The Duke Energy Foundation has awarded a gift of $10,000 to the Center for Energy Education, a non-profit organization committed to providing energy education and training in Northeastern North Carolina.
“Lending support to the Center for Energy Education, located adjacent to our 20-megawatt Halifax Solar Project, helps advance education for teachers and students in Eastern North Carolina,” said Rob Caldwell, president of Duke Energy Renewables and Distributed Energy Technology. “This aligns with our goals to continue growing renewable energy in the state and contributing to a strong economy.”
This funding will support C4EE ‘s efforts to provide professional development training programs for middle and high school science teachers.
The program focuses on a solar curriculum which equips teachers to bring all aspects of solar technology into the classroom.
To date, 22 science teachers from local public, private and charter schools have participated in the program.
“This will be our third year to offer this unique training to our local science teachers,” said Mozine Lowe, executive director of C4EE. “This training takes our work directly into the classroom where we hope to inspire our students to become energy professionals.”
“We are proud that Duke Energy continues the relationship with the center. It proves that our efforts in the past few years have not gone unnoticed, “ said Georg Veit, CEO of Geenex and chairman of the board for the center. “We will continue to work in the communities and help provide the benefits of a changing energy landscape to our region. Energy education is key to prepare for jobs in the sector, and an educated workforce is necessary to ensure the United States will continue being a leader in this sector.”
“High-quality professional development for teachers is a critical component to educating students about North Carolina’s growing solar industry,” said Tanya Evans, Duke Energy district manager. “We’re proud to support C4EE and know this investment will extend beyond these teachers to the hundreds of students they reach every day.”
The 2017 Train the Trainer workshop for science teachers is scheduled for August 8-9 for middle school teachers and August 10-11 for high school teachers. Both workshops will be held at the Center for Energy Education , 460 Airport Road, Roanoke Rapids.
The center is set for its grand opening in October.