Students get approval to raise 50k for solar panels

Most students’ class projects consist of compiling a PowerPoint presentation or making a colorful poster; seniors Claire Couch, Ali Kothari, Tyler Schuppert and Austin Kerby have a different type of project in mind. The four seniors proposed raising $50,000 to construct solar panels during a district board meeting on Oct. 4. They are hoping the panels will be placed on the roofs of either the gym or the MAP building and provide power to the majority of the school.

Couch, Kothari, Schuppert and Kerby are pursuing this ambitious project for their MAP senior project, which requires students to use their media arts skills to make a difference. They would be lucky just to get a plan passed by the end of the year, according to Kothari. The group has a long to-do list before convincing the school to install the panels.

Their adviser, physics teacher Kirk Davis, believes that it is an ambitious project, but thinks the students are off to a good start.

“The first step is to raise money by marketing through the mass media,” Davis said. “They’ve gotten approval from the board to fundraise so they are on their way.”

According to Davis, the students are also considering using the solar panels to heat the pool.
The group decided on the panels in an effort to get some of the school to be running on “green energy.”

“We were thinking of ways we could help change the school and then we came to solar panels,” Kothari said. “Plus, [solar panels] are way overdue at our school, and it is time that they happen.”
The reason they picked the MAP building and gym as sites for the panels is that they’re the only buildings on campus with the structural integrity to support them, according to Couch.

Before any panels can go on the buildings, the students first have to raise $50,000 to pay for the project. They plan to fundraise by making Internet banners, passing out fliers, hosting events and creating advertisements. According to Couch, they’ll also have some monetary support from solar panel companies and other organizations through donations.

The group is still trying to figure out the logistics of it all, such as how much energy the panels would save.

Couch and Kothari understand how much the group will have to do to reach their goal, but are confident that they will be able to now that they have the support of the board.