From Feb. 12 - Mar. 19, 8 schools in Douglas County School District will be competing for their share of $36,000 by saving electricity during a 5-week competition called ReNew Our Schools. The competition provides an exciting opportunity for schools to demonstrate how much electricity a school can save by changing energy behaviors. The competition, funded by All Points North Foundation (#allpointsnorthfoundation) and administered by Resource Central (formerly Center for Resource Conservation), in partnership with Douglas County School District, is intense and creates a great sense of friendly competition among the schools.

HOW IT WORKS

The 8 schools are divided into 2 groups and for the 5 weeks they will try to save as much electricity as they can by changing their energy behaviors and encouraging others to do the same. Schools can earn points by getting households to pledge to save energy, and by completing activities such as a school-wide energy audit, creating creative signs and using energy–themed lessons in their classroom. They monitor their energy use through the eGauges installed in their buildings, which they get to keep after the competition!

Each school receives support from the community—ReNew Our Schools recruits local energy professionals that act as mentors who support the schools during the competition. These mentors not only support the students and help them make energy-saving changes in their building, they also expose the students to careers in the energy field. For this competition, we have support from Colorado Energy Office, McKinstry, Black Hills Energy, Group 14 Engineering, Hord Coplan Macht, Abraxas Energy, Energy Outreach Colorado, and EnergySmart Colorado.

Elementary Cohort

Buffalo Ridge Elementary

Eldorado Elementary

Frontier Valley Elementary

Prairie Crossing Elementary

Pine Lane Elementary

Middle/High Cohort

Cresthill Middle School

Sierra Middle School

Castle View High School

Thank you to Resource Central and All Points North Foundation. We are so grateful for your support. Best of luck to the competitors! Make sure to cheer on your favorite "team"!

To learn more about the competition, and to see how the schools are doing, visit

https://resourcecentral.org/renew-our-schools/current-competition/

Take your class to a real ranch! The Colorado Agricultural Leadership Foundation’s (CALF) Connecting Kids to Agricultural Programs are now open for spring, summer and fall registrations. CALF offers authentic, hands-on field trips at its historic Lowell Ranch – a working educational ranch just south of Castle Rock. CALF’s takes great care to create and offer programming that engages students in authentic, fun learning activities that align with grade level expectations. CALF offers a wide range of field trip opportunities at affordable prices, including customization. For more information visit CALF’s website: www.thecalf.org

Fun Volunteer Opportunity: Do you know a retired teacher, substitute teacher, or teacher at heart (or YOU!), that would like to spend time outside teaching children? Join the Colorado Agricultural Leadership Foundation’s (CALF) education team! We offer a fun, engaging, rural environment. If you enjoy being with children and being in the country, you will love being a CALF Education Volunteer. CALF provides all needed content training for you to successfully engage the elementary school students visiting CALF’s Lowell Ranch during elementary school field trips. For more information: kim@thecalf.org

The Water Ambassador Program is a water education program for high school and elementary school students across Douglas County. The program provides an engaging, hands-on look at water in Colorado.

High School Program

• Explore water in Colorado – Where does our water come from? How do we use it? Why should we conserve it?
  
• Share new knowledge with elementary school students
  
• Earn community service hours

Elementary School Program

• Explore water in Colorado through a hands-on presentation.
  
• Enhance classroom water and sustainability units.
  
• Engage students in the why of water conservation.
  

Elementary students can participate in a 60-minute presentation usually led by area high school students with direct support from professional educators. To learn more about the program and to schedule a visit to your school, visit our website or email WaterAmbassadors@southmetrowater.org. Water Ambassadors is a program of South Metro Water Supply Authority and has been increasing water knowledge in south metro Denver since 2009.