Students Learn To Conserve Energy, Get A Free Bike

Pottstown Middle School’s eighth grade students recently celebrated the school’s second annual Middle School Energy Expo.  

Eighth grade science teacher Jennifer Winterbottom helped the students work on month-long, hands-on projects that included research, development and were later displayed in the middle school gymnasium.  

“Students chose various topics concerning the types of renewable energy such as solar, wind, geothermal and hydropower,” Pottstown School District Director of Community Relations John J. Armato said in a press release. ”Using their creativity and imagination they developed activities and posters that explained their particular topic.  Many students chose to investigate how to conserve energy at home and prepared real life examples that students could carry back home and use as family energy and cost saving strategies.”

Students in fourth through seventh grades visited the expo, he said.  

“As they made their way around the various activities, eighth grade students served as the teachers by explaining their various projects to the younger students and leading students in participation in the various energy oriented projects,” Armato said. 

The Energy Expo was made possible through funding from PECO and the Franklin Institute, he said. 

In other Pottstown school news:

Josh Winter of Horace and Mann Insurance Company for the second year in a row provided bicycles as incentive for students to attain perfect attendance, Armato said.  

“Throughout the year, students who had perfect attendance for the semester had their name entered into a drawing for the bicycles,” he said. “Each student had four opportunities at the end of each marking period to be recognized for perfect attendance.  At the conclusion of the school year at a faculty/student basketball game, the winning names were drawn.” 

Winners of the drawing were Brandon Tinson -- who didn’t own a bicycle and Yuliza Cruz -- who rode her new bicycle home from school and gave her old bike to her younger sibling, Armato said.

“It is through partnerships with various members of our business community that the school district is able to strengthen the educational mission, in this case, being able to encourage youngsters to attend school every day where they are presented with the opportunity to gain a valuable education that will lead to them becoming the leaders of our community,” Armato said.