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• KEEP Home
• About KEEP
  • Mission Statement
  • Advisory Committee
  • A Rationale for Energy Education
  • KEEP Ten Year Report
  • Statements of Support
  • KEEP Staff and Support
  • KEEP Publications

The KEEP office is located on the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point campus in the Learning Resources Center and can be reached at:
403 LRC, UWSP
Stevens Point, WI 54481
715.346.4770 (phone)
715.346.4698 (fax)
energy@uwsp.edu

The Wisconsin K-12 Energy Education Program (KEEP) was created to promote energy education in Wisconsin. KEEP is the product of an innovative public private partnership between educators and energy professionals. The Wisconsin Center for Environmental Education (WCEE) launched this effort in 1995.

KEEP receives its primary funding through the Focus on Energy Residential, Business, and Renewable Energy Programs. Focus on Energy is a public-private partnership offering energy information and services to energy utility customers throughout Wisconsin. These services are delivered by a group of firms contracted by the Wisconsin Department of Administration's Division of Energy. The goals of this program are to encourage energy efficiency and use of renewable energy, enhance the environment, and ensure the future supply of energy for Wisconsin. For information about Focus on Energy services and programs, call 800.762.7077 or visit online at www.focusonenergy.com. Focus on Energy Funds for KEEP are administered through the Wisconsin Energy Conservation Corporation (WECC).

The dream of KEEP began in 1993, when the Wisconsin Center for Environmental Education (WCEE) proposed that a comprehensive guide to K-12 energy education in Wisconsin be developed. In 1995, the Energy Center of Wisconsin (ECW), a nonprofit energy-efficiency research organization based in Madison, agreed to fund the project. The Wisconsin Environmental Education Board and the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point also provided support. In 2000, the ECW worked with KEEP staff to ensure long-term financial support through Wisconsin's Public Benefits Program, Focus on Energy. As of July 2001, KEEP is a Focus on Energy program administered through the Wisconsin Energy Conservation Corporation (WECC).

To date, KEEP has successfully reached thousands of teachers throughout the state with its graduate-level inservice course and high quality materials. These resources have helped increase the quality and quantity of energy education for over 200,000 K-12 students in Wisconsin.

The mission of KEEP is to initiate and facilitate the development, dissemination, implementation, and evaluation of energy education programs within Wisconsin schools.

Our goal is to improve and increase energy literacy in Wisconsin's K-12 schools through teacher education.

Our vision is to be nationally recognized for creating an energy literate citizenry in Wisconsin actively engaged in energy conservation, efficiency, and renewable energy initiatives.

The need for energy education is clear when we understand that some households spend more than 20 percent of their budget on heating their homes and fueling cars. Energy issues in the news emphasize the importance of energy education. Our society needs individuals with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that will allow them to use energy resources wisely. Energy literacy is critical to Wisconsin's economic and environmental future.

Unfortunately, there is evidence that students lacked energy literacy. A 1999 KEEP Baseline Study found that:

• Just over half of the students surveyed could identify the sun as Earth's primary source of energy, and

• Only a third of the secondary students surveyed recognized conservation as a solution to energy shortage problems.

Energy education must be an integral part of the school curriculum to produce energy literate citizens. The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction recognizes the need for energy education. Their Academic Science Standards include many objectives related to energy concepts. To address these standards and improve students' energy literacy teachers need more education and resources to be able to incorporate energy into their lessons.

With KEEP, Wisconsin now has the appropriate frameworks and support systems for a sequential and comprehensive approach to energy education in schools.

Randy Champeau (chair) - Director - Wisconsin Center for Environmental Education
Jean Derfus - Senior Regulatory Analyst -Xcel Energy
Lisa Fox - Manager - Cross Sector Initiatives - Wisconsin Energy Conservation
    Corporation
Peter Hewson - Professor - Curriculum and Instruction, UW-Madison
Jim Jenson - Community Education Coordinator - Madison Gas & Electric
Kathy Kuntz - Director of Operations - Focus on Energy - Wisconsin Energy
    Conservation Corporation
Shelley Lee - Science Consultant - Department of Public Instruction
Pat Marinac - Teacher Mentoring Program Leader - Appleton Area School District
Tehri Parker - Executive Director - Midwest Renewable Energy Association
Jacquelyn Peck - Education Specialist - We Energies
Barbara Samuel - Department of Transportation
Charlie Schneider - Sector Manager - Focus on Energy's Schools and Government
    Program
Cheri Tessmann - Community and Customer Programs Coordinators - Wisconsin
     Public Power Inc.
Kelly Zagrzebski - Public Affairs - Wisconsin Public Service Corporation

Ask people to talk about energy, and what will they say? Some will describe how they use energy in their lives and at their workplaces. Some will talk about the cost of energy and mention the price of gasoline or the cost of heating their homes in winter. Others will point out that widespread use of fossil fuels leads to air pollution, acid rain, and global warming; they would say that the marketplace should provide or the government should promote the use of environmentally benign energy resources.

Still others will recall the energy crisis of the 1970s, when the United States faced an oil embargo by the nations of the Middle East, and later, the subsequent sudden rise in the price of oil. They might add that our nation now imports half the oil it needs, that a disruption in its supply is still possible, and that development of domestic energy resources should be increased.

While acknowledging these issues, nearly all of these people will agree that energy is necessary for maintaining their health, their well-being, their lifestyles, and their economy. Many will even say that they often take energy for granted.

Energy is more than an individual economic, environmental, or sociopolitical issue, and it's more than a passing concern. It is the agent of change for all processes on Earth and throughout the universe. Every interaction among living and nonliving things is accompanied by the transfer and conversion of energy. Energy is the underlying currency that is necessary for everything humans do with each other whether in the workplace or in their personal lives and with the natural environment that supports them. Understanding energy in this way enables people to see how issues are interconnected, and how a solution to one issue may even lead to the solution of another. For instance, the person who buys a fuel-efficient car saves money on gasoline, reduces air emissions, and decreases our nations reliance on imported oil.

Since energy plays an essential role in people's lives, the study of energy and energy issues should be emphasized in education. Some curriculum developers and teachers in Wisconsin include energy-related activities in education curricula. However, many people believe more needs to be done if energy education is to be widely and consistently instituted throughout Wisconsin in a manner that effectively promotes lifelong learning and links students to the world around them. The creation of a K-12 energy education program has helped meet this need. This program utilizes and encourages school-to-career skills and the use of a rich set of community resources including professionals representing Wisconsin's investor-owned, municipal, and cooperative utilities, as well as businesses, environmental organizations, and institutions of higher education. KEEP, through its conceptual and activity guides, and elementary supplement, provides a path for students in Wisconsin schools to receive a logically sequenced, comprehensive energy education.

KEEP is proud to have been increasing and improving energy education in Wisconsin's K-12 schools since 1995.  To commemorate the ten year anniversary the staff compiled this 10 Year Report. 

Read 10 Years of Empowering Energy Education in Wisconsin.