Mount Vernon Honor Academy Students 'Light' The Way

MOUNT VERNON, NY — A group of students helped bring some much-needed sunshine into the world, and gave us all a glimpse of the future.

From the Mount Vernon City School District.

Students at Mount Vernon Honor Academy learned about different renewable energies and conducted experiments powering different devices using that energy. New Yorkers for Clean Power, a non-profit organization working to expand career opportunities in clean energy, visited the school on Friday, February 7, 2025, to teach the free lesson and run energy experiments.

Len Luka, renewable energy coordinator, and Melissa Iachetta, program manager, from New Yorkers for Clean Power began the session with a presentation about renewable and non-renewable energy. Students learned about different power sources and concepts such as the greenhouse effect. They also learned about the solar system, with the sun as the main major energy source for Earth.

“Renewable energy is high in demand – solar power, wind power – that’s the direction that the U.S. is going, and it’s a cleaner, healthier direction. So, we want to get kids interested in climate education, climate change, and then maybe they’ll be interested in a green job in the future. Being a solar installer, a wind turbine technician, etc. So we come do these workshops to get them excited at an early age about renewable energy.”

Students also learned about different renewable energy innovations such as photovoltaic power stations, known as solar farms, and careers that renewable energy has created.

They then began working on their experiments. Students used multimeters, which test voltage, and connected them to small solar panels to find out the strength of a heat lamp versus a regular lamp. Students also tested how the angle of light affects the voltage on the multimeter. The class came together at the end of the experiment, and all the readings were compared to determine which light produced the most energy.

For the final experiment, students used their understanding of energy to move a miniature car powered by a solar panel. They used the heat lamp, which they found produced more energy, to drive the car along their tables.

“I think it was valuable for the students because they were able to really do some project-based learning – which is something that we should all be striving for,” said Kathryn Weiss, speech and language pathologist for the District. “It was a nice way for them to also do something that is relevant to the real world because we are talking a lot about clean energy and solar.”

Ms. Weiss helped organize the free lesson with New Yorkers for Clean Energy through her involvement with Mothers Out Front New York, which is made up of mothers who are committed to protecting the climate.

About Mount Vernon City School District:

With approximately 7,000 students in 16 schools, the Mount Vernon City School District is committed to providing a quality education to all children while developing programs that meet the diverse academic and social needs of its students.