Students Give Community a Lesson in Energy Savings

It could be described as a science fair where everyone wins.  Students learned about energy and members of the community learned how to save it.

The annual Park View Energy Fair took place on Wednesday evening and with help from Johnson and Wales, Campus Compact and National Energy Education Development, the fair was the largest yet, according to organizer Joanne Spaziano.

"It's like a saving energy expo," said Spaziano,  a math teacher at Park View. "The students are here to teach people about how to save and conserve energy."

About 15 displays were put up along the walls of the Park View cafeteria.  Each one focused on a theme that was chosen by the students.  Axel Bourdiel's display was about what people can and can't recycle.  He noted that clean cardboard should always be recycled, but a greasy pizza box should be thrown in the trash.

"Nobody wants paper with grease on it," he said.

The sound of popping balloons eminated from the back of the room thanks to the Jumble exhibit.  It required people to pop a balloon and then unscramble the word inside.  The words were energy-related words such as renewable and fluorescent.

With summer hopefully making a speedy arrival soon, one exhibit focused on home cooling.  Amber Olivares said that a window air conditioner wastes the most energy of all types.  To cut down its energy use avoid leakage on the sides and upgrade to a newer air conditioner, older ones waste the most energy.  Her partner on the project, Arlette Deju, created a foam house with solar panels on its roof.  The small solar panels were wired to a fan.  When she turned on a light above the panels, the fans blades rotated.  It displayed how solar energy could be used to operate a home ceiling fan.

Parents and residents glided from exhibit to exhibit hearing each student out and gathering up little nuggets of information on energy saving.

Campus Compact, a coalition of university presidents dedicated to promoting community service, civic engagement, and service-learning in higher education, provided a $1,000 grant for the energy fair.  The grant was used to purchase compact fluorescent light bulbs, which were given out to everyone that attended the fair. 

Johnson and Wales pitched in by designing and implementing a marketing plan for the event, creating a logo and providing some delicious desserts.  J&W sorority Sigma, Sigma, Sigma volunteered at the fair.

Sebastian Trabucco, a Park View student, said he enjoyed the energy fair.

"I like learning about saving energy and being able to teach other kids about it," he said.