Rural Missouri - September 2019 - 4

| C O O P E R AT I O N

photos by Zach Smith

The bright idea

Electric co-ops send educators to energy summer school

hen teachers prepare their lesson plans
for the coming school year, they probably don't think they'll spend a summer
afternoon wiring a single-pole switch
and light. For 40 teachers from Missouri and Iowa,
that task was just part of the lesson plan during
Energy in Today's Classroom. The two-day course,
organized by Central Electric Power Cooperative
and the University of Missouri, prepares elementary, middle and high school teachers for educating the next generation about electricity. This is the
seventh year Central and Mizzou have teamed up to
take energy educators on a ride through Missouri
Electricity 101.
"The partnership that we've organized to develop
and implement Energy in the Classroom is enabling
our Missouri STEM teachers to incorporate teaching
aids in their classrooms," says Leon Schumacher,
professor, program coordinator and advisor chair of
the Agricultural Systems Management Department
at MU. "It also shares how industry teams with
communities to provide the energy that powers our
economy. To some this is simple: turn on the lights.
To our energy providers, this is their goal, and not
only do they incorporate mechanical systems, but
they are conscious about the environmental needs
of our communities."
The class not only gives teachers ideas for the
fast-approaching school year, but also provides an
hour of graduate course credit. Presentations by
Central and Associated Electric Cooperative cover
everything electricity, including methods of generation, transmission and distribution. University professors and representatives from Ameren Missouri
cover a variety of lecture topics including energy

MISSOURI
Volume 72

SEPTEMBER 2019

Number 9

RURAL

"Devoted to the rural way of life"

Rural Missouri is published monthly by the Association of Missouri
Electric Cooperatives, Caleb Jones, CEO/executive vice president.
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RURAL MISSOURI | SEPTEMBER 2019

sources, energy efﬁciency and economics and energy production.
Teachers are excited to take what they've learned
back to their classrooms. Kelly Green, a Polo R-7
science teacher sponsored by Lewis County Rural
Electric Cooperative, says different types of energy
and energy production are of particular focus in his
eighth grade and integrated science classes. "This
is right in line with what we're doing," Kelly says. "It
gives you a good idea of how varied energy production is in the state of Missouri."
A highlight of the class is the opportunity to see
different methods of power generation in action.
Attendees tour Boone Electric Cooperative's solar
array and the Mizzou power plant, where the power
portfolio is made up of coal, natural gas, biomass,
solar and wind energy. Teachers return home with
a box of teaching aids provided by Central Electric
Power and the educator's sponsoring electric cooperative. The kits include experiments and models to help teachers bring some of the Energy in
Today's Classroom experience to their schools and
labs. Diane Samson, a sixth grade physical science
teacher at Warrensburg, says she took an interest
in the course because it addressed new curriculum
particular to science, technology, engineering and
mathematics, or STEM, standards with real world
examples for students.
"Rather than simply making series circuits or
parallel circuits, we're talking about how transmission works with distribution lines - things that are
more pertinent to their everyday life," says Diane,
who was sponsored by West Central Electric Cooperative. "In everything I teach, it's just like it was
made for what I have to do."

Top: Forty teachers from Missouri and Iowa attended the 2019
Energy in Today's Classroom course organized by Central Electric
Power Cooperative. During the class, educators toured the solar
array at Boone Electric Cooperative. Above: Managing Engineer
Harry Frank, right, shows attendees a natural gas turbine during a
tour of the University of Missouri's power plant. Below: Consolidated Electric Cooperative General Manager Lynn Thompson
listens to Harry describe the power plant's control room.

EDITORIAL STAFF: Jim McCarty, editor, jmccarty@ruralmissouri.coop
Paul Newton, managing editor, pnewton@ruralmissouri.coop | Heather Berry, associate editor, hberry@ruralmissouri.coop
Megan Backes, creative director, mbackes@ruralmissouri.coop | Zach Smith, ﬁeld editor, zsmith@ruralmissouri.coop
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Rural Missouri - September 2019

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