A cleaner approach blows in
Janna Goerdt, Duluth News Tribune
Published Saturday, January 06, 2007

The new wind generator towering over Proctor High School is doing more than generating pollution-free electricity.

The generator, whose blades have been turning briskly in the breeze for about two months, has become a highly visible symbol of the district’s commitment to earth education.

“It’s a billboard for earth education in Proctor,” said high school science teacher Derek Parendo. He proposed the idea in 2004 and — along with a core group of staff and students, a grant from Minnesota Power and assistance from Minnesota’s Clean Energy Resource Team — helped bring it to fruition.

The district already has three well-used school forests, one each at the Bay View, Pike Lake and Caribou Lake elementary schools; a decade-long stream study and water-quality monitoring program at the middle school; and a continuing push by district Buildings and Grounds Director Jack Johnson to make the district’s buildings more energy efficient.

So when Parendo approached Superintendent Diane Rauschenfels about putting up a wind generator to harness some of the wind that sweeps across the ridge near the high school, at 131 Ninth Ave., she didn’t hesitate.

“As a keeper of the earth, any time I have the ability to help staff work on sustainability issues, I’m willing to do it,” she said. “This is something I’ve long held close to my heart.”

A Minnesota Power grant covered half the $50,000 price tag for the generator, and the First National Bank in Proctor found a low-interest loan for the district to pay for the rest. Parendo said the generator should pay for the costs in five or six years.

Though it stretches 133 feet into the sky, the 20-kilowatt capacity generator is a mid-sized model. The generator’s electricity first supplies a nearby locker room. Anything extra flows into the Minnesota Power grid, and the district’s power meter rolls backwards.

Since the blades began spinning in late October, the generator has clocked about 2,000 kilowatts, Johnson said. An average home uses about 800 kilowatts per month.

But it’s not all about dollars and cents, district employees say. It’s also about teaching students

Press Release from Proctor High School

Proctor Proactive in Power Production
By Fleta Carol, Grants and Endowment Coordinator, Proctor Public Schools
December 2006

It was an exciting moment for many who would not accept the popular notion that “it could never happen.” Could a school district have the capacity to pay for, erect and sustain a wind generator? “You bet!” those involved proclaimed, as the vision became a reality for Proctor Public Schools on October 1st, 2006. After two years of sometimes frustrating work by several school district employees, and the help of a number of industry partners, the Proctor Wind Generator rose skyward, next to the Proctor High School track.

The wind generator idea really began in 2004 when Science instructor Derek Parendo began meeting with anyone interested in the concept. Jack Johnson, School District facilities maintenance director was on board from the beginning, as he saw the wind generator as an eventual means to save money for the district through in-house energy production. Superintendent Diane Rauschenfels was an early champion, being in regular attendance at regional CERTS (Clean Energy Resource Team) meetings, seeing the potential for the wind generator as a learning tool. Middle School Principal Kim Juntunen joined as well, in leading interested faculty members on the journey of Earth Education curriculum development. Proctor School Board members supported the innovative concept, and the mission was launched.

Industry and City partners really stepped up to the plate for this initiative. Minnesota Power awarded Proctor a $25,000 grant to purchase the wind turbine equipment. Minnesota Power employee Chris Reed was really helpful in keeping the project on track. Proctor Public Utilities contributed another $25,000 for the project. The time and energy of many people resulted in this latest successful innovation which puts Proctor Public Schools in another leadership role as the operator of the largest school-owned wind generator in northeastern Minnesota. Proctor also leads the way in studying the feasibility of wind power in a non-traditional wind area of Minnesota.

Proctor’s wind generator produces electricity which can be used by the school district or sold back to Minnesota Power. Proctor’s generator is a 20 k W Jacobs model, and could provide power for 2-3 homes. The next step for students at Proctor High School, and the next topic for a subsequent Proctor Power article, is figuring out exactly the energy production happens, which provides more applications of academics to real-life concerns for Proctor students.


History of Earth Education in Proctor

The focus on earth education for Proctor really began in 1996, with Middle School efforts to involve students in “stream study.” Since 1996, over 1,200 eighth graders have participated in annual sampling and testing of area streams to determine the levels of pollutants and the general health of the stream. Then, in 2001, a passionate 6th grade teacher envisioned the development of Pike Lake School Forest, initially funded by a $12,000 Minnesota Department of Natural Resources grant. Hundreds of Pike and Caribou Lake elementary school students benefit from this environmental immersion option each year, as elementary teachers have developed trails and imbedded forest features into many learning activities. School Forest success was followed by the award of Toyota Tapestry funding in the amount of $10,000 for an Outdoor Science program to be offered at Proctor High School in 2002. This highly popular program has been sustained by the School District and keeps students engaged in outdoor learning activities throughout the most frigid of weather, when they might calculate how long it takes water to freeze at various temperatures, or perform animal tracking activities which measure effects of environmental pollutants on living creatures. Development of Bay View School Forest followed in 2003, again fueled by the inspiration of a dedicated teacher and significant community support. Bay View students and teachers build use of the school forest into many curricular activities including the harvesting of maple syrup. The year 2004 saw the introduction of the wind generator idea— as an educational project. Many believed the concept of wind generation by a school district to be an interesting but unattainable idea. However, several dedicated teachers, students from the University of Minnesota, Duluth, a school maintenance director and community members, along with a $25,000 grant from Minnesota Power, and a $10,000 grant from the Braitmayer Foundation, brought the wind turbine vision to reality. The wind turbine became a classroom learning project in 2005, and became a functioning reality in October of 2006.

Proctor faculty members have become more and more enthused about the “earth education” activities occurring across the district. Staff members made the connection between our nation’s economic health and the availability of affordable, renewable energy. They take seriously their role as mentors in encouraging students to become conscientious environmental stewards. The scope of what might be studied and integrated across curricular lines grew to include a set of problems that cut across national boundaries and affect people in all parts of the world to some extent. Examples of such concerns include:
• Depletion of natural resources; development of renewable energy sources
• Demographic trends: declining population in some countries and exploding numbers in others.
• Climate changes due to human activities. Global warming.

Our teachers agreed that our efforts in education should stress the interdependence of people and the importance of international understanding.

In the fall of 2005, with Braitmayer support, Proctor teachers representing all K-12 grade levels and curricular areas began a serious journey into development of a coordinated K-12 Earth Education curriculum. This effort brought Susan Santone, Energy Education Specialist from the University of Michigan on board to work with Proctor teachers in earth education curriculum development. Some of the products of this curriculum work included:
• Completion of a Sustainability Education survey which sought input from teachers regarding their interest in Sustainability Education; this survey achieved great staff participation and indicated a strong interest in Sustainability as a K-12 curricular theme. However, teachers later determined that they would like to call their efforts “Earth Education,” to avoid the confusion, limitations, and stigma attached to “sustainability.”
• The Wind Energy unit, using the turbine as a focus and integrating the study of energy policies, economics of renewable energy and student projects about renewable energy which were presented to the public
• A Middle School Waste and Recycling unit which included waste and energy audits within the school, calculations of energy savings by recycling, and the science of materials reuse and extraction.
• Plans for teachers to infuse Earth Education goals into District Strategic Planning activities
• Plans for teachers to develop special assessments for measurement of student achievement in Earth Education objectives.
• Plans to further utilize existing school forests for additional learning activities and as a place to encourage community health and fitness activities.
• Plans for construction of school composting facilities and a demonstration “green classroom”

One of the most significant results of this Earth Education curricular work was the inclusion of Proctor in a National Science Foundation grant project called, “Building Leadership Capacity for Sustainabilty Education.” Proctor is the lead high school for this project, and will benefit greatly from the staff training and postsecondary involvement it will provide. Proctor is also in the running for a Lake Superior Coastal grant which would support efforts in the Bay View School Forest which focus on watershed health and preservation.