In coordination with Kids Get It™, PIOGA has awarded five Pennsylvania schools a total of $2,048 in grants to use for an energy-related project that students will design and implement. Applicants were teachers who attended a Kids Get It workshop sponsored by PIOGA. To qualify for the maximum $500 grant, applicants were asked to describe their project, including how the students would be involved, what results they are anticipating and how they will share the information with the community. Participating schools are asked to implement the ideas between January and June 2015.

The recipients of the grants are: Ambridge Junior High School (Ambridge), Holland Middle School (Holland), Penn Wood Middle School (Darby), East Lansdowne Elementary School (East Lansdowne) and DuBois Area Middle School (DuBois).

The Ambridge Junior High seventh and eighth grade honors science students will use their grant money to teach approximately 90 third-grade students for the second annual S.T.E.M. day at Economy Elementary this spring. Holland Middle School will be purchasing a FLIR ONE infrared accessory to document areas of heat loss around the school, followed by researching inexpensive ways to seal the gaps. Penn Wood Middle School’s goal for the students is to develop a Community Energy Night educating their families, friends and community about the importance of energy. East Lansdowne Elementary School students suggested a community night, similar to a science fair, to help educate their parents about energy. The students at DuBois Area Middle School plan to construct a solar panel and a wind turbine that will be attached to a LEGO robot, then predict which green energy will produce enough power to have the robot complete a repetitive task.

The Kids Get It program provides training to K-12 teachers in energy education so that they can help their students understand the various energy sources and ultimately enable them to make informed decisions about their energy choices and energy usage.

Learn more about the PIOGA Energy Education Program.