A group of students from École Desrochers attended an exclusive energy conference earlier this month, gaining skills and knowledge to bring back to Jasper.
Grade 10 students Caleb Catto and Walter Ostrander, along with Grade 9 student Pascale Robinson and Grade 8 student Danya Mckenzie, attended Generate 2015, where they and 76 other students from schools across Alberta spent four days learning from some of the most important minds in Alberta’s energy industry.
Generate is a youth education summit organized by Inside Education to increase energy literacy in students.
Generate 2015 was held at the Banff Centre from March 12–15, and participants learned everything from how to construct energy efficient walls from low-cost materials to the science behind cleaning tailings ponds to the breakdown of where Alberta’s energy comes from.
They heard from industry representatives, environmental advocates, non-profit organizations and scientists. They were also addressed by Olympian Sami Jo Small, and had an opportunity to question and chat with Alberta’s Minister of Energy, Frank Oberle.
In an interview March 23 Mckenzie called it “an amazing experience.”
Listing all of the things she learned, she explained that it was “mind blowing” learning about advances in environmental technology and seeing the projects her peers were planning in other parts of the province.
“It was like spending an entire week there for the amount of information they gave us. So everyone was taking lots of notes and we met tons of people in the industry,” Robinson added.
Jocelyn Nadeau was one of the teacher chaperones that went along on the conference. He said that while the sheer volume of information imparted on young minds was exciting, he was impressed with its breadth as well.
“I was a bit scared of the perspective we were going to get, because it is financed by the government and big oil and there is a lot of corporate sponsors. But all in all it was very well balanced,” he said, explaining that students heard from everyone from industry to non-profit groups to scientists.
“We really got to hear from all sides,” Mckenzie said. “All the different perspectives.”
Robinson feels that she now has a better understanding of the complex nature of Alberta’s energy landscape, and that she is better equipped to make decisions in the future.
“I think I learned how important making decisions from all these different perspectives [is]. Like, this is how our province works and I kind of want to know how it works as well, for making decisions.”
And that will come in handy for the students, as they set to work applying the knowledge and skills they learned at the conference in their school and community.
Already, they explained, they have ideas on how to jump start the school’s recycling program, improve the rooftop garden, and engage younger students on topics related to energy.
“I guess the whole goal was education, with that conference. So one thing that we said we want to give back to is that part—just educating people about energy issues,” Nadeau said.
“We have this new building, we want to make sure that we are environmentally conscious and efficient with what we do here,” he said referring to the brand new Jasper Joint School Facility. “We already are in a national park and ... we really wanted to bring those values into the new building and the new school.
“I think energy is such a big part of our lives that we should know where it comes from, and how it’s produced, and what its impacts are.”
Trevor Nichols
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