Soaking Up the Sun at Bird School

Plymouth’s , a two-time Michigan Green School recipient, has officially gone “off the meter” -- the energy meter that is. 

Bird is one of just 18 schools in the state -- and the first in the Plymouth-Canton Community School (P-CCS) district -- to receive a solar energy grant for renewable energy from Great Lakes Energy Services Inc., (GLES) a non-profit organization focused on delivering renewable energy education and technology in the region.  

The $28,000 grant provided for an eight-panel solar photovoltaic array engineered and installed by The Green Panel, Inc., a solar energy company based in Brighton, Mich., that partnered with GLES and Bird on the project. 

“We’re proud to have been rewarded for our strong involvement in energy conservation and environmental protection,” said Bird Principal Susan Kelty. “After reducing our energy consumption, recycling, reusing, protecting the environment, and teaching our students how to excel in these areas, we’re excited to go one step further and produce some of the energy the school needs.”

Along with the grant comes a Mobile Renewable Energy Classroom, run by GLES, which will demonstrate renewable energy technology to students of all ages, Kelty said. The mobile classroom will be available to all Bird students, as well as 6th grade science classes at neighboring , when it visits on May 11 and 12. 

“We’ll also receive a computer program – accessible to all Bird students – that will monitor the amount of renewable energy harvested from the sun, translate how this energy is converted into electricity, and estimate how much the building will save on energy costs by using renewable energy,” Kelty said. 

Another huge part of the educational benefits is the way the energy grant project correlates with and supports the district’s curriculums for science, math and social studies.

“If you look at the emphasis on education, there are literally a hundred ways this supports it,” Kelty added. 

Although the array won’t take the school entirely off the grid, it will generate enough electricity to make a significant impact on the school’s energy costs.  

 “The array is connected to 10 classrooms, mainly kindergarten and first grade rooms, and will generate approximately 2300 kilowatt hours of electricity per year, or enough to fill the energy needs of two classrooms,” said Agnes Pelosse, president of Solar Solutions, Engineering and Operations for The Green Panel, Inc., who is also the parent of a Bird student.

“Bird is very deserving of this grant,” Pelosse said. “They’ve done so much to help educate students about the environment, which is something I’m very passionate about.”  

Of course, receiving the grant involved a lot more than just filling out an application. The first step in the process was achieving Michigan Green School status – a mandatory requirement for applying for the grant. 

Among those activities that earned Bird its Green School designation: 

• Energy conservation and management efforts that reduced Bird’s energy costs, saving the district a total of $16,813 between August 2009 and July 2010. These efforts resulted in Bird being awarded an “Extra Miler Award” from the School Board. 
• School-wide recycling programs for printer cartridges, cell phones, batteries, newspapers and magazines, plus paper recycling bins in every classroom and staff workroom.  All the paper products are disposed of in the Paper Retriever Recycling bin, located in Bird’s parking lot, which is operated by Abitibi Bowater, one of the largest recyclers of newspapers and magazines in North America.
• All-school assemblies to teach students about recycling including presentations from Abitibi respresentatives, as well as other ecological speakers.
• Working in conjunction with the Plymouth “Green Street Fair” during the spring of 2010 on a project titled, “Flip Your Lid,” where Bird students, parents and staff saved thousands of plastic lids and reused them to create large, flower-shaped sculptures and three colorful murals. One of the murals was donated to Mott Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor, another was donated to the Burroughs Corporation that partnered with Bird on the project, and the third is displayed in the school.  

“Many people have worked hard to make this happen,” Kelty said. “Bird School students, parents and staff have worked hard to receive the designation of Michigan Green School. Harry Lau, director of buildings and grounds for PCCS has been communicating and working with Great Lakes Energy and The Green Panel. Megan Fenech, coordinator for the district’s Math and Science curriculum, and Kay Elaster, who looked at the English/Language Arts and Social Studies curriculums, worked hard helping us develop a rationale for the Board of Education.

“This is something that should be celebrated,” Kelty continued. “It’s great for Bird School, it’s great for the district, and it’s great for our students. 

 “This isn’t just about saving money,” she added. “It’s about the education.”