Bloom High School

 

 

 

Our Youth Venture is to develop an hour long outreach program where kids teach kids. Our “Green Team” will travel in our biodiesel bus and visit elementary, middle, and high schools. We make biodiesel fuel from vegetable oil in our club. We are leading by example. We will do a presentation on energy and alternative renewable sources. We will focus on the issues with burning fossil fuels, possible solutions, like using renewable energy sources, and end with what kids can do at home, school, and in their community. We will follow up our presentation with a informational tour of the biodiesel bus and hands-on displays of solar panels, fuel cells, wind turbines, and other energy toys.
We were inspired through our science club at Bloom High School in Chicago Heights. Beginning in August, 2006, the Bloom Science Club began researching climate change, the oil crisis, and alternative fuels. In the 2006 – 2007 school year, our club hosted the first annual “Alternative Energy Fair” for our school district. We spent the year designing and building a model city that did not use fossil fuels. We had to power homes, businesses, factories, and all forms of transportation with out using coal, petroleum, or natural gas. We learned a lot and our fair was a huge success. At our fair, we had a group called BIOTOURS participate in our alternative fuels car show. They had converted on old school bus to run on straight veggie oil. They run on a two tank system. They travel the country teaching about biodiesel. They even sleep in their bus. Our science club sponsor, Mrs. Krysinski, talked a lot with them. She thought it would be a really cool project to have a bus for the science club students to promote alternative energy. That summer she called all the bus companies in the Chicago land area. She called school buses, public buses, and airports to see if they wanted to donate a small school bus for our project. Most companies said NO, but one finally said yes. The company is Illinois Central School Bus and the contract manager that donated the bus was Bruce Bar. The bus was old, yellow, and needed a lot of work. The next school year we asked many organizations for donations to fund repairs and painting of the bus. Illinois Soybean Association and Illinois American Lung association donated $6,000.00. Nova BioSource donated $1,000.00. During the school year 2007-2008 we learned how to process biodiesel fuel from vegetable oil. The school cafeteria gives us oil and it is processed in the chemistry lab. During this time, the bus was fixed and painted. This year, our sponsor got a $10,000 A+ for energy grant from BP. We spent this money on bus up grades, curriculum, shirts, and presentation supplies.
We have already been in a parade, exhibited at a local Earth Fair, and presented at a local high school. We currently have several bookings at local elementary and middle schools, we are marching/driving in the Chicago St. Patrick’s Day parade, we are being featured at Andrew High Schools Environmental Fair in April, and we were invited to exhibit at the traveling Green Festival, at Navy Pier in Chicago, IL.
We believe kids need to be informed and educated on environmental issues. They need to be made aware of the choices they have to make our Earth a better place. We are advocates for the environment and promote the use of alternative energy sources. We want to be part of the solution and do our part to make our world healthy and sustainable. We do this because it is necessary and fun.