Schools
Heritage Grove Teacher Lands Grant for Alternative Energy Program
Second consecutive year Thomas Haas has been awarded an Ecolab grant to fund science-related classroom work.
Heritage Grove Middle School sixth-grade students will learn how alternative energy sources work first hand, thanks to a $500 grant awarded to science teacher Thomas Haas.
It's the second Ecolab Foundation Visions for Learning Grant Program grant Haas has received in consecutive years. In 2009, he was awarded $950 to purchase 10 simple machines kits for his classes, Plainfield Community Consolidated School District 202 spokesman Tom Hernandez said.
Haas will this year's grant money to purchase six small solar panels and related equipment so all sixth-grade Heritage Grove science classes can demonstrate how solar panels work up close, and how they can be used to generate power, Hernandez said.
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"With the coming greater reliance on alternative energy sources, I felt our students needed to see that these advancements (in energy creation and production) are not just news stories, but are real and can make a difference in our lives and our future," Haas said in a released statement.
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