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Recently named state of the year by the National Energy Education Development (NEED) Project, Kentucky NEED is a resource all KASA members may access. Kentucky NEED has a staff of eight regional coordinators that provide training and energy curriculum for all schools in Kentucky. Supported by sponsorship from the Kentucky Department for Energy Development (DEDI) and Kentucky Utilities and Louisville Gas & Electric (KU/LG&E), the program services are offered at no cost to all districts.
Kentucky NEED offers a suite of programs that delivers support to school administrators in the area of curriculum, professional development, energy management and building construction and renovation—all with an emphasis on integrating energy into student learning. Its School Energy Team approach has delivered strong results – with students, parents, and administrators working together to run their school buildings more efficiently while increasing the teaching and learning about energy in the classroom.
Here is a brief description of each of the Kentucky NEED programs.
The Energy Education Workshop for K-12 Teachers provides educators with both instructional methods and curriculum content that effectively delivers core content in the area of energy. The training provides activities, assessment tools, curriculum, and science kits for Kindergarten through Twelfth grade. Modeling hands-on learning, the workshop format demonstrates NEED’s philosophy and belief in the power of a Kids Teaching Kids approach to an expanded knowledge of energy. EILA credit provided. To locate a workshop in your region, go to www.need.org/states/kentucky.
For school districts interested in “going green” or simply managing their utility consumption, Kentucky NEED offers support in the formation of Student Energy Teams to assist in monitoring their district’s energy consumption and to educate the school population about energy conservation. NEED Regional Coordinators are available to launch this program as well as provide a manual including worksheets to benchmark and track success.
In the area of energy management, Kentucky NEED offers other opportunities, including their VendingMiser Project. This past year, NEED facilitated a study that led to the reduction of energy consumption of vending machines in 20 participating schools by an average of 52%. This study is open to all school districts. For an application go to www.need.org/states/kentucky.
For districts with renovation or new construction plans, Kentucky NEED facilitates the annual High Performance School Buildings Workshop. During the event, scheduled for March 21-22, 2012, featured speakers will explain what a high performance building is, how it reduces operational costs over the life of the building while identifying opportunities to connect the building to student learning. The highlight of the workshop is a site visit to a model high performance school building.
For more information about working with Kentucky NEED, please contact Karen Reagor, State Director, at 859-578-0312 or kreagor@need.org.
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