Story written by Glen Kizer

PG&E has 100 solar school installations either completely in or being installed as I type this and I decided it was a good time to take a tour of some of the schools south of the Bay Area in order to connect with some new principals and to visit some of the newly installed systems.  At first, I dreaded the long drive, but by the time I pulled out of Pescadero I felt energized.  Here is a personal diary of my trip.  I apologize for interjecting myself into this story, but I couldn’t help myself.  Later, students at each of these schools will write their own blog story so this is kind of my introduction to those blogs that are yet to be written.

Salinas

I love Salinas.  It is a wonderful place.  Everywhere you look there are enormous farms where almost any kind of food is grown.  It is known as the “Romaine Lettuce Capital of the World,” but I saw lots of other things being grown in these huge fields.  Everything is laid out in this huge valley with hills on both sides and this lush agricultural empire covering the valley in all directions.  It is a beautiful sight to see.

The PG&E Solar School in Salinas is appropriately enough inside a garden behind the Monterey Park Elementary School.  It was one of the first schools in the PG&E program.  Chris Banks is the principal and she was the principal at the time the installation was completed in 2005.

Monterey Park Elementary School includes grades k-6 and houses 566 students and 24 teachers.  100% of the teachers have their full credentials.  The average teacher experience level is 20 years!

Gilroy

A half hour north of Salinas I came upon the City of Gilroy, California.  Gilroy is great.  It is the “Garlic Capital of the World” and everywhere you go there are signs and pictures of garlic.  The solar installation there is one of the 2007-2008 schools.

James Maxwell is the principal and Rob Mendiola is the key contact for us on the district level.  Mr. Mendiola coordinated the installation.

The Gilroy High School campus is huge.  It is Grades 9-12, but there are more than 2,500 students on this one campus.

School has not yet started for the Fall, 2008 session so everyone was running around getting everything ready.  One of the young women from the soccer team was there with her mother, Katherine McBride, who is a local realtor with Coldwell Banker and they agreed to pose for a picture in front of the solar panels.  Thanks guys.

Watsonville

Leaving Gilroy I went over the hill on the 128 to Watsonville.  Watsonville is a wonderful place.  The cities in the valley base a large amount of their economic life on farming.  Cities on the coast base a lot of their economic livelihood on tourists, fishing, and boating.  Watsonville has it all.  It is on the Pacific Ocean and there are people who are connected directly to the water, but there are huge farms.   I even followed one of the trucks loaded with something, but I could never get close enough to get out of my car to ask the driver what was in the boxes.  (Is it illegal to take pictures while driving?)

The PG&E Solar School in Watsonville is Ohlone Elementary and like Monterey Park in Salinas it was installed in 2005.  Unlike Monterey Park, Ohlone has a different principal now than when the installation was originally completed.  The Principal at Ohlone is Gloria Miranda and I have included a picture here that I took in her office.

There are 437 students in the k-5 Ohlone school.  It is a wonderful school and a beautiful campus.  All of the teachers are so nice.  When I first got there, Gloria was walking around the campus and I went out to find her.  As I walked around the buildings, teachers kept volunteering to help me find her.   They were so busy trying to get ready for the students coming back to school this month and yet they went out of their way to try and help me.

But the most interesting thing about my visit was the farm directly across from the school.  It was an unusual plant growing for what looked like miles so I asked what was the plant growing there.  The answer surprised me.  Artichokes!  For the first time in my life I was up close and I almost touched a growing artichoke plant.

(I only touch vegetables with a fork.)

Seaside

Down south on CA-1 just a few miles is a cluster of three beautiful communities on Monterey Bay.  The largest of these three communities is Monterey which has a huge waterfront and a fantastic aquarium.  The smallest city is Sand City.  I stopped in Sand City to buy a Diet Coke and there is sand everywhere.  The final city is Seaside where the PG&E Solar Schools Program has a “solar on a stick” installation at Highland Elementary.  It is in the Monterey Peninsula Unified School District.  The students are “The Superstars!”

Highland has a new principal, Ms Taffra Purnsely, and the day I was at the school was also the first day of class.  The phones went out and the web site was overloaded and was failing to load.  But everyone seemed calm even with all of the “first day back at school” gyrations.  The school administration seemed to take everything in stride.

The school consists of grades k-5 and has 437 students.

Santa Cruz

Driving back up CA-1 and past those artichoke farms in front of Ohlone Elementary in Watsonville, I came to De LaVeaga Elementary in the ocean front community of Santa Cruz, California.  De LaVeaga consists of k-5 classes and has 577 students.  De LaVeaga also has a new principal, Ms Ruth Smith.  De LaVeaga is another of the 2004-2005 schools in the first round of the PG&E Solar Schools Program.

What I love about this solar school project is the way they had the installation sited in their school garden.  It is a beautiful setting, but they are serious about their garden.  Many of the PG&E “solar on a stick” installations have gone into gardens according to teachers because “the plants reach up to grab the sunlight in order to grow in the same way that the PV panels reach out to capture sunlight in order to generate electricity.”  This one is a particularly nice one.

Pescadero

Continuing north up the CA-1 (I did stop at the University of California at Santa Cruz which is one of the most beautiful campuses I have ever seen.  There are redwood trees and some of the buildings are very contemporary and the entire campus overlooks the same Monterey Bay.), I drove by some of my favorite parts of California and I love California.  Driving along the coast to Pescadero, there are waves crashing onto beaches and rocks and there was a fantastic blue sky and a whole lot of sun.

The school is technically an elementary + middle school combined to be the Pescadero Elementary and Middle School with 195 total students.  Patty Able is the principal and I took a picture of her at her desk and I have included it here.

My favorite story of the day took place in Pescadero.  I stopped for a Diet Coke at a restaurant in downtown Pescadero.  I was not 100% sure how to get to the school so I asked some young women at a booth in the restaurant if they knew where the elementary school was located.  They said “Go down this street and turn right.  You can’t miss it.  There is a huge solar array on a pole in front of the school.”

We had become a landmark.  Later as I drove away after meeting with Ms Able, I saw the young ladies walking down the street and they all waved to me like they were glad they could help.  Pescadero is a small town 5 minutes from the Pacific Ocean and yet the nice small town people could be living in Ohio or Illinois or Texas.  I love big cities and there is a lot to do in San Francisco and Oakland and San Jose, but those big hearted small town people are hard to beat.

And that was my entire trip.

 

Story written by Katie Kizer

Skokie school district 73.5 began its venture down the energy conservation path just as many other institutions do: retrofitting buildings in order to make its facilities just a bit more efficient.  What this entails is a process in which small adjustments are made to the buildings in order to lessen the daily energy use.  Specifically, District 73.5 installed motion sensors in its three schools within the more common areas to ensure that the lights come on only when individuals are present.  What subsequently took place for the three schools in this Skokie school district is unique in the face of renewable energy trends.  In 2006, both the school board and administrators decided to go forward with a program to install not only motion sensors, but also a “green/planted roof and a thermal solar panel system” on McCracken Middle School says Steve Ruelli, Director of Buildings and Grounds.

After going forward with this energy conservation plan, Mr. Ruelli began to educate himself about the available renewable energy options for the District.  What he learned was that renewable energies serve as invaluable learning tools to the students, in addition to saving money.  What is imperative to emphasize is that this movement began with the intent to save money, and discovered some very cool ways to also help out the planet.  This is a unique sequence of events.  Often times, people begin to feel guilty about the many CNN headlines entitled, “Our Earth in Peril” and begin to entertain the idea of alternative forms of energy and conservation.  After the decision has been made to pursue these alternatives, environmentalists tend to step in and outline the many ways in which institutions can actually save money through this process.  What Steve Ruelli and others from District 73.5 did was pursue these methods because they save money and they are good for the environment.  No convincing needed there.  All that is left is to carry out the project and pass on the success story.   

There are many ways to pass on this knowledge, including the education of all generations about the value of the sun’s power.  On a site visit in Skokie with my father, Glen Kizer, and Mr. Ruelli, I was able to witness the torch being passed on to the upcoming generation.  Jana Jones, Environmental Education K-12 Program Manager of the Marketing & Environmental Programs at ComEd, came out to McCracken to view the installation and discuss the nature of the project.  She brought her son, Hayden, with her to learn a little something about solar.  While he and I shared the same feeling that it was rather early to be out of bed and talking science, his interest was nothing but perked by this invention.  What Hayden and I will one day have in common is that he too will be sitting around with his friends in a class and he will be one of the only kids to have seen a solar installation at such a young age.  I should know, because much of my childhood was laced with tours of green schools and other energy-related projects.  I have memories of, for example, planting trees when I was still in the single digits.  These steps taken by parents like my father and Jana Jones will lead to at least a conviction that we must protect our environment.  While I did not understand this when I was Hayden’s age, I am now incredibly grateful that I was lucky enough to have those experiences.

Mr. Ruelli researched grants available, applied, and was awarded assistance.  Though it is not quite as easy as the snap of one’s fingers, the process of writing a proposal, applying for grants, and carrying out the project is something that any individual with a little motivation and persistence can carry out.  Steve Ruelli proves this through his experiences.  District 73.5 now has a new solar PV system, which is helping to supplement some of the schools’ energy use.  

While this is an excellent jumping off point for these teachers, students, and community, Mr. Ruelli expresses his wish “for a bigger system that could power more mechanicals.”  What is fantastic about this desire is that we only have potential advancement in our future as a society, or as many would say, ‘no where to go but up’ and these systems will only get bigger.  These projects are not designed to replace entire fossil fuel usage; they are intended to demonstrate the capability of renewable energies.  As a university student in Chicago, I have seen firsthand how those who run utility systems are not comfortable with initiating major projects up front without having witnessed the successful results.  And why should they be?  We have burned fossil fuels since the Industrial Revolution, and to rapidly change this tradition is a scary thing.  District 73.5 has the appropriate mentality in that it has installed a smaller end system that can open the door for future grants and funding for a larger system.  Once an institution has evidence of both economic and energy savings, there is more of an opportunity to add on to such projects.  This District is even ahead of the curve in that it is already aware that there are both economic and energy savings with these projects.  Not only do the fine individuals within this District know these facts without any needed convincing, they are craving more.  Steve describes the sentiment upon the completion of this project.  “I really like our system and can’t wait till the students, staff and community are all able to view this at or new addition dedication.”

Story written by Katie Kizer

One of the most basic relationships in our world is that of a garden and its photosynthetic bond with the sun. Recently, the sun and its blooming kin have taken on an entirely new purpose at St. Monica Academy in Chicago: to power. The Chicago Botanic Garden has joined forces with this flagship school to introduce an initiative to create an entirely green curriculum at St. Monica’s, including a solar installation. St. Monica owes its “Academy” classification to this alliance, as it was awarded by the Archdiocese of Chicago for a “ground-breaking educational initiative,” otherwise known as SEEDS, Student Environmental Education and Development Studies. Developed by the Chicago Botanic Garden and implemented by St. Monica’s, SEEDS is a unique curriculum designed to incorporate “environmental, project-based studies throughout all subjects and grades.” In other words, lesson plans of varying subjects are infused with environmental science and green awareness; a movement that is light-years ahead of its sister schools.

The solar project at St. Monica Academy was also made possible with the assistance of Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation, Commonwealth Edison, NEED, and the Foundation for Environmental Education. It is a 1 KW solar PV installation on the roof, and it is used to supplement some of the daily energy use. The bonus of these solar installations is that not only are they providing surrounding communities with a positive example of how to utilize green technologies, but the children within the school are growing up with these lessons about renewable energies. They are able to be a part of something that many grown-ups in our world will never experience: watching the actual process in which a solar photovoltaic array captures sunlight and brings it into the classroom. I am confident that I can speak on behalf of all my 21 year-old peers when I say that this experience is way cooler than any build-it-yourself battery project that we ever conducted in junior high science class.

Solar energy is not the only positive contribution that St. Monica’s has made to our Mother Earth. The school is also actively redesigning much of its campus in more efficient and renewable ways. This includes replacing the black pavement with pervious or high albedo pavement, which will allow for less storm water runoff and air conditioning use. This is because of the lightweight nature of the new pavement and its ability to lower surrounding temperatures. St. Monica also plans to plant an extensive amount of new vegetation on the grounds, everywhere from the play areas to sidewalks and the new “Green Roof” which also reduces storm water runoff and increases insulation of the building. The school will also be constructing two new greenhouses, an urban farm within which the students can interact and participate, a native habitat area where wildlife can flourish and individuals can learn about these processes, and many more exciting developments.

The Chicago Botanic Garden played such a critical role in the “greening” of St. Monica both in regards to the physical campus and in the classroom. In fact, none of this would have been possible without the organization’s contribution. The SEEDS curriculum is revolutionary for a private school such as St. Monica, as it is acting as a pilot school for future possible green schools within the Archdiocese of Chicago. Sophia Siskel, the President and CEO of the Chicago Botanic Garden, hopes that SEEDS “provides inspiration and guidance for schools throughout the Archdiocese and beyond.” Additionally, a woman named Anna Viertel of the Chicago Botanic Garden discusses the benefits of the SEEDS curriculum and accompanying ‘green’ renovations. “Time spent working in the school’s gardens and greenhouses will cultivate practical, vocational skills to enrich students’ lives and the lives of their families and communities. By creating an awareness of the world they will inherit, we are preparing them to succeed in it.”

My experiences in writing stories about these projects always differ depending on the level of excitement on behalf of the people involved. After all, such excitement is contagious when you’re talking about such inventive technology. When I conducted my first interview for this piece with a woman named Elaine Harrison, Director of Communications, I was reminded how important this work truly is. I was moved by Elaine’s incredible passion about her work and the great progress that St. Monica has made. She and the rest of the hardworking faculty at St. Monica have such enthusiasm for making the world a better place that I have walked away with a greater sense of self-efficacy and the confidence that this generation will continue to promote green technology into the future.

The National Energy Education Development Project (NEED) has a motto – “kids teaching kids.” In June, this motto was changed to “kids teaching teachers.” John Atkins, principal of Botany Bay Environmental School in Sydney, Australia visited the United States in an effort to learn more about sustainability and “green” education in the US. Chris Graillent from the California Department of Energy was instrumental in connecting Mr. Atkins to contacts in the “states.” Evergreen 6, a PG&E Solar School in Paradise California, was just one of several stops he made. As part of Paradise Intermediate School, Evergreen 6 has about 90 sixth graders that have learned several ways to reduce their impacts on the environment and to share those ways with others.

As they did for several classes of third graders, E6 students shared their knowledge about a number of topics with Mr. Atkins:

• Facts about our sun
• Sunscreen facts and rules for application
• Solar cooking
• The role solar cooking could play in many parts of the world that have energy shortages
• Rain water harvesting
• Composting with worms (vermicomposting)
• Composting by pile (thermocomposting)
• Solar energy today and tomorrow
• Hydrogen Fuel Cell cars (model)
• Alternative transportation (Hybrids, electrics)
• Various grants received (PG&E Solar Installation, PG&E “Bright Ideas,” Paradise Community Foundation Recycling/Composting grant, California Schools Garden grant)
• Parts of a solar system
• Solar orientation
• Fresnel lens
• Net metering

Mr. Atkins was an outstanding “student” and was very generous in his questions and interest. Evergreen 6 students were lucky enough to spend a few hours talking about and questioning how things are different (and the same) in Australia. Then they were treated to a slide show on the Botany Bay Environmental School and some of their outings.

Students were surprised to find out that one rule, at this school in Australia, is that you may not participate in outside recess without a hat – it is compulsory. In the United States, hats have actually been banned from many schools for a number of reasons. However, when you think about what hats and sunscreen can prevent, it seems obvious to require hats outside.

If being able to spend the morning with this fantastic teacher from Oz wasn’t enough, Mr. Atkins presented the school with a boomerang, and personal lessons on how to throw one. After that, he was into his hybrid rental and off to another school visit.

The students and staff of Evergreen really felt fortunate for the visit. We felt validated that what we are doing is unique and worthwhile. We also learned so much from our virtual field trip to Australia. Now if we can just figure out how to take a trip down there….

Story by Alex Kizer, photos courtesy of Sidwell Friends School

It is nearly impossible to look at the Sidwell Friends Middle School, located in Washington, DC, and not mistake your location for something closer to the Smithsonian. But the Middle School, completed in 2006, would have a tough time finding an appropriate exhibit, even at the Smithsonian’s 19 compounds: it’s not Deco, it is not exactly Contemporary. The building’s structure embodies art in a more utilitarian fashion, bringing together beauty and energy efficiency that is unprecedented and merits an exhibit all by itself.

Enter the Sidwell Friends School: the building was constructed from mostly recycled materials, which is unbelievable considering its modern vibes. The facade, for example, is made from regionally manufactured recycled wine casks.  Walking close to the building I am reminded of a quality last seen from Frank Lloyd Wright. Layered beneath the recycled outer structure is a deep-set wall of windows that provides the school with natural day lighting, which helped the building become the first K-12 school in the United States to have an LEED Platinum rating by the US Green Building Council, in March 2007.

While the aesthetic is pleasing it is all but dwarfed by the Green Building’s capabilities: It uses 60% less energy, thanks to its passive solar design which includes natural shading, day lighting and occupancy sensors and photo sensors. Out of its total water use, only 7% of it comes from DC’s supply, as the Green School treats sewage in their on-site wetlands (yeah, it even has on-site wetlands - see the picture below!); 78% of the building materials were manufactured nearby to minimize energy lost in transportation costs; 5% of electricity is sun-generated; and 60% of the waste generated during construction was diverted from landfills and recycled. Sidwell embodies a splendor that can be appreciated through the eyes as well as through the cerebrum.

To match the school’s physical prowess, Sidwell Friends has a website specially designed for the Green School. It is a multimedia dissection of the building’s many energy efficient components: the biology pond, solar chimneys, reflective roof, and PV panels and vertical solar fins. By clicking on any of the various components, the viewer can listen to students’ testimony and check to see how much output (or input) each faculty is providing.

One of the students, Tony, provides a tutorial on the Low-e windows. He says: “The glass in the low energy windows allows daylight in while deflecting heat. There are actually two panes in each window and in between them there is argon gas, which also helps to deflect heat.”

Felling kind of lost, I had to admit that I had never heard of argon gas before young Tony told me about it. I didn’t know that it is on the periodic table as Ar, and that it has a very low thermal conductivity, which is why it is great for thermal insulation. I understand that Tony was just reading from a script, but still, I felt uneasy that a boy that young knew something that I had never even heard of. Somehow, he was better informed.

When I was walking out of Sidwell, the DC sun was melting into the horizon and painting a golden streak across the face of the School I have since begun to call the “Super School.” I stopped in front of the building, trying to take in all that the Green Middle School has to offer, when I realized that it isn’t the building that is going to save the planet, it is kids like Tony; it is the future generations who are going to take all that Sidwell Middle School has to offer and make our planet a safer and more habitable place. And as long as we’re teaching the Tonys out there the beauty of invention and the importance of looking after the future, then I’ll learn to live with the fact that there are people out there that might know (a little) more than I do.

By Katie Kizer, intern at the Foundation for Environmental Education

The saying, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” may need to be revised to something along the lines of, “If it ain’t broke, that doesn’t mean we can’t make it better” at St. Rita of Cascia High, a college preparatory school for young men located on Chicago’s South Side. The school has been actively working towards advancing its technology within classrooms.  They are working to create a state of the art science wing which will allow for more fruitful learning, including the incorporation of solar PV panels.  A project to install a 1 kW system at St. Rita was recently completed and will allow for faculty members such as Sue Krystof to design classroom lessons around observation of the solar collectors and data collection.  She teaches courses ranging from AP Chemistry to both regular and Honors Physics.  Sue explains how she is going to have her class “hook up to get data so we could measure temperature changes and to monitor the efficiency of the solar collectors.  Then each class would take a week to collect the data.”  It is an exciting development when a science class can not only witness such advanced technology, but interact and learn from it.

Assistant Principal Joe Partacz comments about the school’s outlook on modernization and the motivations behind the solar project. “We at St. Rita feel that we have to stay ahead of the curve technologically in order to give our students the best education possible.  Our faculty is excited about the new beginnings in our science department and we look forward to using the panels this coming school year.”  This mentality fits in nicely with the goal of preparing these young men for higher learning.  The school prides itself on the fact that “students placed in the Academic Program receive the highest quality college preparatory curriculum offered by any high school.”  Additionally, the school has an honors program option for exceptional students who also absorb the benefits of this fine education.  The solar installation has added another dimension to this advanced educational facility.

In addition to the solar PV panels, Assistant Principal Partacz discusses how St. Rita has been “totally gutting out and remodeling our Chemistry labs to make them more state of the art. The new labs with the addition of the solar panels will give our students a better understanding in the field of science.”  All of these changes have resulted in turning a new page in regards to educating the young men about science, an exciting development for the staff at St. Rita High.

We live in a country where our school systems are not standardized, and often our children do not experience new-age technology such as solar installations, so this project is a unique opportunity for the students.  My hope is that when they graduate and move on to their next chapter, they take with them the lessons they have explicitly learned through these science classes and other subjects.  Aside from the ins and outs of energy efficiency, these kids should take with them the knowledge that not all students in the United States are able to learn in such a state-of-the-art environment.  Alumni of St. Rita can one day fight for the opportunity for all children to filter into schools with better resources.  The solar PV panels at St. Rita High are more than a simple modernization tactic: they represent a beacon of awareness for future projects.  We must scoop up both under-funded private schools and the public school districts which fall through the cracks of lower-income neighborhoods and find a way for all children to learn about going green.  St. Rita’s project allows us to stop and remember those who are less fortunate and take it upon the bright and eager young ones of this south side Chicago school to bring all American schools into the new age.