EATON — A special evening at Eaton High School earlier this month brought science and energy to the community’s attention.
“Science Night” was part of EHS Science Club/Green Team’s initiative to promote energy awareness and science education within the community.
The event was held Friday, Jan. 6, in the Eaton High School cafeteria, during a boys’ basketball game.
“We do a lot of different things. So we wanted to have an energy night. Sometimes we take these kids and work with elementary students, but we just thought it would be kind of fun to bring it to a local night and involve the community,” said teacher Amy Kochensparger said. “We got volunteers from students and they chose an energy kit that they thought would be fun to present.”
Kochensparger said she chose the boys’ basketball game because it was also Bruce Elementary Night at the game.
“We thought we would get a lot of age appropriate students to come and get engaged,” she said.
During the event, students displayed two different sound stations to show how sound vibrations work and how sound makes music. Students also showed off how lights function in addition to reflection and refraction and colors of light.
At the end of the evening, energy kits were distributed.
“Hopefully, they can take those items home and kind of explore what those items are like and get energy savings from the actual light bulbs,” she said.
Kochensparger said the Science Club/Green Team works together to pursue student interest in science.
“It’s student-driven on what they do,” she said. “We’ve volunteered at the local animal shelter. We dissect animals that we wouldn’t do other times. We have speakers come in. We have visited the landfill. It just depends on what the students want to do.”
“We received lots of positive feedback and hope to plan another event in the future,” Kochensparger said.
“Thanks to the Ohio Energy Project, Dayton Power & Light (DP&L) and Vectren Energy for their support in energy education,” Kochensparger said. “These organizations make it possible for our Science Club and Green Team to make a positive impact in our community.”
Kochensparger said she felt the event was a success and hopes the community can benefit from it.
“It’s been awesome,” she said. “I hope they see something interesting about science and how it relates to their everyday life and I hope they see that there’s some real science things that could save them energy at home.”
Kochensparger said the Science Club/Green Team is open to any student who has an interest in science.
