Oakland High School Solar on a Stick

Story submitted by Glen Kizer

Recently I have spent a lot of time at Oakland High School because our solar school team has been working to install a system as a part of the PG&E Solar Schools Program. The system is in and there will be a solar celebration this spring, but I have been privileged to go into the school and to get to talk to some of their students and staff. What I have found is that Oakland High School (OHS) has its own solar school team and it is working well.

I spoke to a number of their AP Science Classes and two (2) block classes of 10th grade biology and I also spoke at their Science Teachers Meeting after school. Katie Noonan and Kevin Jordan, who are co-Directors of the Environmental Science Academy at OHS, asked me to talk to their students and fellow science teachers. The Environmental Science Academy is open to all OHS students and has been in existence for 10 years.  They receive special funding from the State of California and they take field trips with an environmental slant to them.  Ms. Noonan is trying to organize a tour of a nuclear power plant. 

 

Everyone is so excited about the fact that their school was accepted in the PG&E Solar Schools Program. Katie and Kevin have their classrooms directly across from one another and for some of the class periods they would combine students in one room or another. Both Katie and Kevin were nice to ask me to come in, and while it appeared that I was running the classes, the two of them kept things on track and were in complete control of the direction of the discussions. I realized how some really good teachers make teaching look easy, but after staying in those classrooms for hours, I also realized how really hard it is to teach. If I were the President, teachers would make more money. The students asked questions all day and the Oakland HS science teachers all seem extremely intelligent and completely committed to their students and to the sciences. Some of the teachers have been to the NEED training and more are going. It is obvious from their excitement that solar energy will become a big part of their science curricula.

In fact, a teacher, Ceasar Lopez, has a solar car contest in his 9th grade science classes every year and his class won a nation wide competition using a solar powered train.  And Ms Noonan once had a student design a solar powered water treatment plant.  This school was already excited about solar energy and now they have their own “solar on a stick” that makes electricity for the school every day. 

 

On several occasions I have also been able to meet with Principal Mary Scott who may be the perfect principal. She is tall and confident and appears to be both strong and yet very nice. Principal Scott is also excited about the PG&E partnership at her school. She also talks about how nice the “solar guys” were and how they moved some lunch tables for her and how well they cleaned up the spot after the installation was complete.

Ms. Scott arranged for the pole to go in next to one of the primary doors so a huge percentage of her students see the solar panels several times a day. It is also positioned just outside the science department. She is committed to the solar project and everyone understands this at the school. The administration is completely supportive of this project and that is always important because the students and the faculty need to know the business side of the school has their back. At OHS, the administration is behind them.

If the students, teachers, and school administration are three (3) of the teammates in this project, then the final player on the OHS Solar Team may be security. There is always a threat of vandalism at any school and the solar array does sometimes attract vandals. In the hundreds of installations that I have been involved with there have been almost no acts of violence against any of the solar projects, but there have been a few and it has to be considered every time we do an installation.

At OHS, the security guard near the solar panels is named Tesfai Haile, (I took a picture of him after the pole went in and then another after the panels were installed…a kind of before and after.) The first time I parked near the spot where the pole was to be installed, I worried my car would be towed, but Tesfai told me not to worry and I didn’t. After that, whenever I visit the school, I go to the back and look for Tesfai and he talks about how much better the weather is in California than Ohio (where I am from) and then we talk about solar and the students and security. Like Principal Mary Scott, he is nice and is always smiling, but he also appears to be strong and smart and is constantly watching over the school yard looking for trouble. But he is not only protecting the school, he is also watching out over those solar panels. I am sure PG&E feels better about the fact that Tesfai is watching out over their gift.

So, Oakland High School has a working solar electricity system that will help their students understand how 100% clean electricity can be generated right there on school property. Teachers will use the PV system to help teach science and math and the administration can help introduce renewable energy to the neighborhood. And all of them now understand how working together as a team they can accomplish something that none of them could have done on their own. This is a great project at a great school with absolutely wonderful people and I believe more great things are coming for their “solar team.”

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 14th, 2008 at 12:14 pm and is filed under California, Perspectives, Solar Schools . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.