As more of our schools get plugged in to energy conservation, it’s important that we highlight some of the efforts being made to get our buildings on track to saving 10 percent in energy costs.

The science staff at East High School has started keeping the lights out in storage areas. The lights are now only turned on when a teacher retrieves materials and turned off when leaving. In the past, they had always tried to make sure the lights were turned off in these areas at the end of the day, but often these lights were left on during the school day.

Deb Ligeski, a chemistry teacher at East, has also suggested to other staff members that they turn off lights when they leave the staff restrooms, noting that there’s no need to light an empty room all day.

At Zemmer Middle School Lisa Yderstad’s CILC program has done a nice job in putting together an “Energy Savings Checklist” for each room in the building.  They put them on colorful paper and laminated them.  This is a student-led effort that can be replicated in all our schools.

Zemmer’s sixth grade LC6A has also been thinking about energy. They have plugged things into power strips making them easier to turn off at night.  Two teachers, Kevin Wenzel and Luanne VanAllsburg,  have been keeping  lights either completely turned off or with only the middle strip on in recent days, taking greater advantage of natural light.

VanAllsburg has also been encouraging her students to wear long-sleeved shirts in order to keep her thermostat at a lower setting.

Keep up the great work everyone! Every little bit counts.

— Jared Field