Small Town, Big Ideas: Michigan’s Laker School Goes Green by Utilizing Wind Power

The Laker School in Michigan has taken great strides in going green. As one of the windiest places in the country, the small, rural, school gathers their power from wind. Giant, utility-scale wind turbines provide the Jr. High with year-round power, thanks to the District’s zest for embracing renewable energy.

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The school is able to afford such a feat due to acquiring various grants sought out by Junior High Principal Kathy Dickens. Threeyears ago, she helped the school receive more than a quarter of a million dollars to buy the wind turbines. Since then, Laker Jr. High has received energy smart incentives, biomass and biodiesel grants. With the help of these grants, the school can help educate about the importance of green living, environmental sustainability, and energy renewal.

Recently, The Laker School District received a $59,120 federal grant to help equip a dozen of their school buses with emission-reducing equipment, and with $44,000 of the school’s own money, replaces the district’s oldest bus with a new, low-emission model.

Along with aiding the environment, the Laker School helps prepare kids for future green careers.

With The Laker School’s own anaerobic biodiesel processor, students learn to press oil from soybeans and sunflower seeds they’ve grown by hand in order to produce their own biodiesel.

Dickens says, “Too many bright, promising students leave this county after graduation. If wind, sun, or even an anaerobic processor can provide future jobs, I’ll keep writing grants to give students the training they need for green careers.”