Indiana High School Installs Solar Farm

Shakamak High School in Jasonville, Ind., recently installed a solar farm that is projected to save the school more than $1 million across the next 12 years, according to local news. The farm was connected to the nearby Duke Energy power grid on Saturday, April 9. Local news also reports that the school, located in Greene County, is the first in the area to explore energy savings through a solar farm project.

Metropolitan School District of Shakamak Superintendent Jeff Gambill said he looks forward to seeing the saved funds diverted into education. “We’re a smaller corporation, so $75,000 a year for a larger corporation may not seem like much, but for us, it means a lot,” he said. “We’re real excited about it, but there’s more benefits to it besides just the savings in our operations fund.”

WTHI reports that the energy savings could go toward supporting new school curricula and potential student career opportunities. For the installation itself, the district partnered with energy service provider Veregy, who provided lessons to students about the logistics and importance of solar power.

“Green energy is going to be a growing field going forward, and I think it provides an opportunity for our students to learn about that and learn about careers in solar energy,” Gambill said.

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • Campus Safety Requires Using Every Resource Available

    Across the U.S., school and campus leaders are facing a security landscape that has changed dramatically over the past decade. Incidents on school property have increased in recent years, with several consecutive years setting record totals. According to analysis of data by CNN, dozens of shootings now occur on school grounds annually across K-12 and higher education environments.

  • Planning with Clarity: Using AI to Make Better Campus Decisions, Not Just Better Designs

    Higher education leaders are being asked to make increasingly high-stakes decisions about campus facilities amid greater uncertainty than ever before. Social and economic pressures, shifting enrollment, and evolving learning models compete with growing deferred maintenance needs to strain even the most robust infrastructure budgets.

  • CU-Lock Haven Receives $1.75M Gift for New Entrepreneurship, Media Center

    Commonwealth University-Lock Haven in Lock Haven, Penn., recently received a $1.75-million donation from entrepreneur and alumnus Nicholas Subich ’17, according to a university news release. The funds will go toward establishing the Nicholas Subich Center for Entrepreneurship and Media, a technology-driven hub for innovation and experiential learning.

  • Quattrocchi Kwok Architects Opens New Office in Denver

    Education planning and design firm Quattrocchi Kwok Architects (QKA) recently announced that it has opened a new office in Denver, Colo., the firm’s third overall. QKA is headquartered in Santa Rosa, Calif., and runs an East Bay Area office in Oakland.