Mead High School has spent the past two years rebuilding the Energy Academy by updating the curriculum and finding new partners, seeing an increase of students registering for Energy Academy courses. “I believe it is because we have utilized our partners to make a fun and engaging curriculum that challenges students, and allows them to explore their individual interests,” stated Shannon Krack, Energy Academy Coordinator.
The Energy Academy allows students to focus on energy related topics while earning their high school diploma. Topics of study include wind, oil and gas, coal, geothermal, solar, nuclear, hydro-electric, and conservation. Students are required to take four core energy classes, six credits of science, and three elective classes. “My favorite lessons are the experiments we do with hydrogen fuel cell cars, roller coaster rides, and other fun experiments,” stated Aiden Pettitt, senior capstone student at Mead High. “They gave me hands-on lessons on energy and physics.”
There is also a heavy focus on the Design Thinking Process in the academy, which directly translates to a career in the energy industry, since it is all about finding solutions to problems. Energy Industry Fundamentals students are collaborating with each other to help solve current issues with the grid and rolling blackouts. “They are applying the content knowledge and researching new technologies to come up with a plan to help make a more sustainable and reliable grid system,” stated Krack.
There are many benefits of having the Energy Academy located at Mead High. “We are so centrally located and Colorado is such an energy-heavy state that we can actually take students on amazing field trips and they can see first hand what is going on in the academy,” stated Krack.
The academy continues to have strong relationships with partners that represent the many different energy fields from Oil and Gas to Solar and Wind. Taking advantage of these connections provides students the support they need to develop targeted interests that can translate to a future career.