Tips and Updates from the Team

  • Snohomish County PUD offering solar project grants

    Submitted by Ben on 03/10/10
    in

    Snohomish County PUD (PUD) and its Planet Power program are currently accepting applications for solar photovoltaic public demonstration project grants from non-profit and public organizations within their service territory. Snohomish County is located north of King County in northwestern Washington state.

    Click here to apply. If you have any questions regarding the grant application process, please email grants@b-e-f.org.

    Applications are due at or before 5:00pm (PST) on April 16, 2010.

  • Solar 4R Schools looks back on a great 2009, ahead to 2010

    Submitted by Ben on 01/11/10
    in

    The Solar 4R Schools program had a great and busy year in 2009. We'd like to thank all the teachers, students and funding partners who helped make it possible, and take a moment to look back before we look forward to 2010. Here's a short video we put together that shows where we've been. Enjoy!

  • Bertschi School students enjoy great breakfast!

    Submitted by Ben on 12/15/09
    in

     

    The students at Bertschi School in Seattle, WA enjoyed a great breakfast on Monday, thanks to their teacher, Julie Blystad, and our friends at [Me] & Goji custom artisanal cereal and Horizon Organics. Julie's name was picked out of a hat in October to win a tasty and nutritious breakfast for her classroom after filling out our survey and providing valuable feedback about our new Solar4RSchools.org web site.

    If you haven’t had an opportunity to check out the new site, please visit www.solar4rschools.org. We’ve added several new features including giving teacher and project champions the ability to add photos, videos and edit text on their home page. Teachers can also download activity guides straight from the new site and join the Teachers’ Lounge to discuss renewable energy education.

    Also, if all this learning about renewable energy makes you a little hungry, let us suggest a visit to me&goji.com and horizondairy.com. They have what it takes to charge you back up.

  • Champlain Valley celebrates Renewable Energy Day!

    Submitted by Ben on 11/13/09
    in

    Champlain Valley Union High School in Vermont celebrated renewable energy and their new 1 kW solar array on Nov 12.

    The local paper - The Burlington Free Press, did the following article on the day.

    And here are some great photos from the event:

    Thanks goes to funding partners Rossignol and Protect Our Winters and the great teachers at CVU!

     

  • Solar 4R Schools Program wins IREC award

    Submitted by Ben on 10/27/09
    in

    Hot off the heels of being honored with a Green Power Leadership Award as the country's Best Green Power Education Outreach Program, the program has won an Innovation award from IREC (Interstate Renewable Energy Council) this week in the K-12 category.

    Here's a link to the IREC Web site.

    Thanks to all our program partners and great teacher champions! This is a great honor for our program and a testiment to your hard work!

     

  • Dan Richards, Idaho teacher, wins second award

    Submitted by Ben on 10/26/09
    in

    Daniel Richards of Meadow Valley Schools in New Meadows, and member of the Solar 4R Schools program was recently honored for the second time this year for his good work as a science teacher.

    Richards was named the “GIANTS Middle School Teacher” by Idaho Governor C.L “Butch” Otter last month.

    Richards has also been honored as the environmental educator of the year.

    As a teacher and mentor, Mr. Richards has been brining an appreciation of science to his students and community for the past 28 years.

    Mr. Richards engages his entire community in science learning throughout the school year and in the summer. Students look forward to the annual week-long science trip they take with Mr. Richards to different ecological and geographical sites where they create podcasts, notebooks, and journals describing their experiences. Mr. Richards models the trip based on his own experiences from conducting hands-on research.

  • Julie Blystad Wins Breakfast For Her Classroom

    Submitted by Ben on 10/21/09

    Julie Blystad, a teacher at Bertschi School in Seattle, WA, had her name picked out of a hat on Tuesday to win a tasty and nutritious breakfast for her classroom from our friends at [Me] & Goji custom artisanal cereal and Horizon Organics.

    Julie won the award by filling out our survey and providing valuable feedback about our new Solar4RSchools.org web site. If you haven’t had an opportunity to check out the new site, please visit www.solar4rschools.org. We’ve added several new features including giving teacher and project champions the ability to add photos, videos and edit text on their home page. Teachers can also download activity guides straight from the new site and join the Teachers’ Lounge to discuss renewable energy education.

    Congratulations Julie! Expect an email shortly.

  • New School Year, New Look

    Submitted by Ben on 10/21/09

    Welcome to the new-look Solar 4R Schools program! As you can see, we’ve been busy around here giving our website and newsletter a facelift.  We’ve added several new features to our site at solar4rschools.org, including giving teacher and project champions the ability to add photos, videos and edit text on their home page. Teachers can also download activity guides straight from the new site and join the Teachers’ Lounge to discuss renewable energy education.

    This new site capped off a great year where we completed more than 50 projects; more than twice the number of projects than were completed just a year ago! These elementary, middle and high schools have a combined enrollment of more than 30,000 students, bringing the program totals to more than 130 projects complete across the nation with more than 50,000 students reached.

    Thank you for being a part of this growing program!

    Just as the number of projects increased in 2009, so too did the commitment of schools, teachers such as yourself and funders to make each installation a unique learning tool for their students.

     

    A couple of highlights:

  • Dave's Corner : This is How We Roll

    Submitted by Ben on 10/21/09
    in

    Off-Grid at a Seattle Middle School

    Christopher Dymond, renewable energy analyst for the Oregon Department of Energy often says, “You can’t have your renewable energy cookies until you eat your conservation vegetables”.  The value of installing renewable energy on one’s home or work place can be made dramatically cheaper by first understanding the energy loads in the space and investigating ways or reducing energy consumption first. Jessica Levine, a Solar 4R Schools teacher at Eckstein Middle School in Seattle, Washington takes that message to heart.  She bikes to school, rain or shine, parking her two wheel transporter underneath the white board at the front of her classroom. 

    Her commitment to sustainable living permeates the classroom space and she furthers her personal example of low impact teaching by posting mantras around the room that help to motivate students to relax, and remain present and mindful when making decisions.  Jessica is eating her conservation vegetables and helping her students develop a taste for them too.

  • La Pine Middle School Celebrates Solar

    Submitted by Ben on 10/09/09
    in

    The students, teachers and administrators at La Pine Middle School in La Pine, Oregon, celebrated their new solar installation on Oct. 7 and thanked the good folks at Wells Fargo bank who helped make it all possible.

    Students raced solar cars, demonstrated solar energy by powering a water pump and radio and cooked up a tasty batch of cinnamon rolls using their new solar oven.

    Here is a video of that great sunny day!

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For Students

Schools across the U.S. have solar installations and classroom activities. See what this month’s featured school is doing with theirs.

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Become a Funding Partner

Solar 4R Schools would be nowhere without our funders. See how their projects and learn more about how your organization can fund solar.

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For Teachers

This month's featured activity is Create Your Own Solar Oven. Use materials students have around the house to make solar ovens in class and cook snacks.

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