CTE Programs Expose Students to Fast-Growing Renewable Energy Careers
Date Posted: October 11, 2019
Posted In: Ideas, Workforce,
From EducationDive: In the driveway of a beige, single-family stucco house, teens in green T-shirts and hard hats check the serial numbers on two of the 13 solar panels that will soon be installed on the roof. Then they check the voltage on the panels — just a few of the tasks they’ll complete to assist the crew members that are mapping out where the panels will go and running the conduit that will protect the wires.
Meanwhile, the homeowner’s mother is in the kitchen, cooking rice, beans and tacos, and three little girls yell “Hi!” to the workers outside.
The two-day project is one of many that students from Desert Hot Springs High School’s Renewable Energy Academy of Learning (REAL) have completed over the past seven years in the Coachella Valley region as part of Grid Alternatives’ Solar Futures program.
A nonprofit with offices in California, Colorado, Washington, D.C., and Nicaragua, Grid Alternatives brings free solar to low-income communities. Homeowners that qualify for the program agree to provide lunch for the crew and ideally, share information about the program with their neighbors.
Through the five-hour Solar Futures program, which receives support from Silicon Valley-based SunPower, the organization exposes high school students to the renewable energy field and provides opportunities to participate in an installation.
“When we let them know there’s an install coming up, it’s always a rush to see who can get their papers in first,” says career and technical education teacher Casey Heiser. “All of them want to do it.”
A Solar Futures “toolkit” with an introduction to renewables and career pathways is also available for elementary and middle schools.
Eleventh-grader Giovanni Elizalde first learned about REAL when he was in 8th grade.
“What interested me the most was hands-on work,” he says. “Most academies will tell you this, this and this. [REAL] actually takes you on the job site. You gain the skills and make mistakes, obviously.”
Because he’s not yet 18, he’ll have to wait until next year to work on the roof, but he’s also looking at his prospects beyond high school. “I’m trying to make some good future decisions.”