Local Students Build Solar Oven

[williamsalisa75]

At Holland Township School, sunshine and true spring weather will bring the smell of flowers blooming and another sweet scent - cookies baking. That's because the solar oven - a project partnering Holland Township fourth-graders with Polytech students - is complete. Holland Township enrichment teacher Stephanie Bacskai looks to celebrate the accomplishment with batches upon batches of chocolate chip and sugar cookies.

Bacskai plans to bake the cookies initially with her third- and fourth-grade enrichment students to demonstrate the power of solar energy. "Our enrichment program at the elementary level connects STEM with sustainability to give students a unique learning experience that also encourages them to be true stewards of our environment," she said.

The goal of the enrichment program made the partnership between Bacskai's students and the Energy Technology students at Polytech a good fit. Six of Bacskai's fourth-graders took the lead on the project, even visiting Polytech with their parents to learn more about the design process and construction of the solar oven.

"This was a new experience for our high school students to learn through teaching," said Polytech instructor Charles Lachner. "They walked the Holland students through some of the math they used to design the oven and why some materials would work better than others based on their properties."

Bacskai has big plans to share the completed solar oven with the entire Holland Township School and eventually the entire community by taking it to farmer's markets and other local events. Her students are scheduled to share about this STEM experience on the local 89.7 FM WDVR live radio show on June 6. Looking further into the future, she said she would welcome another collaboration with HCVSD.

"So many of our programs have a STEM component, and we are always evolving curriculum and instruction with an eye on improving sustainability, so we see endless opportunities for partnerships with the Holland Township enrichment students and Ms. Bacskai," said Tanya Nalesnik, Assistant Business Administrator for HCVSD. "We look forward to seeing what else we can accomplish together."