Eden Education: A Year In Review

Our Education Program Manager Jaimi DeFeo and Education Coordinator Michelle Carrigan-Smith stayed pretty busy this past school year. Let’s take a look at what our education program accomplished last year.

Eden has made some great strides in education outreach in the 2021-2022 school year. The best part was meeting so many excellent teachers, principals, guidance counselors, and students which made it all possible and worthwhile.

We delivered two live webinars: Solar Farms and Carbon Footprints, and Green Careers STEM Live. During the Solar Farms and Carbon Footprints webinar, Jaimi explained how solar farms work and showed a film of a solar farm tour. Students were able to explore their own carbon footprints gaining more understanding of why renewable energy is so important and how to reduce their carbon impact.

We held a Green Careers STEM Live Webinar in May, attended by a 7th-grade class from Maple Hill Jr/Sr HS. The students heard from four people building careers in the solar industry with Eden Renewables: Nadia Assad, Jennifer Galavotti, Stephanie Tomlinson, and Michelle Smith-Carrigan. During the webinar, they learned about their key skills and career path - which range from x to y - and asked a wide range of questions. Following its success, the plan is to program in four over the next academic year.

In June, our first group of students joined us for a field trip at the newly constructed but not yet operational Cedar Hill community solar farm in Schodack, New York. The visit included a tour of the solar farm, the completion of the Solar Farm Challenge, and a biodiversity study. The children were equipped with nets and big pots to study the habitat at this pollinator-friendly project. 

To end the year high school students within our host communities interested in pursuing a degree in fields that benefit the environment had the opportunity to apply for our 2022 Green STEM Scholarship Program. From these applications, 9 students received a total of $10,000. 

Now that everyone is back in the classroom, we are looking forward to seeing students and teachers in person and planning field trips to our sites and workshops in the classroom. We will still offer all those great programs from last year—but now have even more. Is your school in one of our host communities? Book an activity for your class today!