Is There Anything Hermitage Middle School Didn't Do?

Our original plan was to conduct an energy audit of our school district and then develop a district wide conservation plan.
We had a guest speaker, Guy McUmber, from DEP talk to us about how to conduct an energy audit and then develop a conservation plan. We looked at the gas and electric bills provided by the business office.

We decided the energy conservation plan would have to be a long term project due to the extensive construction and renovation currently happening in our district.

We took a Green Building tour of the TREC and Asbury Woods in Erie. We got to walk on the living roof at Asbury Woods. While we were in Erie we took a Wind and Water class at Presque Isle and saw the wind turbine on the beach. It was certainly a windy day!

We also looked at different forms of Sustainable Energy. We designed and constructed solar ovens to make samaras.

We also sold compact fluorescent light bulbs during the month of April. We are participating in the One Million Light Bulb Challenge.

On Saturday, April 21 we participated in the Adopt-a-Shoreline at Shenango Lake. We picked up about 10 bags of garbage and separated the recyclables.

Many of us participated in stream monitoring with Creek Connections at Allegheny College.

We helped with Earth Week activities for the elementary students in Grades Kindergarten through Grades 4. We led activities on the nature trail focusing on habitats and the Circle of Life.

We were disappointed that we couldn’t conduct our energy audit and energy conservation plan. We feel that it will be much better to wait until the construction is finished.