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

  • Round Rock ISD Completes New Early College High School

    Round Rock ISD near Austin, Texas, recently announced that construction is complete on a new, 46,500-square-foot campus for Early College High School, according to a news release. The new facility will allow the school’s students and staff to move from portables into a permanent building and increase its enrollment to 500.

  • 144-Year-Old High-School Campus Debuts New Academic Facility

    San Diego High School (SDHS) in San Diego, Calif., recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new student services and classroom building; the project is part of a larger SDHS Whole Site Modernization project that began in 2022.

  • Benson Polytechnic High School in Portland, OR

    Preserving Legacy, Designing for the Future

    As historic academic buildings age, institutions face a difficult decision: preserve and adapt or demolish and rebuild. How do we honor the legacy of these spaces while adapting them to meet the needs of modern learners?

  • Spaces4Learning Trends & Predictions for Educational Facilities in 2026: Part I

    We asked, you answered, and the results are in! Last year, we put out a call for submissions to collect our readership’s opinion on trends and predictions for K–12 and higher education facilities in 2026.