Norwich Tech students make gym brighter, energy efficient

Congratulations on a job well done to Norwich Tech’s senior electrical students and their teacher Jamie Lamitie. They replaced all 30 lights in the school gym with LED high bay fixtures. The new fixtures save on energy and cost less money.

Norwich Public Utilities rebated 35 percent of the cost of the project, which started last year when we participated in a Project Learning Tree program and completed an energy audit. The students’ recommendations for the $5,000 grant was to replace the 320-watt metal halide fixtures with 104-watt LED fixtures. In addition to saving money on electricity, the gym is much brighter with the new fixtures. The lifespan of these fixtures is 100,000 hours.

National Geographic explorer visits

Andres Ruzo, an Earth scientist and National Geographic explorer, spoke to Norwich Tech students April 24, thanks to a partnership with the Connecticut Technical Education and Career System and Energize CT. The students who attended are enrolled in the construction trades and have been studying energy conservation and efficient building practices. Ruzo is a geothermal specialist who grew up in Peru and spent his summers in the shadow of the Mount Casita volcano in Nicaragua. He is a doctoral candidate at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

Ruzo explained how math and science are intertwined, yet school curricula places more emphasis on math at the expense of the science.

“I wasn’t being taught in the correct way” Ruzo said. “(The educational system) killed my creativity.”

Eventually, he found teachers who did draw him back to science. With their help, he found a way to harness math that works for him.

Ruzo displayed videos and slides of his field research around the globe. He studied volcanoes and geothermal energy in Hawaii. Ruzo ultimately urged the students to take action, asking them “How can we live better? How can we save the world?” He told them, “There is so much left to be discovered in this world. Come in with a new set of eyes.” If Ruzo could impress one single message to the students it would be simple: “Be curious.”

After the presentation, Ruzo toured the “E-House,” a building the students have constructed on the Norwich Tech campus using the latest technology in heating and cooling methods. The E-House features solar panels as well as a geothermal heating system. Ruzo was extremely impressed with the technology the students are working with at the school and encouraged the students to become National Geographic explorers.

“We need to take charge,” carpentry student Anthony Diaz said. “The message needs to be spread to conserve and recycle. It’s up to us.

Suicide Prevention Week

Suicide Prevention Week was last week, a collaboration with Norwich Tech, Norwich Free Academy and the Norwich City Prevention Council. The First-Step Walk was held April 25 to bring awareness to suicide prevention. The school’s carpentry students made a butterfly to represent the mission and students at both Norwich Tech and NFA have collaboratively signed it in support. World Youth Day was Friday.