Students, teachers attend ABE Energywise Program

    PRESQUE ISLE – Over 400 enthusiastic young people and teachers from 23 County schools attended a day-long energy workshop last week at the University of Maine at Presque Isle and Lonesome Pine Ski Lodge in Fort Kent to develop awareness of energy resources. Sponsored by Maine Public Service, activities centered on the themes: “Kids Teaching Kids@ and “B NRG YYY.”    All Aroostook County teachers, grades 3 through 8, were invited to attend the workshop with a team of five to six students and a mission of returning to their respective schools with a supply of energy materials and the quest to create energy projects. Energy teams were encouraged to develop a scrapbook that contains activities to be judged by Maine Public Service personnel in April.
    The MPS program is called the BEEP project. The ABE Energywise Program@ is a competitive program to promote and support energy awareness throughout Northern Maine schools.  Students learn about energy and put this knowledge to good use by leading others to better understand the energy situation in their communities, state and nation. The competition follows the same regulations as the National Energy Education Development (NEED) Program and offers several prizes in categories of grades K-3, 4-5, 6-8, and 9-12. NEED materials were distributed to teachers at the workshop and are available at MPS through Nancy Chandler, supervisor of Conservation and Education Services.  
    Participants at the workshop experienced activities that stressed leadership skills, team building, cooperative learning and logical thinking through the exploration of complex energy and environmental concerns. Students and teachers participated in energy activities and discussions that challenged them to think about the dynamic way energy issues affect all of us and our environment. All workshop activities were designed around the Maine Learning Results and for teachers and their students to recreate within the setting of their own classroom, using interdisciplinary skills in math, English, art and science.
     After welcoming the group, workshop coordinator Nancy Chandler presented a slide presentation on all energy resources that students utilize throughout the day. They were challenged with It’sAll About Energy Words, an activity of unscrambling electricity terms matching Chandler’s list and creating the longest energy sentence. In another activity, teams imagined they owned their own energy company and worked together to invent a new energy product that helps customers solve a problem, improve their lives and ultimately save energy. They presented their new product to the entire group for judging. Then, the participants were given solar beads to create their own energy necklaces. They experimented with the effectiveness of sunglasses and sunscreen as protection from the ultraviolet light of the sun. Other activities included ‘Simon Sez,’ ‘Energy Scavenger Hunt,’ and ‘Energy Bingo.’ A portion of the workshop was dedicated to teachers who learned about “GIS – Using Geographic Information Systems In an Electric Utility,” presented by Felicia O’Clair, MPS CAD/GIS coordinator.
    Entering the 23rd year of affiliation with the National Energy Education Development Program, many Northern Maine schools have won the competition at the state and national level, including Gateway Elementary School, Zippel Elementary School, Patrick Therriault School and Washburn Elementary. NEED links more than 8,000 schools nationwide through a network of students, teachers and interested community members who enjoy and value an interdisciplinary approach to learning. All County teachers, youth leaders and student groups are eligible for the NEED Youth Awards for Energy Achievement Program. National winners are eligible to attend the National Awards ceremony in Washington, D.C., in June. For more information on the ABE Energywise Program@ or attendance at the workshop sponsored by Maine Public Service, contact Chandler at 760-2556.