Message from Mike Swenson, PEBC’s YES! Coordinator:

Southern Minnesota Youth Energy Summit (YES!) teams converged in central Cottonwood County at the Shalom Hill Farm on Thursday, January 14, 2010 for the YES! Winter Workshop. Teams from the New Ulm Putting Green, and high schools from New Ulm, Redwood Area, Springfield, St. James, and Windom participated in sessions to help them as they plan and implement energy action projects in their schools and communities.

Project YES! Staff left to right: Cheryl Glaeser, SWIF; Rebecca Bell and Anne Dybsetter, PWELC; Michael Swenson, PEBC

Elle McCaan and Sydney Sweep from the Minnesota Green Corps - a program through the University of Minnesota, Morris spoke to students aiming to reduce waste at their schools and at home through composting and recycling.   Students also received information on starting their own red worm composter for food waste.  Maureen Therkilson from the Sunrise Gardening Greenhouse of Comfrey, made students aware that most of the food we eat travels 1,500 miles before it reaches our plate!  Maureen gave the students gardening tips and ideas to produce more of our food locally, reducing transportation, supporting the local economy, and providing fresher tastier food.  Chuck Swanson with the Western Community Action Agency gave students the chance to participate in a home energy audit using a blower door and infrared camera  to expose drafts.   Chuck was assisted by Jeff Vetsch, the new southwest and west central Clean Energy Resource Team Coordinator.  Jeff helped students learn proper weatherization of a home as well as making students aware of their power consumption with "Kill a Watt" meter.  Edwin Dehler-Seter, Environmental Education & Natural Resource Management Specialist with the Concordia Language Villages in Bemidji, gave the students a presentation on the green architecture of the Waldsee Bio Haus.  The Bio Haus is a highly efficient building design that uses 85% less energy than comparable U.S.  structures.  Jim Dontjes, professor at Gustavus Adolphus College, and several of his undergraduate students offered YES! teams an overview of solar power and its potential.  Jim and the Gustavus students gave provided YES! students an understanding of solar electric (photovoltaic), solar thermal (heat), solar tracking to maximize production, and a solar site assessment and feasibility.

I would like to thank all of the presenters for their invaluable time and expertise. A huge thanks to the teams that made the trip despite this winter's tenacious weather. I also need to thank Anne Dybsetter, YES!  Program Coordinator through Prairie Woods Environmental Learning Center, and Cheryl Glaeser , Program Officer with the Southwest Initiative Foundation, for helping me bring together this workshop. And last but not least, thank you to Chrystal, Alisha and Clay from the PEBC for assisting teams and presenters throughout the day.

To view more photos of events see photo pages!

YES! 2009-2010 is administered by the Southwest Initiative Foundation, implemented through partnerships with Prairie Woods Environmental Learning Center and Prairie Ecology Bus Center, and funded in part by the Minnesota Renewable Energy Marketplace: An Alliance for Talent Development. For more information, click on the links below or contact Mike Swenson at michael@ecologybus.org or 320-583-4775.

Say YES!  Put energy into our future!  www.youthenergysummit.com