Sheffield — This fall, Mount Everett Regional High School is at work developing a new Clean Energy Innovation Pathway after receiving a $25,000 planning grant from the state of Massachusetts. The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center partnered with state education departments to design the pathway, and Mt. Everett is one of only a few schools selected to pilot the program.
Southern Berkshire Regional School District Superintendent Dr. Beth Regulbuto said the grant is a perfect fit for this area, where people are very interested in protecting the planet, our resources, and “our beautiful land out here,” adding, “It’s definitely one of those forward, future-facing things. This is where a lot of industry is going.”
The curriculum, which will span environmental science, renewable energy, and electric-vehicle engineering, will cover all the STEM initiatives and provide students with hands-on learning that will help prepare them for jobs in the field of clean energy. The program will likely be implemented next school year.
“I think there’s going to be a lot of passion and excitement around this opportunity,” Regulbuto shared. “When kids have a passion for something, they’re more apt to take it on. So we’re really excited to set them free on this and see what they’re going to come up with.”
The coursework, she says, will likely build off some of the work they’re already doing in the Innovation Career Pathways, which offer programs in advanced Manufacturing and Information Technology. The rest will be based on student passion and need. As always, she says, “we will see where student interest takes us.”
The school has a course this semester on building, design, and construction that Regulbuto can imagine “overlapping a lot with clean energy or green building, or any of those types of programs as we move forward.” With the solar panels on campus, she says, “I think students are seeing the different ways we can power facilities, so it’s a really great experience right here.” Or with engineering, students could pursue new designs that are more environmentally friendly.
“I think we have people interested in different things, whether it’s architecture or environmental law or advocacy. It can be taken in a whole bunch of different directions, or just be finding ways to improve transportation with electric cars, so it’s really wide open to whatever they find interesting and exciting.”
And the school already has a strong foundation in some of these programs. Last May, students in the Aerospace Engineering class, part of the Innovation Career Pathway in Manufacturing, built an electric go-kart as part of a project to study the engineering of the original Lunar Rover. Students Tatum Oates, Declan Piel, and Chet Schur participated for the first time in the 28th Annual Connecticut Technology and Engineering Educators Association (CTEEA) Alternate Energy Race. They completed 82 laps, overcame a setup in the middle of it that forced them to troubleshoot and regroup, and came home with third place.
“This has been a tremendous hands-on learning experience for these kids,” Mount Everett Technology Director Chris Thompson said of the project. “To start with only parts and build something that they can actually drive is pretty empowering for them. It gives them a better understanding of how electric vehicles work, which is an important skill to have as we look toward the future of the auto industry.”
Courses in the new pathways will seek new partnerships with community organizations, so that students can have these hands-on experiences “in actual industry,” said Regulbuto. The district has been planning with the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, and she imagines students will be able to tap into the variety of environmental organizations in the Berkshires.
As is currently the case, students won’t have to pick one pathway and stay in it; they can pick and choose based on their interests and as the new curriculum gets developed. “I think it’s really important in a small school district that you’re not necessarily pigeon-holed,” Regulbuto said. “You don’t have to pick something and choose it forever, but you might work in that pathway for as long as you’re interested and it meets the needs for you.”
“You can move among all of them to see what you like, or you can be very focused if you already know,” she added.
With this fluid, student-driven design, “there’s a really nice energy that we’re noticing,” Regulbuto shared. “It’s really helping build confidence and curiosity. Kids seem really energized and excited to try things. You want to get kids engaged, wanting to come to school and wanting to take on projects. I’m really, really pleased with that,” she continued. “I think you can feel it. You can feel the excitement about the different things they have opportunities to try. There’s definitely a palpable change in the energy.”
