Students for Sustainable Energy

At Montpelier High School (MHS) in Vermont, students are accustomed to making changes in their school and community. Over the last six years, MHS students have participated in the Annual Winooski River Cleanup Project, the construction of a solar-powered greenhouse that provides produce for the school's cafeteria, and a thriving composting program used to fertilize the produce and plants grown inside the greenhouse. This article describes the sustainable energy projects that students designed during the spring semester of 2008. An overview of the project is followed by a description of the planning and implementation processes, examples of specific student energy projects, and a discussion of outcomes and lessons learned. (Contains 2 figures and 1 online resource.)