LITTLETON —Mackintosh Academy in Littleton was recently awarded a grant for about $96,000 to purchase and install solar panels for its campus, thanks to the work of a group of sixth graders.
The six kids at the did all the work for the grant. The award is the first from State Farm for the middle school grades, as usually the grant is awarded to those in high school.
“It was something that really spoke to us … we said, ‘We can do this,’ ” said Delia Guilbert, 12, now in seventh grade, who helped write the grant.
The students wrote the grant as part of their exhibition project, a capstone for the primary grades. The solar panels are to be placed on each of the school’s three buildings by the end of the year by Bell Energy. Energy savings will be used for scholarships for students who can’t afford full tuition at the academy.
“As a school our motto is keen minds, compassionate hearts and global action, and this is the global action part of what we do,” said Joe Pausback, who was the students’ sixth-grade teacher.
Head of school Diane Dunne said adults at the school work to empower students to change the world, and this is a good example of that.
Sydney Gelman, 12 and now in seventh grade, said she thought they would write the grant and then be done with it.
“It’s gotten so much bigger than that,” Gelman said. “We’ve had meetings about all of this stuff about the grant. I feel like it’s never going to stop.”
But she said she’s not complaining. The new panels will not only provide about 70 percent of the school’s energy needs every year, but the panels (and the new monitoring system for their electricity usage) also will be used for years to come in school projects and curriculum.
“The ongoing benefit is certainly financial, but also educational, that we can be more aware of energy usage and modify our behavior,” Dune said.
Aside from learning about renewable energy, sustainability and other things as part of researching and writing the grant, the students also learned that hard work can pay off, said Nicholas Booth, 13 and now in seventh grade, who worked on the grant.
“Just the idea of having solar panels and all the work that we did to get this far — even if we didn’t get the grant, it would be a learning experience,” he said.
Pausback, who has solar panels on his own home, was more proud than surprised when the students won the grant.
“I was really proud of the work they had done when they submitted it,” Pausback said. “But when I heard we got it, I was just beside myself with joy and satisfaction and pride.”
Dunne said the students who wrote the grant serve as examples to other students.
She added: “If you work hard and you really focus your attention and care about something, it doesn’t always work out, but you can certainly achieve something.”
Woullard: 303-954-2953, cwoullard@denverpost.com or twitter.com/yhClayton
