Waterford 3 Provides Environmental Experience for St. Charles Parish Schoolchildren
– By Mark McFadden –
Seeing is believing, but experience provides true understanding. Through a new partnership between Entergy’s Waterford 3 Steam Electric Station and the environmental education group Teaching Responsible Earth Education (T.R.E.E.), more than 250 fourth-graders in the St. Charles Parish school district will learn environmental science through a hands-on, outdoor program called Earthkeepers.
T.R.E.E.’s Earthkeepers program is a three-day adventure in learning focused on improving academic achievement in science and language arts. The program immerses children in the amazing processes that affect life on earth. Through Earthkeepers, students delve into core scientific concepts of energy flow, cycles, interrelationships and change.
“Helping to expand students’ understanding of the natural world reflects Entergy’s commitment to preserving our environment,” said Joe Kowalewski, vice president of operations for Entergy’s Waterford 3.
Waterford 3 uses nuclear power–one of the cleanest energy sources in the world–to produce electricity for Entergy customers across the state.
Entergy supports a wide range of environmentally friendly actions, from successfully reducing carbon emissions from the company’s gas-powered plants to significantly supporting coastal wetland restoration and other environmental protection programs.
“Producing power using nuclear energy is Entergy’s greatest environmental effort,” Kowalewski said. “These actions directly impact the sustainability of our planet, and so does teaching our children responsibility for the environment.”
The curriculum makes difficult abstract ecological concepts concrete so students can truly understand them. All of the activities require participants to solve complex problems, work as members of a team, and assume leadership roles.
“Because many of the students who participate in the program have had few outdoor experiences,” said Debi Theobald, Earthkeepers program coordinator of T.R.E.E, “the program incorporates activities to foster students’ appreciation for science and nature. They learn about and explore the natural world with the goal of using their knowledge and awareness to make personal commitments for environmental change.”
T.R.E.E. will work with the school district to identify participating students, and activities will begin in the spring.
“With the help of Entergy, Waterford 3, and T.R.E.E.,” said Bonnie Bourg, curriculum Specialist, Grades 3-5, for the St. Charles Parish school district, “local students will have a unique environmental learning opportunity that will last a lifetime.” Nuclear power plants produce electricity with virtually no greenhouse gas emissions. The annual environmental impact of Waterford 3 is equal to removing 1.3 million cars off Louisiana’s roadways.
Entergy Corporation is an integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric power production and retail distribution operations. Entergy owns and operates power plants with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity, and it is the second-largest nuclear generator in the United States. Entergy delivers electricity to 2.7 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Entergy has annual revenues of more than $13 billion and approximately 14,700 employees.