Chisholm students receive $2,000

From left: Cory Kolodji, Chisholm High School environmental studies instructor, Trevor Simonson, Sigrid Casey, Mike Pessenda, Alyssa Amic, Nick Sertich, Lake Country Power’s Tami Zaun and Dale Sundin.

Students in the environmental studies class at Chisholm High School recently received a welcome visitor: Regional Account Manager Dale Sundin, who presented them with a check for $2,000 earned in the Learn & Earn program sponsored jointly by Minnesota Power and Lake Country Power.

The program features school-andcommunity- based projects to promote energy-efficient lighting. It also raises students’ and residents’ awareness of the economic and environmental benefits of replacing incandescent light bulbs, lamps and fixtures with ENERGY STAR®-qualifying compact fluorescent light bulbs, lighting fixtures and lamps. These products use 75 percent less energy and last up to 10 times longer than incandescent lighting.

Schools can earn between $1 and $5 from the sponsoring utilities (up to a total of $5,000) per qualifying product sold at designated retailers to support school learning programs and purchase school equipment.

Chisholm students helped promote and sell 1,700 CFLs at Chisholm True Value and Chisholm Jubilee Foods. They also distributed rebate coupons at school and at participating retailers’ locations. Thanks to their efforts, nearly 130,000 kilowatt-hours of energy will be saved—which is equivalent to removing 21 vehicles from the road or planting 35 acres of trees. It’s also equivalent to preventing 156 tons of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere.

The students will use money they earned to support educational programs at Chisholm High School.