Duluth Public Schools and Duluth Climate Club Nearing Completion of Solar Panel Instillation
DULTUH, Minn. — Four years after lobbying with politicians for the ability to make a difference, Duluth area students have finally gotten their wish.
Very soon, a brand-new solar panel field will line the roof of the Duluth Public Schools District Office, completing a major project that some students have worked on for their entire high school tenure.
“I’ve been working on this project since I was in 6th grade, with the Duluth Climate Club, that’s our group, and we really wanted to get solar in our school district because the climate crisis is this big daunting problem that literally everyone on planet Earth is facing, and we really wanted to find a way that our student group could do something to help make a difference.” said former Co-President of the Duluth Climate Club Kate Yapel.
While bureaucracy threatened to slow things to a crawl at times, the staff and faculty, including Duluth Public Schools Superintendent John Magas, that saw the constant drive of the students are extremely proud of their efforts.
“I’m Superintendent, and so there’s the administrative aspect, but we’re all still teachers, we’re all still educators, and really, educators work with youth and they want to see them develop and flourish and so to see them come forward and be able to just lead and change the world, take something on that mattered to them, and just no stopping them.” said Magas.
“We had some things that were getting in the way with our timeline, with our budget, they didn’t let that stop them, they kept advocating and advocating, until we found a way to make this happen.”
In the end though, the feeling of contributing to the next generation’s fight against climate change means more than any credit we all could give them.
“I hope this project is a symbol that students can use their voice, and they should use their voice, and with a lot of persistence, and effort, and surrounding yourself with the right people, you can really move your project forward.” said Yapel. “This project has been awesome, and it’s been really fun to get to work with a lot of students who are really interested in advocacy, and it’s exciting to see our school district move forward with this project.”
“They worked hard, they worked with us, and we were able to bring this together, and so this point of having it finished, I’m just so proud as an educator, I’m so proud as somebody who’s worked with these students over the years, and it’s just really an amazing opportunity for our kids.” said Magas.
The panel’s instillation is scheduled to be completed before kids head back to school for the 2025 Fall semester.
