Oklahoma’s largest wind operator, Enel Green Power has made more financial investments in some of the schools where its wind farms are operating. The latest were made to schools around the firm’s Drift Sands wind farm, a 10,000 acre, 108 megawatt operation in southwestern Oklahoma.
The company recently made donations to the Chickasha Public Schools and Rush Springs public schools.
Chickasha plans to use its funding for several STEM related programs for grades pre-K through high school. The Bill Wallace Early Childhood Center for pre-K through 1st grade will receive funding for more equipment needed for the Think and Wonder Lab. Students in the lab learn how to code, use iPad applications and how to build on a classroom Lego Wall.
Funding from Enel Green Power will help students at the Grand Avenue elementary, Lincoln elementary and Chickasha Middle School to enhance their STEM based learning. In addition, the Chickasha High School Robotics Team will get funding for materials, travel and entry fees. The funding means that district wide, Chickasha students ages 9 to 14 will be able to take part in the First Lego League robotics after school program.
“The Chickasha School District will certainly benefit from the support of Enel Green Power,” said Chickasha Schools Superintendent Dr. Jack Herron. “The partnership allows our faculty and staff to purchase much needed supplies to further our STEM programs at each of our school sites.”
Rush Springs Public Schools will use the funding to support their Alpha Plus Program. The program is designed to improve scores, align math and reading skills for kindergarten through 8th grade with textbooks, formative and summative assessments. Alpha Plus also provides curriculum materials for middle school, and high school students to help prepare for the ACT college admissions test.
“The investment means that the school district of Rush Springs is able to supply the students and teachers with the tools to increase student success, while being able to allocate money that would have been used on Alpha Plus toward additional needs of the district,” said Rush Springs Schools Superintendent Robbie Burch.
“Enel Green Power values the education of our kids as the future of this country,” said Drift Sand wind farm Supervisor Phillip Edwards. “Shrinking budgets, increasing class sizes, and outdated technology are just a few challenges to delivering quality education, we appreciate the opportunity to be a part of
providing a solution and helping students be successful.”
The Drift Sand wind farm became operational in December 2016.
