West Middle School unveiled a brand new solar-powered charging station in the outdoor school commons on Thursday, May 20, 2021. The cell phone charging station comes complete with tables and seats students can use while they charge their cell phones using power generated by the solar panels above the station.
The unique setup was created through a partnership between School District 51 and Alpine Bank, Capco LLC, High Noon Solar, Reynolds Polymer Technology, and West Star Aviation. All six organizations are members of the Environmental Leadership Program (ELP), which is a statewide environmental recognition and reward program for organizations that voluntarily go above and beyond as stewards for the environment. In addition, Western Colorado Community Foundation’s CORE (Conservation, Outdoor Recreation and Environment) Fund provided $3,000 for this project.
The charging station is dedicated to Heidi Ragsdale, a former West Middle School teacher and proud advocate of the MESA (Math, Engineering, Science Achievement) Club for D51 middle and high school students. A plaque at the station will include a QR code that links to a website about the project, which can be found at https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/76682114a67640998ddb9386385d20da.