GREENFIELD — Director of Accountability Dr. Sarah Jordan is pleased to announce that the Greater Commonwealth Virtual School has been selected as a recipient of a grant to help students make an impact in their community around energy efficiency and smarter climate solutions.
The school was awarded a $3,000 grant as part of the Cooler Communities Grant Program. Eighth grade science teacher Jack Czajkowski applied for the grant, and the school learned they had been awarded the grant late last year.
The Cooler Communities Grant Program awards schools with funding of up to $5,000 to research and create exhibits and materials on climate change, energy efficiency and related subjects within their curriculum requirements to be displayed at a district-wide event (called “energy fairs”). Vendors, community members and service providers offer advice and show ways in which visitors can take energy-smart actions that work best for them.
Those who attend the community energy fairs are encouraged to pledge changes they can make to support more energy-efficient practices, and these pledges are tracked, calculated for their carbon-saving potential, and followed up on.
The program encourages collaboration between municipal entities — such as energy commissions, grassroots volunteers and the schools — to achieve a variety of energy reduction goals. Aside from creating measurable energy savings for the participating towns and residents, the purpose of the program is to empower young people in recognizing the relevance of their classroom learning and to show them first-hand the impact they can have in their communities.
Starting next month, students will identify and plan various ways to address climate change solutions through the grant. The school is giving students autonomy to work on the projects independently with the assistance of their instructors.
“We are thrilled to have received this award and look forward to seeing what our students are able to come up with as part of their efforts,” Czajkowski said. “Despite being a virtual school, we place a great emphasis on making sure our students become active and involved members of their communities, and this grant will help us in that goal. We thank Cooler Communities for this very significant funding, and the greater GCVS community for their continued support.”
Greater Commonwealth Virtual School is one of only 12 recipients of this grant. A full list of Cooler Communities includes:
- Agawam
- Berkshires region
- Concord
- Framingham
- Greater Commonwealth Virtual School
- Greenfield
- Northampton
- Pittsfield
- Sherborn
- Springfield
- Springfield International Charter School
- Westhampton
The Cooler Communities school grant program is sponsored by the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts and the Harold Grinspoon Charitable Foundation. For more information, click here. To view a video on the program and its specifics, click here.
Valley Climate Champions Grant
In addition to the Cooler Communities grant, GCVS was also awarded funding last year by the New England-based clean energy provider FirstLight Power.
FirstLight’s Valley Climate Champions program was launched in 2021 to engage Franklin County high school and middle school teachers and students on the region’s growing clean energy sector and to highlight the urgency of climate change. The program includes a total of seven $1,000 grants available to high school and middle school teachers – one grant for each of the Franklin County school districts and Franklin County Technical School.
Greater Commonwealth Virtual School was one of the schools awarded the $1,000 grant.
To learn more about the grant program, click here.
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