Southwire Partners with West GYSTC to Provide Virtual Learning to Children Throughout the United States

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Southwire is partnering with West Georgia Youth Science & Technology Center (West GYSTC) to provide virtual learning opportunities about renewable energy to children across the country.

On Oct. 23, 2019 Southwire partnered with West GYSTC and Roopville Elementary School to Solarize-A-Classroom (SAC). This event took place in effort to emphasize the importance of renewable energy, recognize Southwire’s donation of six solar panels to West GYSTC and showcase how the school would utilize the technology.

Since the SAC event, Roopville Elementary School has been using the solar panels as learning tools within the classroom through a K-5 curriculum created by two retired University of West Georgia professors. This curriculum, which they worked to create the past three years, has seen successful results in the classroom, as it allows students to learn about renewable energy through a hands-on approach.

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In this time of social distancing and school from home, West GYSTC and Southwire have worked to adapt these lessons from in-the-classroom to virtual. Today, we are pleased to present the first in a series of virtual lessons, which we encourage any and all students, parents and teachers in the United States to use to teach children in grades K-5.

Victor Rundquist, senior development engineer and West GYSTC board chair, said that this opportunity is being opened up beyond the West Georgia area in effort to help teachers, parents and students implement STEM education into their learning plans. By doing so, it will help bring awareness to the importance of renewable energy and provide people teaching students from home the opportunity to use this program for free.

“I am proud that we have the resources to bring STEM education to all children,” Rundquist said. “Now, more than ever, we need to keep our children engaged in subjects like Science and Math so that we can foster the love for it, in them.”

To increase awareness of this program, Project GIFT®, Southwire’s employee volunteer program, has been working with its coordinators at Southwire facilities across the country to provide information on this opportunity. By doing so, we hope to encourage communities and school districts to take advantage of the new lessons that West GYSTC will be releasing every week to two-weeks.

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To find out more, check out the first virtual lesson by visiting the West GYSTC website at https://www.westgystc.org/solarize-a-classroom.html. On this site, you can find daily data collected from the solar panels and access the new virtual lessons, that will be released every week to two-weeks.

*Please note that the pictures in this article were taken prior to the US outbreak of COVID-19. Please excuse any reference that is no longer accurate, seemingly disrespectful or unhealthy due to general effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.