May 7, 2009 at 8:46 a.m.
CLMS raises money for solar panels
CLMS raises money for solar panels
This is one of the beliefs that drives Chisago Lakes Middle School science teacher Pat Collins whenever he takes on a new community service project at the school. Last year, the students and staff raised money to assist with fresh water projects in impoverished African countries. This year, they are working on something a lot closer to home.
At the start of the school year, Collins approached the Chisago Lakes School Board and presented a new project for their consideration. His idea - install solar panels on top of the middle school to provide electricity, and a learning opportunity, for the school and students. The project has been dubbed Project Independence.
What is Project Independence? It is an effort to put a 12.2 KW photovoltaic system (57 solar panels) on the middle school.
Collins said he was in the car with his son, when he asked Collins about the next project he had planned. Then while reading the book, Earth: The Sequel, on a Boundary Waters trip, Collins started thinking about past community service projects at CLMS. Arbor Day efforts that planted over 100,000 trees, and H2O for Africa benefitted a lot of people, but he knew a project like the solar panels would be different.
"I started thinking, how do you benefit everyone and help the environment," Collins said. "With this project, it will be something that those students can walk under in the next 40 years and know they made a difference."
The School Board approved the project, but only if Collins was able to find ways to fund the project without district money. The entire project will cost $90,000, but Collins is hopeful that more than half of it would be funded by grants. He knew at the time that there were several grants available for solar energy projects, and was confident that the project would get noticed.
Since then, Collins has received word that the project is indeed going to funding, including $22,500 in the form of a rebate from the State of Minnesota, and $27,000 - or one-third of the project - in federal grants. He also applied for and received a $500 grant from Polaris Industries in Wyoming, and is waiting to hear on federal stimulus money and other grants available. Along with the $50,000 already received, the project is on the priority list for a $20,000 grant through a student environmental organization in Rochester.
The rest - roughly $12,000 - will be brought in through various fundraisers. A Solar Central Committee works on ideas on how to raise project funds. So far, around $5,000 has been raised through Project Independence t-shirt sales, lunchtime activities at the school and private donations. Each day, students who pay $1 can take part in games like lightning, hula hoop contests and karaoke after finishing their lunch. Collins said it's been very popular with the students, and it has the added benefit of giving them something to do before heading back to class.
T-shirts will be available for sale through the end of the school year, and are available for purchase through the school office. Students can keep track of how much money has been raised by each grade in t-shirt sales by checking out the "solar panels" on the wall near the Catty Shack at the main entrance. Each time a t-shirt is purchased, the student's name is written on a "panel" and put up on the wall. Collins is grateful that Goldstar Printworks in Lindstrom has been great to work with at producing the t-shirts.
He said there aren't any other fundraisers planned for the end of the year, except for a dodgeball tournament. In the fall, the committee hopes to hold a Solar Saunter, which would be a fun 5K to raise money for the project, similar to the Water Waddle last year for H2O for Africa.
To help promote the project, each core at the school was asked to produce a video that would help explain the project to the students and staff. Collins started it off by starring in a video as "Timmy Tengwall" the dorky brother of science teacher Tom Tengwall. The students have done a great job producing the videos, Collins said. The videos are shown in the morning during Core Connect in the classrooms.
Collins expects it will save the district between $80,000 and $400,000 over the life of the panels, which is estimated at 40 years or more.
More than the cost savings, Collins wants the focus to be that the panels are environmentally friendly. He estimates that the panels will prevent 1.7 million pounds of carbon dioxide from being emitted through the burning of fossil fuels for electrical production, and save 614,000 gallons of water.
He is also excited about the high visibility of CLMS, and that the panels will be located on top of the high gymnasium roof at the front of the school. Everyone driving by on Hwy. 8 will be able to see them, and maybe start thinking about making environmentally-friendly changes in their own lives, he added.
After the panels are installed, Collins would like to have a smaller panel on display closer to the ground, so classes go outside and actually see and touch the panel.
Collins said he has introduced the technology of solar panels to his own seventh grade classes, and many teachers are supporting the project by talking to their students and purchasing t-shirts. It is a great topic, because it can be covered as part of several different curriculums.
"My kids understand it, and the most important thing they can see is they can change the world."
It is a great educational opportunity, Collins said, because the panels will be connected to a unit inside the school that will monitor how much electricity is being generated. Students will be able to monitor readouts and see the daily reminder of their efforts.
Since starting on the project, Collins said it has already influenced people in the community.
"I've had two or three calls from people wanting to do the same thing at their house," Collins said. "I tell them they can qualify for some of these grants too."
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