Two St. Albert elementary schools will be building mini wind turbines, wiring model net-zero homes and retooling classroom robots after receiving provincial A+ For Energy grants aimed at bringing hands-on energy education to students.
Local schools among 19 provincial recipients
Inside Education announced 19 winners of its A+ For Energy grants at a conference in Calgary on Aug. 24-25. The program, announced in May, provides up to $5,000 for classroom projects that teach energy and environmental concepts through inquiry and experimentation. Two St. Albert schools — Sir Alexander Mackenzie (SAM) Elementary and Bertha Kennedy Catholic — were among the recipients.
Energy and its related careers are a constant topic in Alberta; the grants are intended to give students tangible experience with the technologies and data that underpin the sector. Inside Education president and St. Albert Coun. Neil Korotash said the funding helps teachers develop more engaging lessons.
“It’s always encouraging to see other teachers out there that go that extra mile,” said Korotash, who teaches at St. Albert Catholic High.
What the grants will fund in St. Albert classrooms
SAM assistant principal Clayton Wowk and teacher Samantha Ringuette secured $4,626 for a project titled Energizing STEAM: Powering Inquiry Through Data in Elementary Education. The grant will allow the school to buy miniature solar panels and wind turbines that students in Grades 4-6 will use next February to practise the scientific method.
Wowk described the initiative as multi-year and collaborative, with students designing experiments to test how turbine shape, light intensity and other variables affect power production. The results will form a foundation future students can build upon.
At Bertha Kennedy Catholic, teachers Jennifer Wright and Brooke Lesoway received $4,000 for a Smart City Energy Optimization project. Wright said current classroom robots used to teach coding are cumbersome and slow to set up, and that students often don’t consider the energy that powers their devices.
“I also realized my students, every time they use a Chromebook or an iPad, they just turn it on and don’t think about what’s powering it at all,” Wright said.
Practical learning and local implications
Teachers said the grants will shift learning from passive use of technology to active investigation of energy systems, data collection and optimisation. Planned activities include modelling net-zero housing, measuring the energy demands of artificial intelligence tools and exploring bioenergy concepts such as generating power using microbes from soil.
- Program: Inside Education A+ For Energy grants
- Total grants announced: 19 at conference in Calgary
- Maximum grant value: Up to $5,000
- St. Albert recipients: SAM Elementary ($4,626); Bertha Kennedy Catholic ($4,000)
| School | Grant amount | Project focus |
|---|---|---|
| Sir Alexander Mackenzie Elementary | $4,626 | Mini solar panels and wind turbines; student-designed experiments on power production |
| Bertha Kennedy Catholic | $4,000 | Smart City Energy Optimization; more efficient classroom robotics and energy awareness |
For a city whose economy and workforce remain closely linked to Alberta’s broader energy sector, introducing students to practical energy science and data literacy can shape future career thinking and community awareness. Teachers plan extended, inquiry-based activities that emphasise experimentation, measurement and iterative learning — skills that align with both classroom outcomes and the technical needs of the province’s energy industries.
Administrators say the projects will run beyond single class cohorts. At SAM, Wowk noted students will spend weeks designing and carrying out tests so subsequent classes can expand on findings, creating a cumulative learning resource.
The A+ For Energy grants are part of a broader movement in provincial classrooms to connect curriculum to real-world energy systems — from renewables and efficiency to the data demands of modern technology — giving St. Albert students concrete tools to explore how energy is produced, used and optimised.
