Foothills schools take part in a competition to reduce energy consumption

Join your neighbors at Chill Out Winterfest on February 4, 2023, for a day of fun.

“Mushies Cup” 10am @ Evergreen Lake. Use large in atables (we provide) and your team of two or four participants to race the members of your team around an obstacle course on the lake. Dogs stay home, people do the “mushing”.

Evergreen Amazing Race 1pm. Grab three friends, one of whom is the designated driver, and meet at the Stone House (1524 Belford Court) for the start of the crawl which includes challenges at each participating restaurant, consume a beer (consumption not required) and receive your clue to the next location. Each challenge will rack up points and the team with the highest number of points will be the winner. Ice Sculptures will be carved around town on this day with a theme of “Love is in the Air”.

Glow-Skate @ Evergreen Lake from 5-8pm. Come out to enjoy the full moon with glow items to light the way. There will be music, smores, and lots of laughter to shake us out of our winter doldrums!

PREregistration required @ evergreenchamber.org

Nancy Judge, President/CEO, Evergreen Chamber of Commerce

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BY DEB HURLEY BROBST DBROBST@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Several foothills schools are using less energy thanks to each school’s environmental-awareness club.

While some clubs have di erent names, such as the Green Team Superheroes and the Keep Conifer Green Club, the goal is the same: to help the environment. Parmalee and Wilmot elementary schools, Evergreen Middle School and Conifer High School participated in the Renew Our Schools challenge, a competition to lower energy usage with winning schools getting cash prizes for energy projects such as LED lights, window tinting, solar shades and more.

Students had ve weeks to get their schools to use less energy, and Resource Central, a Boulder-based nonpro t that operates Renew Our Schools, provided an eGauge that monitors energy use in the school building in real time. Students use that data to nd areas where their schools could be more energy efcient.

“All schools showed great participation in the competition,” said Carly Hester, program coordinator for Renew Our Schools. “ eir commitment to energy conservation and education really showed.”

She said the seven schools in Jefferson County that participated in the Renew Our Schools challenge were divided into two groups, and Parmalee and Conifer High School each won second place in their groups.

Some clubs use challenges among classrooms to lower energy consumption including turning o overhead lights and reducing the amount of energy used by pluggedin devices. e Superheroes said it was easy to do – turning o school lights when they weren’t necessary and unplugging anything that wasn’t in use, especially overnight.

Parmalee Elementary School’s Green Team Superheroes member Amelia Bega explained that it was important to help the school reduce energy to save money and to help the planet.

“It’s important to stay mindful to reduce energy use,” Parmalee Superhero Sienna Winters said. “If we reduce energy, it helps with the bills and how much energy we use.”

Parmalee’s Superheroes went to each classroom to take an energy audit, using instruments to measure the amount of energy being used. Led by adviser Lisa Dewil, the superheroes are enthusiastic about their quest to reduce energy.

Conifer High School has a Keep Conifer Green Club that meets regularly to work on improving the school’s environmental footprint, including the Renew Our Schools challenge.

Wilmot’s Green Team is very active, operating recycling and composting campaigns, in addition to lowering the school’s energy consumption.

Evergreen Middle School’s team, which is small but mighty according to adviser Julia Fliss, took part in Climate Action Day to get ideas on how to make the school more green.

“Climate education is a way to empower students,” Fliss said. “ is is a tool that helps them do something to help the planet.”