Carla Knipp smiled as she opened the solar-panel kit in front of her sixth-grade class on Oct. 7.
"I'm like a kid on Christmas," she said.
Knipp, teacher and assistant principal at St. Andrew's School in Tipton, was putting to use the tools she was given as part of the Missouri Electric Cooperative's Teacher Education Program, held in August at the University of Missouri.
Knipp was one of three teachers sponsored by Co-Mo Electric Cooperative for the two-day course that taught everything from the basics of electricity to the economics of power generation. Each of the eight cooperatives known as the Mid State 8 was able to send three teachers as part of this second-annual class. Knipp was joined by Cole Camp's Daniel Waller and Versailles' Tom Andreas in representing Co-Mo.
At the completion of the Teacher Education Program, teachers were given a box full of supplies and experiments to be used in the classroom.
"That's one of the main goals of this program, to help teachers teach the fundamentals of electricity to their students," said Ken Johnson, Co-Mo's CEO and general manager.
On this Tuesday at St. Andrew's, Knipp demonstrated how a solar panel provided in the box she received could light a light bulb. She then walked the students through an experiment she learned through a book of hands-on activities provided in the box.
Students took two D-cell batteries, some wire, a paperclip and other equipment to create a circuit that lit a small Christmas light. Amid outbursts of "cool!" and "awesome!" students took the initiative from there and improvised a string of lights or added two extra batters to light the light brighter.
"That's what this course is all about," said John Agliata, Co-Mo's Communications Manager and coordinator of the cooperative's teachers for the Teacher Education Program. "To see the smiles on the kids faces and to see these tools being used in the classroom and sparking their creativity and curiosity, it's why we're involved with this program."
The Teacher Education Program was created by the University of Missouri in conjunction with the Mid State 8 electric cooperatives. It features speakers from the university, the cooperatives and Ameren Missouri, and it included talks on biomass energy production, nuclear power, hydropower and the state's diverse electricity-generation fleet. The course concluded with a tour of Missouri's power plant, which uses a variety of traditional and renewable fuels to generate electricity.
Co-Mo is currently seeking three teachers, primarily those who teach science to middle school or high school students, for next year's class, which runs for two days in early August. All expenses are paid by the cooperative, and teachers receive a free continuing education credit if they complete the course, entitled "Energy in Today's Classroom." A second credit is available for teachers who complete a project assigned by the professor, Dr. Leon Schumacher.
Interested teachers should contact John Agliata at (800) 781-0157 or [email protected].