Essex schools receive
solar grants
1/28/10
By Phyl Newbeck
For The Essex Reporter
Two local schools have been awarded federal grants of $50,000 for solar projects. The Edge Academy in Essex and the Essex Community Education Center in Essex Junction are two of 10 Vermont schools chosen by a panel created by the State Department of Education.
This isn’t the first time that Essex High School science teacher Scott Pennington has been instrumental in getting solar panels for the school. In 2009, he convinced the senior class to donate panels as their parting gift (an Essex High School tradition) to the school. Pleased with the results the initial panels were getting, Pennington decided to apply for a grant to augment the array. He spoke to other teachers and got commitments that they would use the panels as teaching tools to talk about the scientific theory and the economics of solar panels. Additionally, there are students at the Essex Technical Academy who are interested in learning about solar panel installation.
The high school and the technical center will benefit from the panels since there is one gas bill and one electric bill for the two combined. Pennington is preparing for the bidding process and expects that the schools will be choosing a vendor within the next few months. “We’re really excited and pleased that we were selected,” he said.
While the high school grant was drafted almost entirely by one person, the grant for the Edge Academy was a collaborative process. The Edge Academy in Essex is an experimental school within the Essex School District. This is the school’s inaugural year, serving 68 students in grades four through eight via multi-age, project-based education. According to Facilitator Lindsey Halman, the students help draft themes on which to design their curriculum. After a morning of more traditional schooling, they spend their afternoons working on projects. Since the current theme is a sustainable future, Halman said several students decided to focus their attention on alternative energy.
Eighth grader Nathan Watts said that during their discussions, he came up with the idea of installing solar panels on the roof of the school. “I didn’t actually think it would happen,” he admitted, “but a couple of the other students thought it was a great idea.”
Halman said the students presented their idea to the Essex Energy Committee which voted to support the project and suggested the students apply for a grant to make it a reality. The students researched grant proposals and made a presentation to the School Board. The final result is a 10 kWh panel that will be mounted on the roof.
Watts said the project was a difficult one because of the specific guidelines of the grant. He said the hardest part was getting information, because they often got sent from one person to another and back again. The next step will be sending out Requests for Proposals. Watts said this would be a new process for the students, but the Department of Education has offered to provide assistance.
“This grant validated why I teach,” Halman said. “This experience empowered our kids and has shown them that kids can make a difference in their community and world. They worked so hard on the grant process and whether or not they received the funding, the learning was invaluable. These are relevant, real world skills.”
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The Edge Academy goes solar
By Olivier Bishop-Mercier
Age 13
After a month of grant writing and almost an equally long time waiting, Nathan Watts, Rylee Wrenner, Chloe Lemmel-Hay, Vladik Suvorov, Seamus Sullivan, and Olivier Bishop-Mercier of the Edge Academy’s alternative energy project group are finally seeing their endeavors coming to fruition.
With the help of teacher and project director Lindsey Halman and Dr. Andy Watts, those six students have written a successful grant application to the Vermont Department of Education for the Solar in Schools grant, and were given $50,000 to buy and install solar panels on the roof of Essex Middle school.
A total of 10 Vermont schools were selected by the Vermont Department of Education to receive the grants as part of the statewide Solar in Schools competition. Sen. Bernie Sanders was able to secure these funds from the US Dept of Energy.
“This program is a major step forward in moving our state toward a greener economy which relies more and more on sustainable energy,” Sanders said.
On Tuesday Jan. 14, the students were informed of the fortunate news. “I was really, really excited because it was a lot of hard work writing the grant, and I’m really happy that we’re going to be able to put solar panels on top of the building,” said student Chloe Lemmel-Hay.
The students were not completely alone in their efforts, as they were supported by project facilitator and teacher, Lindsey Halman, and Dr. Andy Watts, a member of the Essex Energy Committee.
“A couple of years ago, I looked into putting solar panels on the top of the Essex Free library, unfortunately there were issues with the age of the building. I then joined the Essex Energy Committee and looked for different solar panel project opportunities, and when Nathan told me he was writing a grant to put solar panels on the middle school as part of his project, I offered to help,” explains Dr. Watts.
The students who wrote the grant also needed support from some different local groups and had to take into account the school district’s method for making purchases of over $15,000, which is a bidding system described in 16 V.S.A § 559. Public Bids.
To meet the requirements of the grant, the students met with Roger George, Director of Business and Financial Affairs of the district, to develop a project timeline for the grant, and to learn the process involved with making a large purchase.
The alternative energy group met with the Superintendent and School Board, as well as the Essex Energy Committee for signatures and a letter of support.
The process of writing a grant proved a lot to learn for the students, and they worked right up to the day the grant was due and delivered it 2 hours before it was due.
“The difficulties were helping the students understand the grant process, supporting the kids without doing it for them and guiding them to find the right resources to do the work themselves,” said project facilitator and teacher, Lindsey Halman.
“The student’s commitment to this project and the ability to see that they can make a difference in their community validates why I teach.”
The Edge Academy in Essex and Essex High School were among 10 Vermont schools to be awarded federal grants for solar projects. Pictured are members of the Edge Academy team. Front row, left to right, are: Chloe Lemmel-Hay, Olivier Bishop-Mercier, Rylee Wrenner; and back row, left to right, are Vladislav Suvorov, Seamus Sullivan, Nathan Watts. Click here for full story. Photo contributed