DEP

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is hosting several free professional development workshops over the next few months. Each workshop is part of the Keystone Energy Education Program (KEEP).

The first workshop is scheduled for Monday, February 24 at the Winnie Palmer Nature Reserve in Latrobe. The second workshop is scheduled for Thursday, March 6 at Penn State University (Sackett Building). The third workshop is scheduled for Tuesday, May 20 at Juniata College (von Liebig Center for Science, 1098 Neff Lecture Hall).

Each event will last from 8 am to 4 pm and provide those in attendance with seven Act 48 credit hours. The workshops will contain the same agenda/instruction and will be appropriate for grades 4-8 educators, administrators and building maintenance/facilities managers. The DEP wants educators from all across Pennsylvania to have access to this program, which is why it is being hosted in several venues.

Each workshop will focus on Pennsylvania-specific topics, including:

-- Energy basics, generation, usage, efficiency and sustainability.

-- Energy conservation, futures and career development.

-- Benchmarking school buildings using the free Energy Star Portfolio Manager program.

-- Developing and implementing a school-centered energy conservation plan.

These workshops are ideal for “teams” of attendees from each school consisting of three teachers, an administrator and a building maintenance/facility manager/designee. However, smaller groups, or even individuals, are more than welcome to attend. Free instructional materials will be provided.

