By Glen Kizer
There is so much talk these days about how important it is for our economy that the psychology of the American people be positive.  We are told that negative thoughts about our economic future can actually have a negative impact on the actual economy.  It reminds me of coaches who give pep talks to players in order to inspire them to play better.  It also reminds me of the saying credited to Yogi Berra of the New York Yankeees that runs something like, “Baseball is 90% mental and the other 60% is physical.”

It may sound like I am mocking the importance of enthusiasm and pep talks, but I am not.  An inspired bad team seldom beats an over confident great team, but where teams are close inspiration may play a part.  And this story now leads me to Bakersfield.

The Sunset School in Bakersfield, California sits in the central valley of this huge state.  You can get to Bakersfield by driving north on I-5 out of Los Angeles for less than 2 hours.  You can also get there by driving south from San Francisco or Sacramento on I-5, but it is a longer drive.  The Sunset School is just a few minutes from I-5.

When I say that the Sunset School sits in a “valley,” I am talking about a real valley.  There are mountains or really high hills to the west separately the valley from the Pacific Ocean and to the east there are real mountains that are part of the Sierra Nevada range.  To get there from Los Angeles you have to drive over a pass with snow on the hills.  And yet the Sunset School sits on very flat land nestled inside these mountains/really large hills which is why they call it a valley.  It is the “central valley” because it runs down the center of California.  There is farming all around the school.  On one visit it was raining which helps things grow.  On the second visit it was sunny and sunlight also helps things grow.  And there is a lot growing there.

My trips to Bakersfield were to help them figure out where to put their “solar on a stick” as part of the PG&E Solar Schools Program.  It is their call, but I just go to help remind them of various factors that might help them make their decision.  Plus I carry a compass so we all know which way is south.

Adolph Wirth-Vineland, S.D. Superintendent; Debra Porter, Vice Principal; Joe Cowan, Maintenance Supervisor; Tim Davis, Special Education Teacher; Kevin Crosby, Special Education Teacher

We all meet on the various locations that may be the final site for the pole because there are a number of factors to consider.  Is there a tree that will shade the panels as soon as they go in?  This would be a bad thing.  Or is there a tree that will grow higher and shade the panels later on?  This would be a bad thing later on because these solar arrays are hard to move and nobody would want to have to chop down a large tree.  We also don’t want to tear up a lot of concrete or asphalt if we can avoid it.  We also don’t want to install the array over a water line or sewer line or even a sprinkler system line if we can avoid it.  We want to consider how the system will look to neighbors of the school and to people who drive by and to the kids and the people who have to cut the grass and do other maintenance on school grounds.  There are a lot of factors to consider so we like teachers, school administrators, district people, and facilities people to give up a few minutes of their busy days to make the call on where the pole goes.  We had a full group.

But back to psychology.  There is so much negative press about the economy and lost jobs and there is so much riding on the stimulus package that it starts to bring me down.  I am worried about the future of the United States and also the world.  If economic conditions keep getting worse, it will impact individuals and families as well as countries in a negative way.  I worry.  Then I go to a place like the Sunset School and I meet these wonderful people who are doing such great work hidden away in this valley with the snow covered peaks off in the distance.  I made two trips there and they lifted my spirits.

First of all being a place where so much of the area depends on agriculture, they have a garden.  (You cannot tell this from the pix because they have the garden covered to kill some weed, but on my next trip I will take pix of the garden growing.)  I like this because it helps connect the growing process with their families which depend either directly or indirectly on how well things grow and what price they bring in the marketplace.

Second of all they want renewable energy.  They want solar electricity and they want the pole and the array in their garden to make the connection between things that grow and energy.  So much of farming is dependent on energy.  Their PG&E Solar Schools Project is not only about electricity for their computers and lights it is also about electricity for farming operations.

And finally they are all just very nice people.  Kevin Crosby is the lead teacher, but we had district people and school administrators all coming out to make sure they get the solar panels in the right location for the school and the students.  They all care and they are all really smart about how the system will work and the best place for it.  It gave me hope.  The stock market may be crashing and there may be strife all over the world, but here in this protected valley people are going about their business of growing the food we eat and giving their kids a great education.  I drove back over the Altamont Pass and I saw the wind turbines turning as I went up over the hill and I could see the shimmering San Francisco Bay off in the distance and it gave me hope for our future.

By John Wright

It will be five years this spring since Rio Grande High School had its dedication ceremony for the first photovoltaic system installed in a public school in New Mexico. After several years of meetings on everything from funding the installation to how to keep students from climbing the poles (a square pole is hard to climb), the 1 KW system that was donated by American Electric Power (AEP) finally began feeding back into the grid.

Since then many students have learned the meaning of the word: photovoltaic.  Thanks to the SunnyBoy inverter and computer software, students are able to record the system output and graph its performance over time.  At Rio Grand High School, we teach these concepts in our communications skills class. One of the major activities of these classes is explaining how a photovoltaic cell produces electricity.  To do this, students made models of a PV cell, complete with paper layers and string for the wires.  Students then made videos of themselves explaining a solar cell.

Students also research alternative energy sources and applications, including solar-charged electric cars.  Students then used their math skills to calculate how fast their hand made cars traveled on a course they laid out on the school patio. This was another way to challenge the students using multi-disciplinary activities.

The photovoltaic system, while important for the environment, is simply a great learning tool.  Although it stands on the side of a patio used by many students, it is always funny to find out how many students don’t know it’s there until it’s pointed out to them. Hopefully, after another five years, there will be enough solar and renewable energy-generated technologies that students will hardly notice a solar array here, or an electric car there. But for now, we’ll just keep pointing it out to them.

By Bill Resch

In Columbus, Ohio, New Albany High School students and teachers have created an “off grid” solar powered nature preserve trail lighting system using Solar Panels donated by American Electric Power (AEP).

Twelfth grade student Student Samantha Lustig’s Senior Community Service Project included teaching approximately 250 students, in twelve physics classes, about solar energy concepts and applications. The students helped with site preparation, installation, and connection of the solar powered trail lights. In addition to assembling and wiring the lights, sophomore students dug a trench for the underground wiring. The 30 trail light posts are spaced over 360 feet, beginning at the student-assembled 1 kilowatt Solar Panel, and running through the school’s wetland preserve, ending at the Band and sports practice field.

The light posts line the trail and allow students and local residents to walk safely to and from sporting events and through the nature preserve at times when daylight is dim in the early mornings and at dusk when wildlife may be more visible. The concepts of “Energy Transfer” and “Conservation of Energy” through our Solar Energy Project are now a permanent of the school district’s physical science K-12 curriculum.

By Alex Kizer

In Richmond, Virginia, the trees glow a particular gold in autumn. There is plenty of history and even more friendly folks. Greg Muzik, the principal of Mary Munford Elementary School, is no exception.
“I ride it to school most days,” Mr. Muzik boasts, showing off his Ego electric scooter.  Greg Muzik is a large man with a voice that contains life. “I don’t live far from the school and so it costs me about a penny a mile in electricity costs!”

For the last 7 years, Principal Muzik has followed an environmentally responsible personal life. But like all hard workers, it is difficult to separate work and private life. Mary Munford Elementary has been a solar school for a little longer than Principal Muzik has been seen buzzing through the streets on his electric scooter. “The school’s 1 kW system was an inspiration to me and the students. Frankly, I hoped it would show our young kids the viability of new energy technologies – I didn’t suspect I’d be so excited too!”

American Electric Power (AEP) donated the system to Mary Munford, hoping to create an awareness of energy issues like solar and recycling in the school. Looking at Principal Muzik’s attitude 7 years later suggests that it has been working. The school now has a PTA committee that makes energy efficiency a priority. “They worked on projects to make us more “green” before anyone started using the word “green,” said Muzik.

Not all of the Richmond School System has progressed as far and as fast as Mary Munford, however. Maryan Cammarata, a long-time Richmond resident, thinks that the energy efficiency policies of Mary Mumford have influenced her community, with more opportunity to come. “Mary Munford was the first school, for a long time, to have any recycling policy in the region,” she said. “I’ve heard about [Mary] Munford’s recycling and energy management policies for sometime now. Just look at Principal Muzik. He’s always zipping around, setting a good example for everyone.”

“I’m a big guy,” Mr. Muzik laughs, “and my weight has limited the range I can get from my scooter.” Mr. Muzik’s larger-than-life personality has definitely contributed to his standard-setting example, with students looking up to him for advice, and watching him live by the examples he preaches: “The students and I figured that the power generated by the solar array, while not much, would provide enough electricity to fuel my scooter forever.” With his good example and with new technologies on the horizon, Mr. Muzik’s next scooter should get him much farther, hopefully alongside an army of his former students, all embodying Muzik’s lessons of efficiency and excitement for life.