HSE Schools’ Awarded for Energy Education
Hamilton Southeastern and Fishers High Schools were selected as the Indiana School of the Year by the NEED Project.
The National Energy Education Development (NEED) Project has selected Hamilton Southeastern High School and Fishers High School as its Indiana School of the Year for its student-driven energy education project: Synergy with Energy.
Over the course of several months, Dan Mach of Fishers High School and Courtney Lawhead of Hamilton Southeastern High School collaborated with their students on a range of energy-related initiatives. The projects were inspired by a presentation delivered by Svitalan Ramer, a Ukraine-born resident of the United States, who spoke to students during visit earlier this year on how energy is not just a source of power, but how it plays a significant role in political power. The students then participated in an array of energy-focused activities in partnership with 1st Maker Space, Maker Youth Foundation, Duke Energy Foundation, Ameresco, KidWind and the Hamilton Southeastern Education Foundation.
According to Bob Rice, Energy Manager for the school corporation, the projects involved hands-on activities, such as designing and testing tabletop wind turbines, exploring solar panels and inverters, constructing circuits using breadboards, analyzing energy consumption data for the school and other STEM endeavors. Rice offered support to the students who completed this work utilizing the scientific method.
“Dan Mach and Courtney Lawhead may be too modest to acknowledge it themselves, but they have truly done an exceptional job in introducing their students to the concept of energy,” adds Rice. “By emphasizing this topic in their respective classrooms, they are helping to nurture the future generation of engineers, line workers, and sustainability professionals.”
HSE Schools is committed to energy sustainability and with talented, energy-conscious staff and students, the future looks bright.
The students and their teachers have been invited to attend the NEED Youth Energy Conference and Awards held in Washington, D.C. this summer.
Want to know more? Check out the submission that helped secure the NEED Project award.