Contact: Estella Zavala 225-6437 or Doug Crockett 225-4673
Posted on: October 22, 2002

Tucson Unified School District will celebrate a new "EnergySmart Schools Partnership" by dedicating a 1kW solar photovoltaic system in a brief ceremony at 1:00PM on Thursday, October 24^th at the TUSD Facilities Maintenance Construction Portable, 2044 E. 15^th. Street. (Please see the attached map for ceremony location).

The Tucson Solar Schools Project, with $75,000 financial support from the U. S. Department of Energy, will provide initial focus for this collaboration among TUSD, Tucson Electric Power Company, Greater Tucson Coalition for Solar Energy, Arizona Department of Commerce Energy Office, Foundation for Environmental Education, and Rebuild America EnergySmart Schools Program. Six TUSD schools will be selected for similar 1-2kW solar photovoltaic system installations over the next two years provided through TEP’s SunShare Program. The participating schools will also receive targeted energy-efficiency retrofits, and teachers will integrate energy education into the curriculum to improve student performance.

Dr. Estanislado Paz, TUSD Superintendent; Tom Delawder, TEP Vice President; Craig Marks, Director of the Arizona Energy Office; and Blanche Sheinkopf, National Coordinator for EnergySmart Schools will activate the newly installed photovoltaic system and comment on this successful public/private partnership.

Rincon High School students who recently completed an "Energy Buddies" Project at Blenman Elementary School will also participate in this event as student guides and energy experts. With help from the Tucson Volunteer Center, these Rincon National Honor Society students applied for and received an energy mini-grant from the Arizona Governor’s Office to teach more than 100 4^th and 5^th grade elementary students about energy conservation, renewable sources of energy, and hands-on construction of solar ovens and cars.

Since 1994, TUSD has implemented several related energy education and solar installation projects that contributed to the current partnership. The Cooper Environmental Science Campus has more than 3 kW of solar electric generating capacity that is seen and used by approximately 6,000 visitors each year. Area high school students who built Habitat for Humanity houses in 1999 learned about and installed a 1.2 kW photovoltaic system for a local low-income family. A Photovoltaics for Schools Project completed in 2001 installed 8kW photovoltaic systems at Safford Magnet Middle School and Palo Verde Magnet High School. Solar energy curriculum was also developed and is still available at http://instech.tusd.k12.az.us/environment/index.htm.

The Rebuild America EnergySmart Schools Program will contribute additional technical support and educational resources (www.energysmartschools.gov) to help TUSD develop more high performance schools through this partnership.

Celebrating Tucson Energy Smart Schools Event Map (available in Adobe PDF)

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