Momentum has been building nationwide for cultivating energy literacy in K-12 classrooms. To continue that growth, 34 educators from 21 states gathered in June on the University of Alaska Fairbanks Troth Yedd’ha campus to learn about clean energy and lessons, methods, and tools for classroom integration at the 17th annual RECharge Academy.
REAP and the national nonprofit KidWind combined forces to plan and deliver the 4-day training jam packed with hands-on activities and tours around Fairbanks, teaching about the unique energy landscape of Alaska, with a focus on renewable microgrids.
The RECharge Academy was a comprehensive program aimed at equipping educators with the knowledge and resources to effectively teach about sustainable energy sources in Alaska and their importance in today’s world.
Jam Packed Week of Tours and Training
Participants toured the Cold Climate Housing Research Center on NREL’s Alaska Campus, the microgrid testing lab at Alaska Center for Energy and Power, and the coal power plant on campus (the most recent one built in the US). The course culminated with a tour at the Chena Hot Springs resort when teachers learned about geothermal energy including the heated greenhouses growing produce used in the resort’s restaurant.
The training also helped educators explore resources and curriculum for teaching about microgrids in the classroom, including efficiency, storage, wind, solar, and transmission. All resources shared were free and publicly available, encouraging increased access to energy literacy education materials. The full resource guide from the week can be downloaded here.
Resources attendees explored throughout the week included:
- KidWind: Grade 6-12 wind and solar energy lessons
- AK EnergySmart: Grade K-12 Alaska-specific lessons on energy awareness and efficiency
- CREATE: high school and undergraduate lessons on solar, bioenergy, and storage
- NEED: K-12 lessons on all energy sources and storage
The highlight of the week for us was the opportunities we had to meaningfully connect with teachers and learn about their challenges as they work to bring these important materials into their classrooms. Everything seems a little more challenging after COVID and we hope that we can help these teachers find some success in this space!
For both of our teams the RECharge Academy is just the beginning. We hope we can work with these teachers to impact classrooms, bring clean energy training to their regions and maybe even hold a KidWind Challenge at their school or district! Welcome to the KidWind and REAP family!
The RECharge conference allowed me the opportunity to learn from the perspective of my students-the combination of hands-on activities and guided instruction will serve as a model for me this upcoming school year when implementing topics and skills covered at the conference.
We would like to offer a big thanks to all the organizations that helped support the 2024 RECharge Academy and helped all the educators attend this event!
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