Alberta junior high students building wind turbines, net zero classroom

New Myrnam School on Friday Oct. 4, 2024. (Evan Kenny/CTV News Edmonton)

Students in the village of Myrnam get a lot of hands-on experience with renewable energy in an award-winning program.

Robert Tymofichuk is the assistant principal and teacher for Grades 7 and 8 career and technology studies and Grade 9 science at New Myrnam School.

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He earned a name for himself in town for building two hovercrafts throughout his lifetime, and now, he tries to pass on his passion for building and technology to his students.

For several years now, students have been learning about, and building, various projects designed to teach them about renewable energy and the environment.

"The first year was a sustainable greenhouse project where we converted a greenhouse into more of a year-round operation without any external energy sources," Tymofichuk said.

"Year two was designing renewable energy systems, where the kids built a wind turbine from scratch."

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The students built a 30-foot tower turbine in the school yard, which produced "quite a bit of power," according to Tymofichuk.

"We had that for a couple weeks and then we had to take it down, due to liability purposes, because when the wind would blow you wouldn't even see the blades, it was turning so quick," Tymofichuk said.

"The kids were so immensely proud of it."

Other projects the students have done include making a solar tracker, a biofuel generator and a renewable energy vehicle.

One of the bigger projects was turning a school bus that was at the end of its life cycle into a net zero tiny home.

These are junior high students doing the heavy lifting on these projects.

"We always tackle difficult projects. When you ask an adult, 'How could this be done?' and if they don't have the answer to it, you know you're onto a good project," Tymofichuk said.

"Those students are more than capable. We challenge them and we'll let them figure it out."

They start with $5,000 from an Inside Education grant, a environmental and natural resource education charity, and from there, work with businesses and organizations to accomplish their goals.

One of the projects even puts power back into the grid when there's enough sun, thanks to the solar panels powering the building.

"They're future leaders and decision makers, and a lot of the projects they end up advising the adults on," Tymofichuk said.

"When we did the net zero project with the (career and technology studies) building in Myrnam, the village owned building, the students did a forensic energy audit and then they implemented solar and they were advising council on the devices within that building that needed to get retrofitted."

Tymofichuk received a 2022 Prime Minister's Award for Teaching Excellence in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) for his work at the school.

In 2023, the school won in the youth category at the Alberta Emerald Awards for its energy and environmental sustainability projects.

New Myrnam School was also nominated for the T4 Education World's Best School Prize in the environmental action category in 2023.

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Evan Kenny