The Springfield-Clark Career Technology Center, or CTC, is one of three area schools set to receive awards Monday from Gov. Kasich's $250 million Straight A Fund project. The money allows schools from around the state to compete for grants designed to award innovative ways of learning and teaching.
The idea of this grant is to turn CTC into a learning lab for energy education.
Students will have hands on experience doing energy auditing, which means students will learn how to make buildings more energy efficient by looking at things like poor insulation and leaks.
What's more, says Superintendent Rick Smith, the school has partnered with a Dayton company called Energy Optimizers, so students will actually go with them to perform energy audits on other school buildings around the state.
"Part of the piece that attracted us to this grant, is that Energy Optimizers and other schools are going to allow our students to be a part of their projects, and also do some peer-to-peer coaching and teaching to other students. whether it is in elementary school, middle school or high school," Smith says.
Belinda Kinley of Energy Optimizers says this is a pilot project and they hope to expand this type of education partnership in the years ahead. She says it's a win-win for everyone involved.
"Through this audit process school districts can save significant dollars on energy usage by implementing some of the recommendations that the students will develop and those funds can be redirected back into the classroom for other purposes."
CTC is up for $240,000 in grants. Beavercreek and the Dayton Early Academy were also among 24 schools selected to receive Straight A funds.