2004 Home Energy Investigation Contest Highlights

Governor’s Office of Energy Management and Conservation Donates Photovoltaic System to Winning School.

The 2004 Home Energy Investigation Contest was an awesome success! During the 2003-2004 school year, more than 100 teachers and over 1,500 students from across the state partnered with CESC in the study of energy science, representing 38 middle schools, 20 high schools 9 elementary schools and one home school.

Nearly 250 students from twenty-five middle and high school teams representing thirteen schools and 11 school districts from across Colorado culminated their energy investigations by participating in the Home Energy Investigation Contests.

The statewide Contest was held on April 26, 2004, at the Green Center on the campus of the Colorado School of Mines. This Contest was preceded by the second annual Contest in Grand Junction, held on April 3, 2004 at the Mesa Mall in Grand Junction and a school wide Contest, held on April 16, 2004 at Jenkins Middle School in Colorado Springs.

Schools participating in the statewide Contest included:

· Alamosa High School, Ken Shimamoto, teacher

· Boltz Jr. High School, Katy Williams, teacher

· Central High School, Grand Junction, CO, Ann and Rick Peterson, teachers

· Glenwood Springs Middle School, Megan Dean, teacher

· Grand Valley High School, Parachute, CO, Brian Roddiger and Scott Sandblom, teachers

· Heritage Middle School, Becky Clark and Melissa Kolm, teachers

· Hodgkins Middle School, Denver, CO, Lyndsey Downes and Chriss Kilburn, teachers

· Hulstrom Options Elementary School, Marty Carey, teacher

· Jenkins Middle School, Brynda Aker, Diana Biggs, Barbara Leavitt, teachers

· John Dewey Middle School, Denver, CO, Sara Anderson and Deb Morrison, teachers

· Mt. Garfield Middle School, Ginger Decavitch and PJ Madigan, teachers

· Westview Middle School, Longmont, CO, Tammy Foley and Jessica Campbell, teachers

These teachers deserve special recognition for their commitment to facilitating learning through real world projects with their students such as the Home Energy Investigation Contest.

Our judges, representing energy professionals spent four hours examining each project and interviewing each student team. Judging took place in rounds, while some teams were being judged other teams took field trips on the School of Mines campus to the USGS Earthquake Center, the Geology Museum and tours of campus life with college student ambassadors. All student teams got to experience one or more of these educational tours.

Although all the students did a terrific job with their projects, the winning teams were:

High School Division:

First Place: Central High School, Grand Junction, CO

Second Place: Grand Valley High School, Parachute, CO

Third Place: Alamosa High School, Alamosa, CO

Middle School Division:

First Place: Penrose Middle School, Penrose, CO

Second Place: Boltz Junior High, Ft. Collins, CO

Third Place: Glenwood Springs Middle School, Glenwood
Springs, CO

These teams received cash prizes, but more importantly they identified homes to receive energy efficiency upgrades. An exciting addition to the Contest this year was the awarding of a photovoltaic system from the Governor’s Office of Energy Management and Conservation for the project judged best overall. This award went to Penrose Middle School and is being installed in time for the 2004-2005 school year!

Additionally, fifteen homes are being upgraded with measures valued at more than $15,000 thanks to the generosity of our many sponsors. The Home Energy Investigation Contest would not be possible without the generosity of our Program Sponsors.

Colorado Energy Science Center
1626 Cole Boulevard, Suite 375, Lakewood, CO 80401
303-216-2026 fax: 303-237-0992 cesc@energyscience.org