Information and application at: www.aplusforenergy.com
BP has announced the third year of BP's A+ for Energy Program. BP will award up to $2 million in grants to K-12 California teachers for innovative classroom, after-school, extra-curricular, or summer activities focused on energy and/or energy conservation. Grants of $5,000 or $10,000 will be awarded directly to teachers, based on the budget submitted with the application.
Winning teachers will also receive a NEED scholarship to attend a five-day energy training conference in July and August 2005. BP is proud to partner with the National Energy Education Development (NEED) Project to support energy education in California. The all-inclusive NEED scholarship will cover travel, meals and lodging expenses in addition to a NEED Science of Energy Kit valued at $500 that includes helpful classroom tools and materials to help educators teach energy.
Teachers may also apply online at the website listed above. The deadline for submitting an application is April 7, 2006.
Last year, BP received 819 applications and awarded $2 million in grants and scholarships to 1,075 California teachers, representing 183 schools and 49 counties. The website has the list of winners from last year.
Note: check out this information from Rahus
Institute and even a template for application for a solar installation
that could
utilize
this grant at outdoor
schools!
CLICK HERE
Update: Mission Springs Outdoor Education was one of the grantees for 2004! Let's get all of our wonderful outdoor schools on board with this opportunity!
Going Solar at Mission Springs
Melissa Kime
Mission Springs Outdoor Education
Missions Springs Outdoor Education is located in Scotts Valley, CA, and hosts approximately 3,500 4-8th grade students from private and public schools throughout central California each school year. We primarily serve 5-6th grade students. As long-standing members of AEOE, as well as founding members of ACROS, Mission Springs strives to be a model of quality environmental education for other outdoor schools, as well as a leader in the field of Christian outdoor education. Our focus is to teach environmental stewardship and responsibility through hands-on experiences in nature. In partnership with the Rahus Institute’s Solar Schoolhouse, we have built a solar fountain in our school’s organic garden, and we regularly bake cookies with our students in a solar oven. The focus of this project is to enhance and expand this initial solar energy educational element that we’ve undertaken at Mission Springs. Primarily, we propose to install a working, grid-tie solar electric system in one of our outbuildings that is currently used as a first aid station during the summer, and which serves as the “home base” for our solar activities every school year. We want to be able to demonstrate current technology available for homes, schools, and businesses to our students in a way that will be fun and experiential. In addition, our teaching staff will receive training on solar energy education via a one-day Solar Schoolhouse workshop, and we will share two sets of hands-on solar energy materials. We understand that using solar energy as the starting point for teaching energy education is a natural starting point, given that all energy resources on earth originate with the Sun. Our current lessons and discussions use solar energy as a starting point to discuss various other energy resources, along with activities incorporating energy conservation and energy efficient technologies.