WJHS earns Wind for Schools grant and Energy Star

June 10, 2009

By Brenda Rader Mross
The Wellington

Avid conservationists. Lori Graves and Bill Kitchen, the custodial team at Wellington Junior High School, are recycling fanatics who helped earn the school an Energy Star award. Kitchen also received the Bob Drysdale award this year. Photo by Brenda Rader Mross

When Alicia Durand received an e-mail announcing Poudre School District’s 2008 Energy Stars, the principal at Wellington Junior High scanned the list, then did a double take. Durand promptly e-mailed back, “Is the WJHS us or Webber?”

“Congratulations!” replied PSD Energy Manager Stu Reeve.

Built in 1993, Wellington (Colorado)’s 75 percent score was just enough to qualify it as one of the 730 greenest schools in the nation, according to standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy.

Next year promises to be even greener as Wellington (Colorado) transitions to a middle school, thanks to its inclusion in the Wind for Schools project.

The Governor’s Energy Office has chosen WJHS as one of six schools in Colorado to receive funding to install and operate a wind machine and tower on site. In addition to the $5,000 GEO grant, each school will get $2,500 from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to purchase the equipment.

Wellington (Colorado) counselor Bill Peisner is raising additional money to pay for a cement pad and electrical work. He said fund-raisers are already underway at Whole Foods and Odell Brewing Co., but that the actual timeline for the turbine installation is somewhat up in the air.

“We are in the very early stages with all this,” Peisner cautioned, “but we are excited about the future. The Energy Star award was a surprise. It shows this is a special school where people want to do what’s right and there’s no resistance to changing behaviors.”

The PSD director of facilities applauded Wellington (Colorado) for both honors and for embracing energy conservation as its culture.

“This is a great celebration of an older building,” said Pete Hall. “It shows how human behavior has a lot to do with energy conservation.”

Hall said the number of Colorado Energy Star schools that are in the Poudre School District — 21 of 35 — is very telling.

“The voters have supported our efforts,” he said. “Poudre’s investment in buildings is second to none. Money not spent on utilities goes back into the general fund and into the classroom.”

In Hall’s estimation, the best part of “sustaining our sustainability,” is that it’s a journey that doesn’t end, one that students will carry on.

“That’s the ethic of sustainability,” he said. “Believing it starts with you; that what you do matters. Then you tell somebody else.”

Durand was quick to cite everyone’s involvement in reducing the school’s carbon footprint, from the ecology club’s “Caught with Your Lights On” awareness campaign, to the robotics team’s persistent efforts, to a commitment from the entire staff.

“We went from recycling very little to recycling everything,” Durand said.

Wellington’s custodial team, Bill Kitchen and Lori Graves, contribute a lot to Wellington’s status as a green school and to its climate overall. Durand said the fact that head custodian Kitchen was the first person other than a teacher to win the Bob Drysdale award says it all.

“Bill is extremely popular with the kids,” she said. “They jumped to their feet and gave him a standing ovation.”

Drysdale was a WJHS teacher who died in an auto accident in 1999 and for whom the gymnasium is named. The Bob Drysdale award is given annually to a student and a staff member who best exemplify the man’s selflessness, integrity, 100 percent dedication, never-ending joy, curiosity and tenacity.

Kitchen said winning the award meant a lot because he considered Drysdale partially responsible for his getting the head custodian position in the first place.

“It still hasn’t sunk in,” Kitchen said, shaking his head. “I’m still in shock. I should’ve said something that night but it floored me. I’m not usually at a loss for words, but some things go beyond words.”

Kitchen was also surprised by Wellington (Colorado)’s recognition as a national Energy Star.
“I hadn’t realized we were even in the running,” the 57-year-old said. “It was cool.”

What’s also really cool is that Kitchen’s life outside of the work he’s performed at the school for the past 13 years is the epitome of energy conservation. Kitchen’s family went green about 10 years ago, and puts out a single 25-gallon container of trash per month.
“It’s a way of life,” he said simply.

Besides recycling, Kitchen named turning out lights, not wasting water, and turning down the heat as essentials to being a good energy steward. Of course, it also helps having a competent co-worker like Graves on board.

“The kids really helped,” said the 47-year-old Graves, Wellington’s night custodian for 10 years. “They put signs on trash cans and scolded teachers.”

Graves said the school can always use old square trash cans for its ongoing recycling program. Graves regards her habit of putting newspapers at the bottom of trash can liners as a big contributor to stretching dollars even further, as well as not putting out anything less than a full bag of garbage.

Graves said she doesn’t mind cleaning — she’s been doing it since she was 12 — and that she and Kitchen make a good team because they have so much in common.

“We’re both totally into animals of all kinds, and acreages,” she said, recounting how she wanted to raise chickens and Kitchen ended up taking over the operation.

Both love to go hunting and fishing, too.

Custodial work is a second career for Kitchen, who used to “do a bit of everything” for Poudre Valley Creamery in Fort Collins.

“I spent 10 to 12 years there just making ice cream,” he reminisced.

For the record, vanilla’s his favorite flavor, and, yes, when Kitchen was a boy, kids used to mercilessly make fun of his surname. In spite of the teasing, Kitchen grew up to love children so much that he and wife, Connie, are foster parents. The couple’s six grandchildren, ranging from 5 to 17 years old, keep them both busy.

Even though Wellington Junior High will never receive another Energy Star, it won’t be a big surprise if Wellington Middle School does.