The Center for Energy Education hosted STEM in the Park for Everetts Elementary STEM Academy students last week.
The mission of the C4EE STEM in the Park program is to expand the accessibility of STEM learning opportunities to K-12 students who have limited internet access.
Activities are led by schoolteachers in an outdoor environment while in compliance with safety guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Over 25 students participated.
The elementary students learned about the force of motion while building hovercrafts and explored solar energy power as they took turns driving the C4EE solar tractor.
Students created chromatology flowers as they learned about how the changes in weather affect plants. They also studied math and measurements while building Truffula Trees inspired by the book written by Dr. Suess entitled The Lorax.
“This is the first of many upcoming STEM in the Park events planned for the Halifax County School District,” said Mozine Lowe, executive director for the Center for Energy Education. “With COVID-19 precautions preventing field trips to our campus, we have made the necessary adjustments to bring renewable energy education to the students.” said Lowe.
Meanwhile, October is the anniversary of the Center for Energy Education's grand opening in 2017.
The center has accomplished a lot in only four years, said Lowe. “The staff has grown from two to seven employees. Workforce development and K-12 STEM Programs have expanded from North Carolina to now include the states of Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, and Virginia resulting in over 700 students educated in summer programs.
“Over 1,300 K-12 students have visited the center to learn about renewable energy and climate change, and with the Teaching Tomorrow's Scientists and Engineers program, over 190 school teachers have been trained to incorporate solar education into their classroom lesson plan.”
In North Carolina, the center has graduated over 180 local residents from the Solar Construction and OSHA 10 training course and over 170 Public Officials from North Carolina, Kentucky, and Virginia have attended the C4EE Solar 101 Workshop on economics.
"We believe that the work that we do here at C4EE empowers everyone to participate in an industry that is growing at a rapid pace. It’s amazing that our reach into communities continues to increase in this virtual space even during Covid-19," said Lowe.
Looking forward, the center will remain a space where education, research, industry innovation, business engagement, and demonstration of solar energy combine to demonstrate excellence in renewable energy as well as create economic growth. “The C4EE will continue to inspire learning, discovery, and imagination about renewables in people of all ages,” Lowe said.
