Teachers receive high marks for energy lessons

When school starts in just a few weeks, things are going to be different for a few kids. They'll still learn math, reading and spelling, but this year, thanks to BP Global's A+ for Energy Grant program, their science curriculum will include lots of extras. Stephanie Bruins and Gail Salata were two of the 1,981 California teachers awarded a total of $2 million in grants and scholarships that they will use to educate kids about energy and energy conservation."I've always enjoyed science," said Bruins, a sixth-grade teacher at Eureka Elementary School in Granite Bay. "I find it to be one of the most interesting subjects we teach and I know most of the kids enjoy it too because it's so hands-on." Salata, who will be teaching kindergarten at Ruhkala Elementary, a new school in Rocklin, said she is always looking for new projects to introduce to her 5- and 6-year-old students that provide hands-on instruction. As a winner of one of the $5,000 BP grants for her proposal, "Kindergarten Friends of the Earth," Salata plans to incorporate the energy program when she makes her traditional home visits that have been part of the kindergarten curriculum for several years. "At the beginning of each school year we go into the students' home and they show us their room, introduce us to their families and we get to know them better," she said. "This year we'll continue our home visits and give the families information from PG&E about ways to save energy and we'll take pictures of the kids and their families saving energy."Salata, who has been a teacher for 10 years, will be emphasizing basic energy conservation and introducing the students to the concept of being friendly to the earth. She plans to take photos of the students practicing in energy conservation such as turning off the water and lights and recycling.In addition to the home visits, Salata plans to show her students how to make snacks in a solar cooker and they will make solar sun prints in order for them to see how the sun can fade things."We'll also be teaming with a fifth-grade class to make a solar race car and run races with them," she said. Salata feels it's important to teach children at a young age the importance of conserving resources."They need to see the power they have as individuals to help save the earth," she said.Bruins found out about the grant from the school principal, Heidi Dettwiller, and after researching the area of science, the state standards and how they apply to sixth grade she came up with a proposal called, "Energy All Around," that would teach students about non-renewable and renewable sources of energy.Bruins, who has been teaching for six years, was the recipient of $10,000 that she'll use in projects where students will construct a solar powered car, model home or cooker. She'll soon prepare for the class to conduct an energy audit on Eureka School where they'll investigate ways the entire school might save energy."I'm also planning to contact Pacific Gas & Electric Co. to see if they'd be interested in coming out to do presentations for the kids about conserving energy. And I want to get the parents involved as well," Bruins said.Bruins and Salata were two of the 13,000 teachers statewide who submitted applications for the program.According to Cindy Wymore, director of public affairs for the Western region of BP, the judges were interested in awarding teachers who presented the most creative and innovative ways to teach students about conserving energy."They were looking for activities that would get the kids excited about energy, activities that kids would have fun doing," Wymore said. "BP's philosophy is to help create future consumers who are aware of energy consumption." Susan Belknap can be reached at sbelknap@surewest.net.