Kanawha Elementary students gets a charge out of learning about solar energy
CMTA solar engineer Katherine Cox looks on as Alyvia McCullough checks her list as the acting project manager Monday at Kanawha Elementary. Students were brought up and given titles to demonstrate the different roles and duties each member of the CMTA team has during the process of installing solar panels. (Photo by Douglass Huxley)
Students at Kanawha Elementary answer questions from Avery Colyer, a project manager for CMTA, on Monday about solar panels that were installed in the school in 2019-2020. (Photo by Douglass Huxley)
Bryson Munday checks the level of the model roof, as acting construction manager, while Katherine Cox, solar engineer for CMTA, helps. Students were brought up and given titles to demonstrate the different roles and duties each member of the CMTA team has during the process of installing solar panels Monday at Kanawha Elementary. (Photo by Douglass Huxley)
CMTA solar engineer Katherine Cox looks on as Alyvia McCullough checks her list as the acting project manager Monday at Kanawha Elementary. Students were brought up and given titles to demonstrate the different roles and duties each member of the CMTA team has during the process of installing solar panels. (Photo by Douglass Huxley)
Students at Kanawha Elementary answer questions from Avery Colyer, a project manager for CMTA, on Monday about solar panels that were installed in the school in 2019-2020. (Photo by Douglass Huxley)
Bryson Munday checks the level of the model roof, as acting construction manager, while Katherine Cox, solar engineer for CMTA, helps. Students were brought up and given titles to demonstrate the different roles and duties each member of the CMTA team has during the process of installing solar panels Monday at Kanawha Elementary. (Photo by Douglass Huxley)
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KANAWHA -- Students from Kanawha Elementary received a presentation Monday from members of CMTA, a consulting engineering firm, about the solar panels the company installed on the roof of the school in 2019-2020.
Cindy Oxender, vice principal of Kanawha Elementary, reached out to the engineering firm to see if they would come by the school and speak to the students about the process and work that goes into installing solar panels to help spark their interest in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math).
"We've already done solar at this school, so it just seemed natural. We did the engineering on the job, we actually did the install, as well," said Avery Colyer, project manager for CMTA. "'And this is real, this is at your school, it's above your head right now.' So solar seemed like a natural option for us to present on."
Colyer opened by asking the students if they knew what engineers did. Answers included fix things, build things and design things. Colyer said those were all correct answers and said that's all part of installing solar panels, like the ones on the roof of the school. He went on to explain what engineers need to know, and use, to do their jobs.
"So, predominately engineers use science, we use mathematics, we use technology, computers, things like that to help do our job," Colyer said.
Colyer then explained how they can use solar panels to create energy from sunlight. He then introduced Matt Anderson and Katherine Cox, both solar engineers, as the other members of the CMTA team. Anderson and Cox then brought up students and gave them titles and jobs, to demonstrate what the different roles and duties each member of the CMTA team has during the process of installing solar panels.
The solar engineer helps with drawing and design of the system; the structural engineer is responsible for making sure the building is safe to install solar panels; the project manager is there to keep everyone on schedule, the construction manager will build the system; the electrician will connect the system to the power grid; and the safety inspector will make sure the system is safe to use.
Each student was brought up, given a job, and the means to complete their task. The process showed the many steps taken to plan, install, and complete the installation of solar panels.
After the presentation, fourth-grader Lucas Jackson said he thought the presentation was "pretty neat" and that he liked meeting the members of the CMTA team.
"(I liked) actually meeting people who make solar panels and can actually harness the energy of the sun," he said.
Fifth-grader Addison Ruble said she'd like to maybe be a project manager one day.
"I like the person that makes sure everything is ok, and gets everybody ready and on schedule, so they do everything correctly," she said.
Douglass Huxley can be reached at dhuxley@newsandsentinel.com