I had the privilege of joining students and others from the North Penn School District for Earth Day on April 22. Students deemed the day photocopy-free and participated in many other energy-saving activities, including, but not limited to:

Turning off lights in classrooms, gyms, corridors (while ensuring peoples’ safety); Unplugging appliances; Monitoring and sharing real-time electricity usage data via demand response systems and; Using outdoor classrooms.

The school district’s commitment to energy and environmental initiatives go beyond Earth Day as they play a part in the PowerSave program, which in Pennsylvania, is sponsored by Direct Energy. Nine participating schools have a ‘green’ team comprised of teachers, custodians and students, who identify energy problems and make recommendations for energy savings.

Continue reading for YouTube videos, photos and news coverage.

In the 2012-2013 school year, the North Penn School District (NPSD) has been named an ENERGY STAR Leader. This is given to organizations, both commercial and institutional that have improved energy efficiencies in their entire building portfolio by 30 percent. NPSD was recognized as one of 200 organizations named in this prestigious category and one of only four school districts nationwide. The ENERGY STAR award is captured in this YouTube video . The day of events garnered some great media coverage in The Reporter, there’s a great video on YouTube from NPHS’ TV station, NPTV and there are photos from the event.