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Press Release
For Immediate Release
Contact: Tina McGovern 415-749-3600 ext. 19, outreach@gatewayhigh.org
Gateway Goes Green
April 30th, 2008
For Immediate Release
Contact: Tina McGovern, 415-749-3600 x 19 tmcgovern@gatewayhigh.org
Gateway High School Is Going Green
High school selected as a 2007 PG&E Solar School
San Francisco, CA – April 22, 2008 –– Press Release
Gateway High School has been selected to participate in Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s Solar School Program. Thanks to PG&E, teachers at Gateway will receive specialized solar science curriculum materials and training to help students further explore solar energy.
Gateway’s Environmental Science Teacher Will Parish and his students created a solar-powered recharging station to power mp3 players, batteries, cell phones, CD players and anything else that runs on a battery. It is a system that uses solar panels to collect sunlight and convert it into electricity which is stored in two big marine batteries. Those batteries are located on a pushcart and connected to an inverter which provides 40 outlets to power the students’ devices.
Mr. Parish started teaching at Gateway six years ago as the Environmental Science Teacher. He was hired because he exemplified the then headmaster Peter Thorp’s passion for teachers that “think outside the box and employ innovative approaches to learning.” One of Will’s ideas was to captivate his students’ attention through hands-on solar energy science experiments.
“Gateway has given me the opportunity to develop a renewable energy platform that can be duplicated at other high schools. The grants we have received from BP and PG&E have allowed us to further explore solar energy and build a working model solar power battery charging station,” said Mr. Parish.
PG&E’s Solar School Program Manager Karalee Brown heard about the innovative teaching of Will Parish and agreed that Gateway would be an ideal school to receive installation of a 1.3 kilowatt solar generation system valued at $25,000. Now the Bright Ideas grant from PG&E directly funds the acquisition of solar cells, construction of enclosure for battery chargers and all electrical hook ups.
Dmitri Borovkov, sophomore, works three days a week after school, cleaning the solar cells and getting the system ready for daily use. Students Gary Gwan, Robin Aubrey, Caroline Bazin and “Greening Gateway Club” oversee the solar charging and other projects. Students are open for business certain hours of each day. The system is sized to charge 40 devices at once.
The PG&E Solar Schools Program includes installation of photovoltaic systems in public schools, a solar-based curriculum training package, workshops for teachers and “Bright Ideas” grants which support innovative solar science projects in classrooms. Each photovoltaic system generates 1.3 kilowatts of electricity, or enough to provide for the power needs of an entire classroom. Since its inception in 2004, PG&E has contributed $6 million to this shareholder-funded program which includes 100 schools and has trained over 2,000 teachers, benefiting nearly 100,000 students throughout PG&E’s northern and central California service area.
About Gateway High School
Gateway is a San Francisco public charter high school whose mission is to provide a high quality college preparatory education to a wide range of learners.
Gateway was founded by a group of parents and educators who believed there was a need in the Bay Area for a smaller, personalized, college preparatory public high school with a commitment to and expertise in serving a diverse student population, including a significant number of students with learning differences. Gateway was one of only two San Francisco Unified District High Schools to receive the California Distinguished School award in 2007. This year Gateway celebrates its 10th year of operation and is now widely considered a model for what public education can and should be. Gateway is at full enrollment with 436 students in grades 9-12. Gateway has a learning disabled population of 25%, two and one-half times the level found in the typical American high school. Gateway has demonstrated that students from California’s urban areas can be challenged and supported in their desire to receive a quality public education and motivated to pursue an education beyond high school.
For more information, contact Gateway High School at 415-749-3600 x 19 www.gatewayhigh.org
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