MOUSE, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to encouraging youth, has partnered with Solar One to launch GreenTECH program that provides youth with an opportunity to positively impact the greening of their schools and communities.
The program was funded by a three-year, $1.08 million grant from the National Science Foundation to Solar One, MOUSE, and the NYU Wallerstein Collaborative. It aims to boost youth interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) skills while introducing them to environmental sustainability and green technology.
GreenTECH is seen as a way to empower youth to engage with and apply science and technology in ways that position them as activists to address real world problems.
MOUSE launched its own badge-based learning program, which includes three levels of hands-on activities for students and teams, and videos that profile engineers and designers involved in energy careers.
MOUSE also developed the GreenTECH Lab, a web app that allows youth to visually-display carbon footprint data in their school and reduce its impact.
“MOUSE has done a really terrific job adapting our CleanTech program to help students better understand energy and renewables,” said Chris Collins, executive director, Solar One. “GreenTECH is so engaging and fun that I am confident it will inspire the next generation of green engineers, scientists and architects.”
To formally recognize the achievements and validate their experience in blending technology with environmental science and leading the greening projects in their school, participants in this program will earn a new MOUSE Squad GreenTECH Badge.
GreenTECH empowers youth to learn how energy is created and the potential of renewable energy. It offers a range of projects, such as building an electric generator, performing an energy audit and creating solar-powered toys.
These projects will create multiple opportunities for young people to gain expertise in technology, data collection and analysis, and sustainable solutions as they improve their STEM skills and prepare for higher education and careers in the growing green economy.
“We are posing real-life issues to our students and asking them to research the problems and come back to their school leaders with actionable solutions,” said Daniel Rabuzzi, mouse executive director.
“These students are poised to have a real impact not only on their schools, but in their communities and the environment as a whole. That’s something they can take with them to college, their first jobs and beyond,” Rabuzzi added.
GreenTECH has been piloted in four schools in New York City and the MOUSE GreenTECH Badge is now available to MOUSE sites across the country, where students can identify energy-saving opportunities in their schools, then research and recommend changes to reduce their schools’ carbon footprint.