So you want your school to have a solar energy graph on this site? To do that, your school needs to have a solar energy system. How do you get a solar energy system for your school? AEP and its partners didn't really know, either, until we got the first one going at Bluffsview Elementary in Worthington, Ohio, near Columbus. We made some mistakes, learned from them, and have written down the basic steps so anyone can join our School projects program.

Putting together a solar project requires a lot of support from parents, teachers, principals, members of the school board and others. If you are a student, be sure to talk to your teachers and parents. Have them contact AEP, the Foundation for Environmental Education or Energy Management Corporation and we can help them through the process.

Below are some ideas about how to get started.

1. Check out the Bluffsview video at the beginning of the School projects section. Send a message to the Foundation for Environmental Education to request a copy of the video. Or call Glen Kizer at 614-470-0435. You will receive a free, eight-minute VHS tape in which you hear from school officials, teachers, students and other people connected to the project. The tape will be mailed to you.

2. Schools are finding that the concepts learned using information in Learning from Light! is helping in other areas, too. Make sure your principal and school board sees the letter written by Bluffsview School in Worthington, Ohio, about how using Learning from Light! helped students improve their math proficiency scores. If you have questions about anything, e-mail one of the people listed in the School Project contacts section.

3. Ask your principal to send an e-mail to the Foundation for Environmental Education, the Energy Management Corporation (EMC), and to AEP. Let us know that you want to join our School projects Program.

4. Someone from AEP, the Foundation, or EMC will come out and talk to your school or the School Board or wherever we need to go to explain the next steps. We can bring handouts and information sheets and answer questions.

5. Ask a local bank to handle contributions from students, parents and businesses. It seems to work better if the bank is located in your town. People seem to worry about funds being mailed out of town. Ask the bank for a small donation to open the account.

6. It will help if your Superintendent of Schools sends home a letter with all students in your school district explaining the project and how everyone will be able to learn about energy and how solar electricity is made. You should try to get a lot of donations because a project will cost between $15,000 and $20,000. The Superintendent or someone from the school board needs to write the letter and ask the parents for a donation or a pledge. If every family gives $20 you should be able to make it. Because your school will actually buy the project, businesses might be willing to give a lot more, since they might be able to get a tax deduction. A pledge drive might work even better. This sample letter from the Worthington Schools Superintendent asks parents to sign a pledge and give the form back to their kids to return to the teacher.

7. Consider forming organizations such as Partners for the Bluffsview Project. The foundation can help with this. Local Grange Mutual agents, local AEP representatives and a host of others could be available to you to help you get started.

8. Local newspapers, radio and TV might want to help. A local college could be a good partner. Any federal or state agency might want to help as well.

9. The Foundation and AEP will help your teachers with educational support material/curricula. There's already some good stuff they can use right from this Web site. It will be fun and easy, and you can do it. You just have to get started. Call or e-mail us, and we will help you.

10. Once your school gets close to making solar electricity and your school district buys power from AEP, the district will have to fill out a waiver, like the one for Worthington, so AEP can follow the laws and regulations in your state.

This may sound like a lot of work. You may not be sure who will help you. Think of AEP, the Foundation, and EMC as your guides through the wilderness. These partners will help give you the tools to start a solar energy project at your school. You can do it!