Commonwealth Academy Hosts Energy Workshop

On Thursday at Commonwealth Academy in Del Ray, students and teachers from several area schools were seeking answers to big questions concerning energy consumption in the United States.

Through thoughtful discussions, presentations and science experiments put on by students of the academy, workshop participants took a deeper look at energy use and ways to curb it.

Gerald Katz, also known as Mr. Energy and the President of the National Foundation for Energy Education, was on hand to as part of a small pilot program putting similar workshops in schools around the country.

Commonwealth Academy is just one of five schools hosting workshops this year, along with schools in Illinois, Oklahoma, Arkansas and North Carolina. Katz said the organization hopes to expand to 25 or 30 workshops next year.

Wearing a yellow lab coat adorned with stars and a blue ball cap emblazoned with the letter "E," Katz looked something of a cross between Bill Nye and a superhero. But the getup didn't lessen the message, as students confidently and competently discussed simple ways to conserve and tackled more in-depth issues involving taxation and other hypothetical government regulations on personal energy use.

"We're trying to get the reality of energy through to these kids," Katz said. "As an organization, we're trying to quadruple energy education by 2020. If we do that, the country will be better off."

In the morning, Alexandria City Councilman Rob Krupicka welcomed visiting students from public and private schools around the city and parts of Fairfax County.

At lunch, Mayor Bill Euille addressed what specific things the city is doing to be more energy conscious as well as what he has done in his home as a private citizen.

Euille highlighted the green roof that is being installed at City Hall as well as the city's adoption of an environmental action plan to guide the city toward sustainability. He also urged students to be advocates for the environment, asking them "to speak up and speak out."

"Not just as politician but as a common-sense citizen, these are discussions many wish were happening on Capitol Hill," Euille said. "It's time to stop the finger-pointing and to get committed.

"It's a very important topic and subject to know how this impacts and affects us," Euille added. "When we do all of those little things you've been talking about today we will be doing our part to save the earth."

For more information on Commonwealth Academy, click here. For a deeper look at Alexandria's Eco-City initiative, click here.