Chesterfield-Ruby Middle School in Chesterfield County School District is the second school in the Pee Dee to be selected to participate in the Green Power Solar Schools initiative, which is designed to encourage interest in the environment and demonstrate the feasibility and limitations of renewable power generation.
Green power is electricity generated by such renewable resources as solar and methane gas from decomposing garbage.
Lynches River Electric Cooperative and Santee Cooper recently announced the formation of the program in the cooperative’s service area.
“Lynches River Electric Cooperative is excited to be a partner in this solar project that provides our young people and community with real world tools that will spark imaginations and lead toward learning and innovation,” Edward S. Drozd, Lynches River Electric Cooperative president and chief executive officer, said in a press release. “These are our leaders of tomorrow and they face many energy challenges that this project will enable them to explore.”
Chesterfield-Ruby is the second school in the Pee Dee and is one of 20 schools in the state that will become Green Power Solar Schools.
Savannah Grove Elementary School in Florence School District 1 was selected to participate in the program last year. So far, 13 schools in the state have been chosen to be in the program.
Dr. Andrea L. Hampton, principal of Chesterfield-Ruby, said the program will target sixth-grade students at first and will run for the next five years.
“It goes right along with our sixth-grade standards,” Hampton said of the program. “It ties in beautifully.”
Meredith Ard, the school’s science teacher, will lead the program that will begin this school year, Hampton said.
She said she is hoping the school will be able to expand the program to other grade levels.
For being a part of the Green Power Solar Schools initiative, schools receive a 2-kilowatt solar power system, workbooks and other equipment to implement the program. Each solar power system will include an Internet-based monitoring system that provides real-time access to information regarding the system’s performance from any Internet-enabled computer. Teachers will be trained on all the equipment and will be provided with materials to use in the classroom.
Hampton said Ard will spend three days in training at Santee Cooper’s Wampee Conference Center in Pinopolis.
Green Power Solar Schools represents one way Santee Cooper and the state’s 20 electric cooperatives promote renewable energy, and it fulfills Santee Cooper’s commitment to reinvest Green Power funds back into renewable resources across South Carolina, according to a press release issued by Santee Cooper.
“Renewable energy exploration and conservation are important ways to help meet the growing electricity needs in our state,” Lonnie Carter, president and chief executive officer of Santee Cooper, said in a press release. “Green Power Solar Schools continues our environmental leadership and challenges the next generation to think differently about future energy sources.”
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement