By Christine Steele csteele@scsun-news.com
SILVER CITY -- Federal grant money from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is going to a local Silver City agency to help provide "green" jobs training for high school students.
The Gila Resources Information Project, a non-profit environmental organization based in Silver City, was awarded $24,739 to help expose high school students to career options in the "green" jobs sector.
GRIP will partner with Aldo Leopold High School, Southwest New Mexico Green Chamber of Commerce, Silver City/Grant County Office of Sustainability, the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions and the New Mexico Public Education Department, to develop and pilot a high school-level curriculum to prepare students for employment and/or post-secondary school training and education in the new green economy.
Deb James, who teaches special studies and is the outdoor education coordinator at Aldo Leopold High School, will be writing the new curriculum, she said.
The school plans to run a pilot program beginning in January 2011.
"We will run it like a seminar," she said, "and the goal is to pull in as many community partners as we can who are already working in green jobs environment. The students will get an introduction to all the different kinds green building technologies and, we hope, automotive technologies as well."
The school is looking at geothermal, passive solar design, and a brief introduction to wind energy careers. Students will receive classroom and hands-on training in energy efficiency and weatherization, renewable energy technologies, water conservation, home safety, automotive retrofitting, along with workplace readiness and success skills.
"The idea is to plug them into which colleges provide them more advanced training in whatever field they are interested in," she said.
After the pilot project in the spring of 2011, the curriculum will be distributed throughout the state.
"Once we have worked the kinks out, we will be teaching that curriculum to teachers all over the state and providing that curriculum to the state Department of Education," James said. "Our new director, Eric Ahner, is very enthusiastically supporting this program and is hoping we can introduce students to alternative pathways to four-year colleges."
Allyson Siwik, executive director of GRIP, said the program offers high school students an edge in getting jobs in the green jobs sector.
"Given that there are no secondary school educational and training programs in New Mexico that prepare students for green jobs, this project will equip students with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to compete for employment in the growing green jobs sector," she said. "It's an exciting opportunity to work with our partners to provide students with real-world, hands-on training and experience. Green workforce development is a prerequisite to development of a green economy in New Mexico and this project aims to meet a critical need in building green jobs education capacity at the high school level."
The American Solar Energy Society estimates that New Mexico renewable energy and energy efficiency industries could create more than 200,000 new jobs by 2020.
Christine Steele can be reached at (575) 538-5893, ext. 5802.
