Newspapers in Education
APS sheds light on safety and renewable energy education for elementary school teachers

When it comes to renewable energy and APS, you could say it's a wrap!

That's because through partnerships with local newspapers and Newspapers in Education (NIE), APS brings its safety and renewable energy programs to the classroom.

APS recently sponsored a newspaper wrap featuring information on renewable energy, which was distributed in 26 northern Arizona schools and used by more than 18,000 students and teachers. APS will sponsor three more wraps in 2008 with possible topics including conservation and the Arizona Character Counts Program.

"We wanted something that would carry our messages about caring for the environment and that also would engage kids. We wanted to create something substantive teachers could use in the classroom," said Cindy May, Community Development Consultant.

APS employees also conduct workshops throughout the state such as the NIE Professional Development Day and Teacher Resource Fair.

Approximately 500 Arizona teachers attended the event organized by The Arizona Republic. The event included 22 workshop presenters and 57 exhibitors.

In Yuma, 30 area teachers took part in the APS Road to Renewable Energy Teacher Workshop in the Yuma Education Technology Consortium.

"This workshop will help me teach about renewable resources while being aligned with the state standards, plus it will assist my students to become better global citizens by providing them the knowledge to make wiser, better use of electricity," said Kevin Weatherbee, fourth-grade teacher, Mary A. Otondo Elementary School in Yuma.

Workshops also represent a great partnership between APS, the Yuma Sun and the Arizona Republic newspapers. The program provides materials in line with state standards and covers much of the science curriculum recently added for the first time to the state's standardized test, the Arizona's Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS).

The program received the Award of Merit at Valley Forward's 27th Annual Environmental Excellence Awards for its statewide impact in bringing renewable energy education to the classroom.