New Research Class and Club at RHS

Students in the new Research class have been investigating solar energy applications.

(March 10, 2008 – Riverhead, NY) Students in the new Research Class taught by Mr. Robert Jester have done the initial research and presented it as part of an entry into a nationwide competition called the Lexus Environmental Challenge, which will provide $1 million in grants and scholarships to the schools with the most viable projects. The students in Vinnie Nasta's Digital Arts class have prepared three videos that share some of the team's research on solar-powered projects for the Lexus Environmental Challenge: Go Solar, Vist to the boat Glory, and their presentation on a Proposed Solar Project to the Town of Greenport.

Their research has included field trips to Stony Brook University, Brookhaven National Labs and the GO SOLAR shed in Aquebogue, as well as a field trip to the Greenport Marina where a harbor tour boat called the Glory is docked. Part of the project the class submitted to the Lexus Challenge includes the design for a solar panel docking station at the marina to supply energy and to encourage the use of battery powered boats like the Glory. The Glory’s owner, Mr. Berson, estimates that he can run the tour boat for an entire summer for less than $70 and, because it runs on electricity stored in the hull on batteries rather than diesel fuel, that it has prevented more than 168,000 pounds of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere over its nine years of operation. He also estimates that it would have cost him approximately $2,100 to run the boat for a season on diesel fuel. The Glory is the only electric boat in NY State that is Coast Guard-certified to carry passengers.

The students are not actually planning to build the docking station, but are researching the cost, the location and angles of the solar panels that would be used to generate power and where the money could be found to complete the project (i.e., grants, local funding, etc.). According to their research, the project would not only help eliminate greenhouse gases, but it would also decrease water pollution and provide “reverse metering” by putting energy into the power grid rather than drawing it down as is currently the case.

“These students are phenomenal,” states Mr. Jester enthusiastically. “They’re very excited about this project. We took our findings and present them to the Greenport Village Board. Part of our plan is to increase awareness about the possibility of using alternative energy sources in an effort to affect a change in the atmosphere. We had a team from Vinnie Nasta’s art class working with us to develop videos (see first paragraph), and we are asked the public to fill out an online survey, which can be found on our District website (www.riverhead.net) on Mrs. Skinner's eboard.”

Mr. Jester’s enthusiasm about research has begun to spread among the student body, and he has now been invited to start a club that meets before school at 6:15 AM every morning and after school on Thursdays to assist students, who may not be in the class, to develop research projects. “I’m here anyway,” he notes. “I’m excited about the club.”

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