As part of the National Youth Leadership Council’s Generator Go Green Initiative Grant, 34 Hurst Middle eighthgraders participated in a Student Energy Auditor Training workshop presented by the Alliance to Save Energy from Washington DC. According to the United States Department of Energy, most school districts across the nation spend more on utilities than anything except for teacher salaries. Utilities are the largest single manageable item of a school budget. About 25 percent of the energy used in a typical school is wasted because of energy inefficiency in its systems and operations. Having the students trained as energy auditors and performing an audit on our school could lead to a monetary savings, but more importantly lead to using our natural resources more efficiently. During the training, students gained first-hand experience analyzing how energy is used at their school. Students learned about many aspects of energy efficiency and energy auditing and conducted real audits of selected areas in the school.

Harry Hurst Middle is one of only 16 middle schools in the nation chosen to participate in the new NYLC Go Green Initiative that combines service-learning with STEM (Science Technology Engineering Math) based education. Partners of the new Wetland Watchers Student Energy Audit Program include Atmos Energy, Entergy and the St. Charles Parish Department of Community Services.