Students link Alliant Energy, Sam’s Club in support of cost-saving installations at McKinley
Students from Kirkwood Community College and McKinley Middle School recently found a common project with a real bottom line benefit. The students from Kirkwood’s Students in Free Enterprise team met with local Sam’s Club and Alliant Energy officials at the middle school in November.
The meeting was followed by an extensive energy audit of the school. The audit was conducted as part of a new and innovative national project called the Sam’s Club Environmental Sustainability Challenge.
As part of the project, Sam’s Club gives a $1,000 grant to local SIFE student clubs. The group then distributes the funds to a business or school in the local community to help them install more environmentally friendly materials in school buildings.
The Kirkwood chapter of SIFE chose McKinley Middle School as their partner in this environmental project. Representatives from Alliant Energy have also joined in the project and vowed to assist the students in making the most of their $1,000 grant, through rebates and other incentives.
Organizers hope that the success of this local collaboration between McKinley, Kirkwood, Sam’s Club and Alliant Energy will serve as a national model of cooperation between student, business and education leaders on environmental issues.
More information on the national initiative is available online at: www.sifesams.org.