“Here in Utah, we have open positions for engineers who are qualified, engineers who know about energy efficiency and know about energy, and we can’t find those people,” Munson said. “We’ve hired some 14,000 people over the last year. … We need engineers. If we found someone who was qualified, we would hire them.” He said he hopes the program will encourage students to pursue careers in the engineering field.
While Solar for Schools is still extremely new, with the first teacher training just completed in March and some of the 73 schools still awaiting their solar panel installations, educators hope it will pique students’ interest in STEM fields.
“There’s just an excitement that comes. The kids are so excited about it, and I’m just really glad that a company is willing to step up and share that excitement with us,” Wheeler said.
Solar for Schools is funded by a $3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
For more on STEM education:
Solving the STEM Education Crisis
More news about solar power in education:
- New film fights negative perception of teachers - September 16, 2011
- Textbook-free schools share experiences, insights - September 7, 2011
- Social websites are latest sources for plagiarized material - September 1, 2011
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