KRONENWETTER, WI (WSAU) — Four area schools have received a share of $24,000 in grant money from the Wisconsin Public Service Foundation for innovation in education, including Northland Lutheran High School in Kronenwetter.
Science Instructor Rick Grundman says roughly $1,000 grant will be used to help students finish a new wind turbine for the school grounds as part of his renewable energies course.
“This grant is huge,” said Grundman. “It fills in that last component of wind energy. We have done a lot of work with the solar part, and this gives us something practical, a project they can do with wind.”
Grundman says the turbine has already been assembled by students who are also conducting studies of the campus to determine the best spot to place it. To this point, no professionals have had a hand in the project.
“It’s a DIY wind turbine, it’s not a very big unit, about 400 watts. The hardest part is going to be mounting it properly and securely because there’s a lot of pressure with the wind,” he added.
Grundman says Northland Lutheran has invested in renewable energy on several fronts, both for educational and financial reasons. The school has its own array of solar panels, including one of the only self-tracking arrays in the region. Those are designed to move with the sun based on the time of year and cloud cover to maximize efficiency.
The power generated from those panels is sold back to WPS when the school isn’t using it.
Additionally, the school has been recognized nationally for making energy-efficient change by Denver-based Renew Our Schools.
Grundman adds that renewable energy studies simply fit with the school’s Christian values. “It helps us to keep a better planet and use the resources that God has given us as wisely as we can. Also, to be good stewards of the things that we have, the gifts that we have.”
The grants are given to schools to encourage innovation in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education. Matt Cullen of WPS says any school in their service area was eligible to apply. From there, applications were considered based on several factors including how the desired items would fit into a well-planned STEM course.
“We certainly recognize the importance of those skills in science, technology, engineering, and math. They are skills our employees use every day to help us provide safe and reliable energy to our customers throughout northeastern and north-central Wisconsin,” said Cullen.
“By helping them purchase these types of projects, activities, or initiatives we can help them improve student knowledge in those areas. That can be important for future success in the classroom and their careers,” he added.
Wittenberg-Birnamwood and a Middle School in Merrill also received grant money. Tomahawk received two sets of grants, one that will help the school create a robotics team, and another for updates to hydroponics tanks that will allow students to grow produce for use in the school’s food service program and a community homeless shelter.
Cullen says he anticipates another round of innovative educator grants being awarded for the 2020-’21 school year as well.
