For the City-Times

Students at Stevens Point Area Senior High School will learn more about energy thanks to teacher education through the Wisconsin K-12 Energy Education Program (KEEP) at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

Vic Akemann, a science teacher at the high school, took part in two university-accredited, graduate-level courses offered through KEEP. In “Doable Renewables: Renewable Energy Education in the Classroom,” he learned how to share the technology, costs and benefits of renewable energy. The course was taught by UW-Stevens Point ad-hoc instructor Steve Knudsen, a certificate program coordinator at Midwest Renewable Energy Association. He attended through a 2013 Constellation “E2 Energy to Educate Grant” through the Wisconsin Business Education Partnership initiative and the Mid-State Technical College Foundation.

In “Exploring Energy Education through STEM,” he learned how to enhance students’ understanding of energy, how it is transferred and how to use an engineering design process to explore concepts. The course also touched on safety. It was taught by Jeanine Gelhaus, an ad-hoc instructor for UW-Stevens Point and a Medford High School teacher. Scholarships were offered through Wisconsin Public Service and Alliant Energy.

KEEP is a collaborative effort between the Wisconsin Center for Environmental Education at UW-Stevens Point and Wisconsin utilities, and has worked with more than 5,800 educators and energy professionals to improve and increase energy education in Wisconsin’s K-12 schools. Educators are eligible to offset tuition costs through scholarships from their schools’ electric utilities. For more information, visit www.uwsp.edu/keep.