LIPA Unveils New Plan to Bring Energy Curriculum to LI Schools
“Train the Trainer” Program Targets Middle School Teachers; Next Generation of
Students Will Become “Energy Smart”
Uniondale, NY--September 2, 2008—The Long Island Power Authority (LIPA)
is working with several school districts to pilot “train the trainer” workshops
that will help middle school educators teach their students how to be energy
smart. This is the first time these workshops will be held on Long Island.
“We must all learn to use energy more wisely,” said LIPA President and CEO
Kevin S. Law. “Long Island will have a better future if we teach our children
how to make the future better on their own.”
LIPA already has an aggressive information and education program that
includes in-school presentations to students and an annual electric safety
poster contest. LIPA’s “In Concert with the Environment” program has been
helping teachers and their students become environmentally conscientious,
energy-efficient individuals for nearly a decade. Nearly 30,000 Long Island
students have participated in this program. The Train the Trainer pilot program
would be in addition to these ongoing efforts and will help students and
teachers become more conscious about where energy comes from and what they can
do to become more energy efficient.
The new pilot workshops are aimed at middle school teachers (grades 6-8). The
curriculum contained within the program is aligned with New York State learning
standards in Math, Science, Technology, Language Arts, Social Studies and
Family/Consumer Science. Under an agreement with the New York State Energy
Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), LIPA will sponsor workshops for
middle school teachers in as many as ten school districts during the 2008-09
school year.
Three school districts have already agreed to participate: Bethpage, East
Meadow and Smithtown. Bethpage Superintendent of Schools Dr. Richard S. Marsh
said, "In an effort to help our students better understand the global effects of
climate changes, a shortage of oil, contaminated water supplies, and similar
situations, the idea of ‘Saving Our Resources’ will be a major initiative in
Bethpage this coming year. We plan on being actively involved with the Energy
Smart Students Program sponsored by LIPA at our Middle School, because it
provides an opportunity for our teachers to emphasize the importance of using
electricity wisely to help conserve our vital resources."
Smithtown Superintendent of Schools Edward Ehmann said, “Smithtown is excited
to participate in LIPA’s Energy Smart Students Program as the best lessons
always entail ‘real world’ activities that encourage our kids to become active
citizens in their communities. We hope they will carry their practices learned
in school to their personal routines at home.”
"One major key to a better future is for our children to learn and employ
creative and more effective ways to manage our energy resources,” said East
Meadow Superintendent of Schools Leon J. Campo. “This program is a great
beginning."
The workshops will cover energy basics, renewable and non-renewable sources
of energy, and energy efficiency measures that can be implemented in the home.
The teachers who attend the workshop will receive instructional materials and
teaching aids that they can use back in the classroom, such as full-color
instructional posters and class sets of the “Energy Action Challenge” to use
with their students. Teachers will receive credit for six professional
development hours for attending the workshop.
Students will be asked to bring home a questionnaire which will be used to
determine what actions students and their parents took based on the energy
education materials. In order to encourage return of these questionnaires,
NYSERDA will administer a $50 gift certificate to those classrooms that have an
85% return rate.
In addition, NYSERDA has agreed to include articles in its “Energy Smart
Students” electronic newsletter that are relevant to teachers working on Long
Island. The newsletter would be distributed to teachers at no cost. Currently,
NYSERDA administers the Energy Smart Students program in the rest of the state
but not in LIPA’s service territory.
School districts interested in having the Train the Trainer workshop conducted for
their middle school teachers should contact Walter Hoefer, director of LIPA’s
municipal and school programs, at (516) 719-9840. |
