Catalyst ‘24

The teachers at Energy Institute High School are tasked with a unique mandate: to prepare the future energy leaders of tomorrow through innovative and authentic project based learning. They are asked to transform their standard course work into a hands-on learning experience that draws inspiration from the modern world of work. We here at Friends of Energy Institute strive to support that creativity and authenticity by hosting an annual Catalyst Conference for EIHS’ educators.

On Thursday, August 8th, FOEI hosted its 3rd annual Catalyst Conference — the first ever to serve ALL EIHS teachers — powered by Ranger Conveying & Supply Co., Inc. Throughout the day, teachers were challenged to make connections between the content they have planned for their students and the real-world applications of that learning presented them by our session speakers and panelists from GHD, Intention, Pattern Energy, and Windwardmark Engineering. Speakers included Christopher Benjamin, Dr. Tej Gidda, Vince Nacewski, and Celeste Wilson (GHD); Kyle Jordan-Dedeaux, Robert Milligan, and Karthik Soora (Pattern Energy); Dan Herman (Windwardmark Engineering); Reggie Chin. Teachers also received feedback on their upcoming projects from our panel of industry volunteers including Ovidio Gonzalez, Julie Zachary (GHD) Nisha Desai (Intention), Dameon Middleton (Pattern Energy).

When asked, teachers shared that the “phenomenal” choice session presenters had helped to “stimulate their thought process and approach to lesson planning” and that they were excited to connect further with Friends of Energy’s corporate volunteers to create more authentic experiences for their students this year.

Thank you to all who supported Catalyst this year! If you’d like to participate in future FOEI events, sign up for our mailing list here.

Julie Zachary (GHD, FOEI Chair Emeritus) leads EIHS teachers in final reflection.