Ulat sa Epekto ng Komunidad 2020

THE FUTURE OF CLEAN ENERGY

Your community electricity provider is investing in tomorrow

| BY ANNE STOKES |

Kindergartners learn about clean energy by building their own paper wind turbines. PHOTOS COURTESY OF SILVIA MARTINEZ

While Peninsula Clean Energy is working diligently to meet today's energy needs, we're also nurturing the next generation of innovators. To help educators bring environmental literacy into classrooms, Peninsula Clean Energy gave $25,000 to the San Mateo County Office of Education in 2018 to start a Clean Energy Teacher Fellowship. Ormondale Elementary School kindergarten teacher Silvia Martinez was one of those lucky teachers.

“I thought it was important for the students to be more aware of the environment in ways that they can understand it, so hopefully in the future they can solve problems,” says Martinez, who actually started teaching her students about the environment eight years ago.
“It gives them the power to do something about it.”

Sinabi ni Martinez na nakakuha siya ng mahalagang propesyonal na pag-unlad sa pamamagitan ng programang fellowship pati na rin ang komprehensibong suporta sa pagbuo ng mga aralin. Kasama sa suportang iyon ang pagtiyak na natutugunan ng kurikulum ang mga kinakailangan ng Estado sa Next Generation Science Standards at Environmental Principals and Concepts, habang nagbibigay-daan pa rin sa kanya na maiangkop ang mga aralin sa kung ano ang pinakamahusay na gumagana sa kanyang silid-aralan.

"Maraming mga hands-on na aktibidad para mahawakan, maramdaman at maranasan nila at pagkatapos ay makuha ang kanilang kaalaman at mabuo iyon," sabi niya.

“I thought it was important for the students
sa be more aware of the environment in ways that they can understand it, so hopefully in the future they can solve problems.”

Silvia Martinez
Kindergarten teacher, Ormondale
Elementary School

instead of building holiday gingerbread houses — which end up uneaten and thrown away after a few weeks — Martinez’s students
design and make a model clean energy house.

"Alam nila ang tungkol sa wind power, solar energy at recycling, ngunit nagdaragdag din kami ng iba pang mga bagay tulad ng insulation at nagdaragdag kami sa mga roof top plants, nagdaragdag kami ng maraming bintana at hardin, rain barrels para gawin itong earth-friendly na bahay," sabi niya. "Ang layunin ay para sa kanila na makalayo mula dito nang may pag-unawa na maaari silang gumawa ng mga simpleng pagbabago sa sistema ng enerhiya at maprotektahan pa rin ang kanilang kapaligiran."

At hindi lang ang klase ni Martinez ang nakinabang sa fellowship. Nagawa niyang isama ang mga kasanayan sa Earth-friendly at karanasan sa pag-aaral sa buong campus.

“Nagkaroon kami ng mga asamblea kung saan nagtuturo sa iba ang aming mga estudyante. Mayroon kaming worm bins para sa buong paaralan, mayroon kaming magagandang hardin ng paaralan kung saan ginagamit namin ang compost na nakukuha namin mula doon, "sabi niya. "Sa tingin ko ito ay kahanga-hangang mayroon kaming mapagkukunang ito. Napakahalaga nito.”

San Mateo County schools expand environmental learning programs

Preparing leaders for clean energy starts as early as kindergarten in some San Mateo County schools.

The San Mateo County Office of Education (SMCOE) is expanding its Environmental Literacy and Sustainability Initiative for students grades K-12. SMCOE is the first county office of education
in the state to have launched an initiative of this kind. The program teaches sustainability across the campus, curriculum, community and culture.

SMCOE works closely with Peninsula Clean Energy, which has provided staff support and more than $250,000 for environmental literacy programs. One of these is the Clean Energy Teacher Fellowship program. After a successful pilot that reached 970 students in 2018-2019, Peninsula Clean Energy increased funding for 2020-21, so that more teachers can participate and more students be reached.

2019 Teacher Fellowship schools:

  • Aragon High School
  • Arroyo School
  • Bayshore School
  • Borel Middle School
  • Paaralang Elementarya ng Lungsod ng Foster
  • Hillview Middle School
  • Hoover Elementary School
  • La Entrada
  • Ormondale Elementary School
  • Summit Public Schools —Shasta
  • Willow Oaks School