaper articles, evaluating results, etc. We write school announcements that are read in the morning promoting events, successes and welcoming outside volunteers. We make community and conference presentations as our schedules allow. We conducted four Garden Work Days to ensure the sustainability of the outdoor classroom. We help write grants to fund projects identified. We select and conduct fundraisers to fund projects. We mentor elementary classes each year building relationships with elementary children ensuring the future of our NEED team. We work with the lab at school gathering needed supplies to conduct experiments. We keep the high school bulletin board up to date to promote projects and events. We set our annual calendar in May to insure time over the summer to plan and prepare.

15 Resources From NEED NEED.org Curriculum Guides Used Elementary, Intermediate and Secondary Energy Games and Icebreakers Energy on Stage Secondary Energy Poll Exploring Nuclear Energy Wind Energy Photovoltaics Fossil Fuel to Products Learn and Conserving Museum of Solid Waste and Energy NEED Songbook Plug Loads Saving Energy at Home and School Secondary Science of Energy Digital Energy Youth Awards Program Guide Elementary Energy Info Activities