Clarendon Hills Middle School students don’t get handed easy task. The recent news about the dedication of a wind turbine to educate students and to save energy at the middle school was published in the Doings Clarendon Hills Edition recently. I was amazed to hear that students took the initiative to fill out the application and present their case before the Village. This is the sort of good tools that our kids are learning in Hinsdale District 181. Homeowners realize that the money they pay in taxes goes not only goes towards excellent education but also to attract more people to buy homes in the Village of Clarendon Hills, Hinsdale and Oak Brook and this keeps values strong. I am very proud to show off our town and our schools in Clarendon Hills. View Here
September 27, 2010
The dedication at Friday of a 40-foot-tall wind turbine at Clarendon Hills Middle School was the culmination of over three years of work by students there.
The students hoped to decrease the school’s monthly electric bill.
“Over the last year and a half, we’ve done a lot of research on wind turbines and the learning opportunities they might offer our students,” said Janet Stutz, assistant superintendent for instruction at Hinsdale-Clarendon Hills Elementary District 181.
Sixth-graders studied how to construct a new power company for their generation. Eighth-graders created wind turbine models and tested them with hair dryers to see which design worked best.
The turbine will only produce three to four kilowatt hours of power — enough for one classroom. But the school also has seven solar panels on its roof. If the school is able to buy more, it could eventually become energy independent, said Jim Cox, former assistant principal and eighth-grade physics and chemistry teacher, who headed the project.
The dedication ceremony featured remarks by school officials, students and invited guests, along with a musical performance.
The total cost of the project is $41,000.
A District 181 Foundation grant funded the wind turbine as part of its district-wide science initiative to enhance education about energy, ecology and the environment. The Clarendon Hills Parent Teacher Organization also provided funding for five additional electronic teaching boards for the school’s science labs.
The turbine was installed by New Edison Energy, of Batavia, The project also includes six of the firm’s proprietary, wireless educational display boards, which display real-time data on wind strength, solar radiance, the amount of renewable energy being produced and sent to the grid, with impact data such as CO2 reduction that can be attributed to the system.