Conference to energize educators for sustainable future

Southwest Windpower’s SkyStream wind turbines are designed for residential use. This is one of 15 small wind turbines being installed at educational sites in Pennsylvania (Courtesy photo).

Southwest Windpower’s SkyStream wind turbines are designed for residential use. This is one of 15 small wind turbines being installed at educational sites in Pennsylvania (Courtesy photo).

FLAGSTAFF-Powering up tomorrow's green builders and sustainable energy experts will be part of the emphasis of the 2007 Teaching and Learning Conference to be held Thursday and Friday, Aug. 16 and 17 at Coconino Community College's Lone Tree Campus.

Adding energy to the conference is Flagstaff-based Southwest Windpower. The internationally known small wind turbine manufacturer is sponsoring the conference and donating a SkyStream 3.7 wind turbine to the college.

Associate faculty member and Southwest Windpower engineer Paul Thomas said the partnership between CCC and Southwest Windpower is very exciting for the future of the college and an amazing training opportunity.

"We will be able to teach the concepts of sustainability and actually have our students apply what they've learned. We hope to have our students prepared and able to install a wind turbine on campus next spring. Future classes will be able to go out into northern Arizona communities and set up these turbines," Thomas said.

"The students are clearly telling us this is the right thing for them to learn," said Southwest Windpower Chief Financial Officer and past president of the CCC Foundation Susan Casebeer. "As a company, we want to invest in education. We want to be part of cultivating tomorrow's installers and system integrators."

Green building is one of the programs that CCC has identified to be expanded and developed as a signature program.

"Southwest Windpower is making this vision a reality," said CCC President Tom Jordan. "With this level of involvement, our students will earn valuable hands-on experience."

Educators from across the state and beyond will be attending and presenting at the conference that emphasizes transforming learning into action. One of the keynote presenters is Coconino County Board of Supervisors Chairman and local sustainability advocate, Supervisor Carl Taylor. He is expected to talk about incentives for sustainable living, steps we can take, economic development and innovations.

"Currently there is a growing wave of interest in sustainability in Coconino County. It is clearly the way of the future," said Taylor. "Certainly in northern Arizona, with our abundance of wind and solar energy, we are in a strong position to be at the crest of this wave."

Sandra Lubarsky, founding director of the Northern Arizona University Master of Liberal Studies Program on Good and Sustainable Communities also is scheduled to be a keynote speaker. Conference presentations will include applying academic learning in the real world, hands-on local wild food identification and processing, and panels on oral ecological histories.

The conference will include a Luscious Local Foods Feast from 6-9 p.m., Friday, Aug. 17.

"Local chefs will be preparing a meal with locally farmed and gathered foods," said conference coordinator Robin Rickli. "We will be gathering regional wild foods such as prickly pear fruit and wild spinach to highlight regionally available edible plants in the feast menu."

The Luscious Local Foods Feast is $25 per person. Proceeds will benefit the college. Cost for the two-day conference is $75. Participants may register for either event by logging on to www.coconino.edu or by calling (928) 226-4380. The deadline to register is Aug. 9.

In addition, CCC will host a Community Sustainability Expo at the Lone Tree Campus from 8 a.m.-9 p.m., Aug. 17.

For more information about the Teaching and Learning Conference, the Luscious Local Foods Feast and the Community Sustainability Expo, log on to www.coconino.edu.

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