STEM Ed Announcement: News Release: Patrick Administration Presents - Energy Education Training for Teachers

[Morton Sternheim <mort@k12s.phast.umass.edu>]

News Release: Patrick Administration Presents - Energy Education Training for Teachers

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: August 6, 2009


Contacts:
Lisa Capone, (617) 626-1119, lisa.capone@state.ma.us
Robert Keough, (617) 626-1109, robert.keough@state.ma.us

Patrick Administration Presents
Energy Education Training for Massachusetts Teachers
Department of Energy Resources teams with Massachusetts utilities to offer
free â??Energizing Your Classroomâ?? workshop on August 19

BOSTON â?? Thanks to a workshop co-sponsored by the Department of Energy
Resources (DOER), dozens of teachers representing schools across
Massachusetts will return to their classrooms this fall armed with facts
and figures on energy and its environmental and economic impacts, as well
as a suite of new techniques and materials designed to engage their
students.

There are still openings for Kâ??12 teachers who would like to participate
in the August 19 workshop at the Best Western Royal Plaza Hotel & Trade
Center in Marlborough. To register before the August 10 deadline, visit
www.regonline.com/needmarlborough<http://www.regonline.com/needmarlborough>.
The free workshop is co-sponsored by DOER, National Grid, NStar, the Cape
Light Compact, Northeast Utility Systems and the National Energy Education
Project (NEED).

Titled, â??Energizing Your Classroom,â?? the statewide workshop reflects a
number of Patrick Administration goals â?? combining the Governorâ??s clean
energy priorities with his commitment to improving and expanding
educational opportunities throughout the Commonwealth by providing
students with the knowledge and skills necessary to compete in the 21st
century global economy.
â??Todayâ??s elementary, middle and high school students are the leaders of
tomorrow who will soon make decisions that affect the energy future of our
Commonwealth, our country and the world,â?? DOER Commissioner Phil Giudice
said. â??It is essential that young people have working knowledge of how
much energy we use, how it is generated, and how that affects other people
and the environment. This free workshop for Massachusetts teachers is a
vital step in that process.â??

Using materials and activities developed by NEED (and aligned with
Massachusetts state education science standards), the day-long workshop
will provide comprehensive, objective information about the science of
energy, energy sources and their use and impact on the environment, the
economy and society. Teachers will return to their classrooms with energy
curriculum materials and ideas for hands-on activities to use this fall.

Approximately 80 educators have already registered for the program,
including teachers from the following school districts: Acton, Andover,
Ashburnham, Auburn, Bridgewater, Brockton, Charlestown, Chelmsford,
Chicopee, Duxbury, Falmouth, Hopkinton, Lawrence, Leominster, Lexington,
Lynn, Malden, Marion, Marlborough, Milford, Newton, Northampton, Revere,
Rockland, Roxbury, Scituate, Springfield, Topsfield, Wakefield, Walpole,
and Winchester.

Members of the media interested in covering the workshop should contact
the DOER communications office (listed above).

###
Lisa Capone
Press Secretary
Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs
100 Cambridge Street, Suite 900
Boston, MA 02114
lisa.capone@state.ma.us
617-626-1119 (o)
617-913-8973 (c)