Whiteley Named Finalist For National Energy Award

The National Energy Education Development (NEED) Project has once again recognized the outstanding energy education programs led by the students in Kathy Cochrane’s sixth-grade class at Frank C. Whiteley School.

Through its Youth Awards for Energy Achievement program, NEED has selected Whiteley as its Illinois Junior Level School of the Year, and it has named the school a finalist for its National Junior Level School of the Year honor. These honors will be recognized at NEED’s National Recognition Ceremonies, which will be held June 24-27 in Washington, D.C.

This is the third consecutive year that NEED has recognized Whiteley for the work done by Mrs. Cochrane’s classes. Last year, NEED named Whiteley its Illinois School of the Year, and two years ago it name Whiteley its Elementary Rookie of the Year.

Schools involved in NEED’s energy education project submit scrapbooks of their classroom and public education programs each April. These projects are planned and implemented by students for students as a means to educate their communities about energy—the science, the sources, the uses, and the issues.

For instance, Mrs. Cochrane’s students taught more than 350 students at the school about renewable energy through enjoyable hands-on demonstrations, such as solar panels and KidWind turbines that were purchased through a District FIfteen Educational Foundation grant that they wrote. They also built a website that featured energy-related videos and games, held a schoolwide recycled crafts contest, created educational comic books and distributed them at local public libraries, adopted a local highway to clean up, and used games to teach people about recycling at a local street festival. They capped off their efforts with a schoolwide Energy Carnival.

NEED is a nonprofit organization with programs in all 50 states. It has developed innovative materials and implemented programs that not only teach about energy, but also develop leadership and critical thinking skills. NEED’s Kids Teaching Kids philosophy encourages students to take responsibility for their own learning and that of others. NEED is sponsored by both renewable and nonrenewable energy companies, federal, state, and local agencies, energy consumers, and national and state energy and education associations.

-Story Submitted by Community Consolidated School District 15