Zach1996
Registered: December 2013
City/Town/Province: South Chesterfield
Posts: 1
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Wind Is In!
By Zachary
On November 20, 2013, I did something that not every high school student does: I presented to the Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors. Along with two friends, I helped to propose the installation of a wind turbine on the campus of my school, Clover Hill High School. Although it was nerve-wracking and intimidating, I am proud that I was able to help my high school obtain such a significant instrument of learning.
The project, dubbed the Cavalier Wind Initiative after our school mascot, would not have been possible without the help of my AP Environmental Sciences teacher, Mrs. Michelle Huber. She applied for and won a grant from Dominion Power to cover the expenditures of the wind turbine. From there, she worked with our principal, Dr. Deborah Marks, in planning where the turbine could be located and how it could be set up. Also, they worked through the logistics of the installation process, which included setting up dates to propose the turbine to the community of Brandermill, the County Planning Commission, and the County Board of Supervisors. For this, they requested the help of some students. Dr. Marks proposed that Mrs. Huber have her current AP Environmental Science class research the model turbine we were getting and request that some of the students actually carry out the turbine proposal to the community, Planning Commission, and Board of Supervisors. I took Mrs. Huber’s class last year as a junior, but when I heard about the Initiative, I knew that I had to be a part of it. I talked to Mrs. Huber requesting to become involved in the project, and before I knew it I was the head student in charge of the project.
Once given the responsibility of being in charge of all the students involved in the Initiative, I tackled the challenge head-on. I researched the model turbine we were getting, discovering that it makes no more noise than a car running and has little-to-no impact on the safety of birds. Furthermore, I spent a number of days after school meeting with Mrs. Huber, discussing how we should present the proposal to each group and how the presentation should be divided among the different presenters. Additionally, I had the responsibility of communicating with my fellow speakers in order to inform them what they had to present and manners by which they should go about presenting it.
Come October 15, the day of the presentation to the Brandermill community, I was nervous as could be. I was dreading going into a room full of unreceptive residents who would question me on every intricate facet of the wind turbine, and I feared that I would not be able to address all of their concerns. Lucky for me, the residents were nearly unanimously in favor of the turbine. One concerned man asked Mrs. Huber if the turbine would actually benefit the students at Clover Hill, and with one stern look from Dr. Marks, I knew I had to answer that question. I told the man that the turbine had numerous benefits, including introducing the students and community to 21st century technology, exposing students to project-based learning styles that are more effective than classroom learning, accentuating the STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) fields at Clover Hill, and even generating enough electricity to hopefully power the school concession stand. After I answered the man’s question, the entire room of residents gave me an applause, and I then realized the overwhelming desire of the community to obtain the turbine.
I learned the day we were originally scheduled to speak to the Planning Commission that the presentation was postponed due to concerns that it would be rejected. The fear that the project may be rejected coupled with the intimidation of presenting to the County government officials made the actual presentation on November 19 scary to say the least. This time I was presenting with five classmates from last year. Dressed up and aided with a PowerPoint, we successfully presented our proposal to the Planning Commission. And to our great joy, they approved of our proposal.
For my classmates from last year, the presenting was over. But for me and two of this year’s AP Environmental Science classes, a presentation to the County Board of Supervisors was still to be done. The Board had the ability to overrule the decision of the Planning Commission, so we had to do just as well if not better with this presentation. On November 20, the day after the previous presentation, my friends and I proposed the Initiative to the Board. After the presentation, the Board unanimously ruled to support the Planning Commission’s decision to approve the Initiative, and some of the Supervisors spoke to me and told me I did a great job presenting.
This project is important to me for a number of reasons. First of all, the benefits of having a wind turbine on Clover Hill’s campus are innumerable. First and foremost, the importance of the location of the turbine on a high school campus cannot be understated. The exposure of students to the windmill will undoubtedly promote environmental stewardship amongst the entire student body. After all, once the students see the turbine up and running, they will begin to take interest in it, and consequentially they will be introduced to the concept of taking care of the environment. As years pass, the wind turbine can potentially yield a new generation of Clover Hill students that appreciate and care for the environment. Other benefits include bringing the Clover Hill High School community and Brandermill community together, giving teachers opportunities to have their students conduct hands-on research, allowing students to learn outside of the classroom, and the obvious benefit of generating electricity in a clean, renewable way.
Currently, the Cavalier Wind Initiative is in full-swing. The area in which the turbine is going to be set up is scheduled to be surveyed in January, the turbine is scheduled to be erected in February, it will hopefully be running in March, and it will be dedicated on Earth Day. I cannot express how much the Initiative has impacted my life. After seeing all the benefits that turbine will have on students at Clover Hill and on the surrounding community, I am inspired to work more with environmental outreach projects. In fact, I hope to study Environmental Sciences in college, and perhaps I can carry out a project similar to the Cavalier Wind Initiative. Until then, I plan to remain just as involved as I have been thus far in the Initiative, and I am looking forward to working with Mrs. Huber and the rest of Clover Hill in helping with this great project.
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