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Sixth-graders take home kits that help reduce bills
By Bob Downing
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Sunday, Apr 12, 2009
There are going to be some ultra-clean sixth-graders in the Akron Public Schools.
And some very well-scrubbed family members, too.
That's because 1,700 Akron sixth-graders are getting kits filled with 12 energy-savings devices that the students are taking home as part of a new, $50,000 program sponsored by the school district, Keep Akron Beautiful and the Worthington-based Ohio Energy Project.
The biggest buzz from the sixth-graders has been that the kits include a low-flow shower head that features a watery massage, said science teacher Jon Short at Riedinger Middle School.
''That's getting a lot of attention,'' he said with a laugh.
The pilot program meets Ohio's energy science curriculum standards and brings energy efficiency into the Akron curriculum in a new way, said Katrina Halasa, a learning specialist with Akron schools. The program brings the school and home life closer together, she said.
It is also a way for sixth-graders and their parents to look more closely at home energy use and to save money on utility bills by using the various devices, said Paula Davis, president and chief executive of Keep Akron Beautiful.
Americans use a lot of energy: nearly $1 million each minute. The average American family spends $2,200 a year on home utility bills, and much of that is wasted.
Davis' nonprofit group is seeking the funds to operate the program for three more years in Akron's public and charter schools, she said.
The pilot program, funded by a grant from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, got under way in December with a daylong workshop for teachers and aides to introduce energy efficiency and to show teachers how the various devices work.
The devices include a long-lasting, compact fluorescent light bulb; a water aerator or small screen for a sink faucet; a small refrigerator thermometer; a foam gasket for behind switch plates to reduce drafts; an energy-saving night light; and a card to measure hot water temperatures.
Short said he is impressed by the program and believes it offers something worthwhile.
In one experiment, a hand-held hair dryer was plugged into a monitor to show how much electricity the hair dryer uses.
It requires about 66 cents for an hour, $16 for a day, $113 for a week, $490 for a month or $5,987 for a year [figures have been rounded off].
That opened a few eyes, said 13-year-old Janisha George and 11-year-old Alonza Brogdon.
In another experiment, 12-year-old Dale Bigby and 12-year-old Dahvaqi Guthrie held thermometers next to compact fluorescent and incandescent light bulbs.
The bottom line: The incandescent bulbs are hotter because they are wasting more energy, the pair said.
Donald Key, 11, and Ahmad Robinson, 12, measured the temperature in the classroom, in the hallway and in the doorway. It was 74 degrees in the classroom, 72 degrees in the doorway and 64 degrees in the hallway, which gets less heat.
Riedinger's sixth-graders are convinced the home-energy audits and the energy-savings devices will be well received at home, said 12-year-old Brianna Doyle and 13-year-old Jazmere Stephens.
''If our families know that they can save money, they'll use these things,'' Brianna said.
Bob Downing can be reached at 330-996-3745 or bdowning@thebeaconjournal.com.
There are going to be some ultra-clean sixth-graders in the Akron Public Schools.
Get the full article here.
Comments
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Canton, OH
Posted 04:16 PM, 04/12/2009
GOOD JOB AKRON PUBLIC SCHOOLS !!!!!!!!!
