From left, teachers Tabitha Kniesch and Luis Rodriguez set up a solar device with help from Kristen McBrien of We Care Solar. Photo courtesy of PG&E

WOODLAND, CA (MPG) - Teachers in Woodland, Davis and Dixon recently had a lesson in solar power and are now helping students explore solar energy and connect classroom learning to real global challenges.

Thirteen teachers, including two from Sacramento, took a course at Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s Gas and Safety Academy in Winters and taught by We Care Solar, a nonprofit based in Berkeley that provided the 15-hour training. The session was funded by a grant from PG&E.

The program includes hands-on teaching tools teachers take back to their classrooms including 10 Solar Suitcase Learning Kits for each school. Students not only learn how solar electricity works, but how it applies in the real world. The science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM)-oriented curriculum is designed to help create the next generation of scientists and engineers.

The We Care Solar Suitcase Learning Kit mirrors the We Care Solar Suitcase used in off-grid maternal health clinics and schools in East Africa, with integrated lessons that help students understand global energy access challenges and solar solutions.

“The philanthropic aspect of We Care Solar also gives students a broader understanding of the world outside of the United States and how many parts of the world lack basic energy resources and infrastructure,” said teacher Aaron Hebb of Lee Middle School in Woodland. “The We Care Solar program offers my students three different ways to research career pathways: electronics and basic circuitry, alternative energy, and community outreach. This is a great program, and I highly recommend it for students everywhere.”

“I think my students are going to be much more engaged because they’ll actually get to do something with what they’re learning,” said Tabitha Kniesch, a teacher at Grant Union High School in Sacramento. “Instead of just reading about solar energy or looking at a diagram, they’ll be able to set up the solar panel, collect real data, charge the battery, power a light, and see firsthand how changing different variables affects the system.”

Educators from the following schools participated in the recent We Care Solar training: Center High School, Antelope; Chabot Space & Science Center, Oakland; Davis JUSD Harper Junior High School, Davis; Dixon High School, Dixon; Grant Union High School, Sacramento; John Knight Middle School, Dixon; Lee Middle School, Woodland; Natomas Pacific Pathways Prep Charter High School, Sacramento; Ralph Waldo Emerson Junior High School, Davis; Rosa Parks Middle School, Sacramento.