Caileigh Feldman
Crownsville, Maryland
Feldman helped launch a "Kilowatt Kickoff" event at her high school that focused the school community on saving energy.
Through her involvement in environmental awareness activities at the Key School in Maryland, Feldman became interested in the school's energy use. She teamed up with a fellow student to evaluate ways her school could become more eco-friendly and obtain its energy from a more sustainable source. Out of this effort grew the idea for a Kilowatt Kickoff event.
The Kilowatt Kickoff was started with the intention of reducing the Key School's kilowatt per hour usage on campus by 20 percent to offset the increased cost of switching to renewable energy sources. Feldman made dozens of presentations to students and faculty in all grade levels to both encourage them to save energy and tell them how. For example, "Light switches around campus were [marked] with our Kilowatt Kickoff logos and motto 'You've got the power' as gentle reminders to consider using natural lighting when possible," says Feldman. Members of the Key School community took the presentations and reminders to heart, and reduced their energy consumption by 20.5 percent. This figure surpassed the original goal, and the program has saved the school more than $12,000 to date.
Thanks to that success, the Kilowatt Kickoff has become ingrained in the Key School's culture since Feldman graduated. The program has been passed on to other students who are continuing to build on what she started. "It has been incredible to unite everyone at our school behind one initiative and see what a big part of life at Key the Kilowatt Kickoff has become," Feldman says.