Pickering Associates, the Mid-Ohio Valley’s premier architecture, engineering and surveying firm, spent the morning with the sixth, seventh and eighth-grade classes at Hamilton Middle School showing students the power and potential of solar energy.
First, the students saw a brief presentation explaining the basic principles of sustainability (everything that we need for our survival and well-being depends, either directly or indirectly, on our natural environment. Therefore, it is our responsibility to leave our environment in good or better condition than we inherited it). Next, Nick Arnold, Pickering Associates Architectural Designer/3D Designer, explained how light from the sun converts to usable energy.
Students then took on active roles in an activity where they were asked to place model solar panels on print outs of the elementary and middle school roofs in Wood County. The students also calculated how many watts of power their panels generated and how long household items like cell phones could charge for with only one day (or roughly 4 hours) of solar energy.
“It’s always a great opportunity to share this education with students, especially early on” explains Arnold. “The topic of energy will continue to be a major headliner in years to come and we need to bring a more diversified discussion into the classroom. We need to help our students better understand how choices now could impact them by the time they graduate from college. Showing the students and actively engaging them in the technologies that we have at our disposal right now in our communities will benefit them greatly as they continue to develop and interact with the world around them. I was impressed with just how involved the students were and I hope we inspired them to look more deeply into renewable energy.”
“Having a professional like Nick come into the school and speak with the students is invaluable,” explains Erin Iafelice-McCullough, sales and marketing director at Pickering Associates. “Straight lecturing without an activity probably wouldn’t inspire many students to get involved. But, when Nick showed these kids how long their phones could charge, or how long their refrigerators could run with a single day’s worth of solar energy, he piqued their interest. Now, these students want to engage, want to learn, and hopefully, want to look seriously at how they can get involved and make positive changes in their communities.”
Pickering Associates doesn’t just ‘talk the talk’ about sustainability, it walks the walk. Making sure the environment is in great shape for the next generation is a staple of the company. To learn more about Pickering Associates’ efforts in sustainability read ‘Easy Being Green’, authored by Sarah Arnold by clicking on this link http://clutchmov.com/2015/04/easy-green/ .
Pickering Associates is a well-aligned team of professional architects, engineers and surveyors with a diverse depth and breadth of knowledge. Established in 1988, Pickering Associates was founded as an engineering company that has developed into an integrated architecture, engineering and surveying firm providing services to education, government, healthcare, industrial, oil & gas and private sector clients.
