Energy-Efficient Lamps

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By Catherine Jou ’15

In mid-December of last year, lamps were installed in Business Education teacher Pamela Johnson’s computer classroom by science teacher Jill Coutts and her Green Team to promote energy efficiency at Sherwood. The lamps use 85 percent less electricity than the overhead fluorescent lighting, according to School Energy and Recycling Team (SERT) Facilitator Jim Stufft. SERT programs have helped MCPS save 12 percent over their energy baseline year this past fall quarter, according to Stufft.

SERT first contacted Business Administrator Brenda Hoyle about the energy-efficient lamps in September of 2013. While “the lamps are no different than household lamps,” said Hoyle, the SERT office provides the lamps for free to Sherwood and only asks for the school to purchase the 23-watt CFL light bulbs.

The lamps have received positive reviews from students as they are not as harsh as the ceiling lights. “The lamps are perfect for computer labs because they provided a soft indirect ambient light,” said Stufft.

“I was apprehensive about students ‘playing around’ with them by constantly turning them off and on, but thankfully they don’t touch them at all,” said Johnson. “[The lamps] are not a distraction in the classroom.” Johnson also stated that there is enough lighting for students to see the board and take notes.

Although Johnson generally likes the lamps and has noticed that the students are calmer than last semester, the only drawback she is experiencing is having to turn each lamp on and off individually every morning and afternoon. Although a tedious process, Johnson says it’s worth it.

Stufft hopes that more schools take advantage of the lamps for energy efficiency.  While the energy-efficient lamps are an optimistic step for SERT in conserving energy, they plan to further save energy by looking into cutting-edge technologies like LED lighting.

Stand-Alone Desks    

By Connor Loughran ‘15

New student desks have been put into the “Little Theatre,” room G-238, this semester to be used as test subjects for a new standard desk around the county. The new desks, called “Zuma” style desks, are more comfortable, durable and aesthetically pleasing than the older desks. The new desks have separate chairs rather than the traditional attached chairs.

“The [new] desks are more agronomical,” said Business Administrator Brenda Hoyle. “Central office is providing a classroom set of the new style Zuma student desks and chairs to each school that currently does not have the new style student desks.”

Student and teacher reactions thus far have been very positive towards the new desks. “I love them, the students love them. In fact, the first day they were in the room, I could not get the students started on their warm-up as they tested out all the new postures they could maneuver in the spacious desks,” said language resource teacher John Falls.

“I like the new desks because they are larger and I can move them around more,” said sophomore Nolan Naik, a student in Falls’ class. “The fact that the chair is separate from the desk is nice, because it allows me to move around a bit.”

Newer schools, like Paint Branch, have had all their desks replaced with the new Zuma desks, according to Hoyle. She additionally said that MCPS is planning on making Zuma desks the “new standard.” If MCPS central office ultimately decides on making these new Zuma desks standard, all classrooms, except those with tables instead of desks, will have them. Though a time frame for when the replacement will take place has not been announced, it is likely to happen within the next few years.

“My only concern is that they may not fit into a smaller classroom,” said French teacher Amy Gahagen.